[Review and Watch] 30 Seconds To Mars at The Greek Theatre 5/15/2010
Photo By TekAsk any band and they'll tell you, Los Angeles is a hard city to play. The venues fill up with hipsters and industry douchebags that are too cool for school, and sit in their chairs with their arms crossed and blank stares. But if anybody can command a crowd in the city of angels it's the king of the douches, Jared Leto, while fronting his rock band 30 Seconds To Mars.
"My mission in life is to not stop until every single one of you is having the best night of your entire fucking life, and I'm not stopping until I win," the actor turned rock star told the sold out crowd. "We are a rock band and people say we shouldn't play the Greek," he continued. "They say people here like to smoke a joint and look at the trees, but we are going to prove them wrong."
And to my amazement, he fulfilled his prophecy. During the band's 90 minute set, Leto jumped all over the stage, did an acoustic set from a mic set up in the middle of the crowd, and made his way up the stairs, through the crowd and into the pit leading a gigantic singalong of the band's 2006 hit that put them on the map, "The Kill," that got pretty much everybody in the gorgeous LA outdoor venue on their feet.
More review, videos and setlist after the jump...
With the support of his band, drummer and brother Shannon Leto and guitarist Tomo Milicevic, Leto led the audience through a selection of 15 of the band's songs. Ten off of the group's most recent release, 2009's "This Is War," with the aforementioned "The Kill" and hits "Attack" and "From Yesterday" thrown in for good measure. A snippet of "The Story" and a cover of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" also snuck into the set. But missing were any tracks off the band's 2002 self-titled debut album.
The group benefited from The Greek Theatre's phenomenal sound quality and sounded pristine. Unlike most actors turned singers, Leto has a solid rock and roll voice, that was almost good enough to distract from his obnoxious pink mohawk (which he informed the crowd in the middle of the set wasn't pink, but "pomegranate"). The guitars sounded great and Shannon Leto played a skillfull drums.
30 Seconds To Mars are known for their cult-like following, the Echelon, and for the finale the group pulled several of its die hards on the stage for "Kings And Queens." It was a strong ending to a great show and everybody piling out the venue seemed to have had a good time.
I worked my way back into the VIP room rethinking my position on Leto, but shortly after I observed him and an assistant pushing their way through fans and contest winners in the VIP room to chat it up with his Hollywood invited guests and I was reminded that he really is just a big douche.
Set List
1. Escape
2. Night of the Hunter
3. Attack (Call To Arms outro)
4. Vox Populi
5. Search & Destroy
6. From Yesterday
7. This is WAR
8. 100 Suns
9. L490
(Acoustic Set)
10. The Story (snippet)
11. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga cover)
12. The Kill (first half acoustic, rest with full band)
13. Closer to the Edge
14. Hurricane
15. Kings and Queens
Video
Kings and Queens
From Yesterday