30 Seconds to Mars get people jumping at Marquee

by Joe Golfen
The Arizona Republic

30 Seconds to Mars have never been ones to shy away from spectacle. When a band recruits 400 Chinese soldiers for one of their music videos, it's fairly safe to say that they like to do things big. And that was certainly the case Sunday, May 16, when the Los Angeles rockers rolled into the Marquee Theatre, playing a wild, frenzied set that had everyone pumping their fists, shouting along and eating out of lead singer Jared Leto's very charismatic hands.

The show began with a dark stage and a low rumble. As strobe lights began to flicker to life, the pulsing sound of three drummers hammering in unison rang through the theater. As the drumming reached a fevered pitch, so did the screams of the crowd, as Leto strutted his way to the mike, sporting a white leather jacket, dark sunglasses and a bright pink Mohawk.
The band then launched into a climatic pairing of "Escape" and "Night of the Hunter," both songs off the their latest album, 2009's "This is War." As his bandmates hammered out the music, Leto flew around stage, striking rock-star poses and hyping up the crowd, while a seizure-inducing array of strobe lights flickered behind him.
It's not surprising that Leto had such a dramatic stage presence. After all, when he's not being a rock star, the 38-year-old is busy being a movie star, appearing in films such as "Panic Room," "Requiem for a Dream," "Lord of War" and "Chapter 27." With plenty of Hollywood direction behind him, Leto knew how to play to the crowd, capturing everyone in the audience with his manic intensity and warm enthusiasm.
The crowd jumped around while the band plowed through "Attack" and "Vox Populi," with drummer Shannon Leto (Jared's brother) pummeling his massive drum set and guitarist Tomo Milièeviæ laying down bruising power chords. Leto in the meantime appeared with a flashlight, shining it around the crowd.
But shortly after they started into "Search and Destroy," Leto interrupted, telling his bandmates to stop playing.
"Now I don't know if you know this, but this is our last show of our tour of the entire U.S.," he said, removing his sunglasses and peering into the crowd. "And I hope you understand that I'm going to kick all of your asses tonight, and I'm going to make sure that you have the best night of your (expletive) life."
Leto then told everyone in the crowd to jump as high as they could once the music started again, and when that wasn't satisfying, he stopped the song again and went back to hyping up the crowd.
In someone else's hands, this might have seemed pretty arrogant and tiresome, but Leto's connection with the crowd really began at that moment. He may have seemed like a standard rocker flying around the stage at the beginning of the show, but once he started talking, the crowd couldn't get enough of him. When he said to form a mosh pit, everyone in the front quickly complied. When he told the people in the back to step forward, they all walked towards the stage together. And when he told people to jump, he had the whole place off their feet.
The crowd screamed along with "From Yesterday," the massive single off 30 Seconds to Mars' platinum sophomore album, 2005's "A Beautiful Lie." And after speaking a bit about the immigration controversy currently gripping Arizona, Leto and his band delivered an amped up version of "This is War."
After hammering out an acoustic versions of "Was It A Dream?," Leto launched into "The Kill," eventually diving into the crowd, only to reappear standing on the fence in front of the stage, grabbing at outstretched hands.
Nearly everyone in the audience sang along with "Closer to the Edge" and "Hurricane," and for the final tune, Leto invited what seemed like half the crowd onstage with him.
"I can't wait to come back to Phoenix, because it's so beautiful here and this has been the perfect way to end this tour," said Leto. "This has truly been one of our best nights, and I hope every one of you had the time of your life."
And based on how loudly the crowd sang along with closer "Kings and Queens," it certainly seemed like they did.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2010/05/17/20100517thirty-seconds-mars-concert-review-marquee-tempe.html#ixzz0oNUEHH2L