Night of the Leto's and a Miličević by coupdemain mag

No doubts about it, THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS are a band well equipped for a live performance. Frontman and vocalist Jared Leto exudes confidence and personality, commanding attention from everyone in his presence. His brother Shannon Leto, towers above his drum kit, hitting with a passion and power which is hard to ignore. And guitarist Tomo Miličević is the glue which holds them together, spending a lot of time off to the side, but allowing his guitar skills to shine bright.

Playing to a sold-out Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland, Thirty Seconds To Mars with opening act COMPUTERS WANT ME DEAD had the audience up on their feet and singing along at a volume unprecedented for any Logan Campbell show to date. Computers Want Me Dead, comprised of Sam Harvey and Damien Daniels, built up hype and energy playing their synth fuelled electro-pop - including singles ‘In Your Blood’ and ‘We Walk In Circles’ - which created a miniature indoor rave, complete with glow sticks.



However, it was when the lights dimmed and Shannon Leto emerged from the smoke to tower over his drum kit and began playing the opening beats of ‘Escape’, that the Logan Campbell Centre truly came to life. The band promised a show of epic proportions, and already you could tell they would deliver on that promise. Having travelled their ‘Into The Wild’ tour all across the globe, the stage-show was very well rehearsed - the lighting was well timed to the moods of the songs, going from a pulsing strobe to low-lit mood lighting with ease. ‘Night Of The Hunter’ saw Leto emerge on stage, running around from one side to the other, engaging the audience with his confidence and undeniable talent.

‘Attack’ - the opening track from their second album 'A Beautiful Lie' - had the audience in a frenzy and was the first of only five tracks in their set which don’t feature on their latest album 'This Is War'. However, fan or non-fan of their latest album, it has to be said that songs such as ‘Vox Populi’ are well-designed for a live setting. The backing choir vocals accompanying their latest album were perfectly re-enacted by the audience - and as the band paused midway through ‘Search And Destroy’ to encourage a sing-a-long it was hard to deny the band's ability to inspire and ignite crowd passion



A flawless and energetic performance of ‘A Beautiful Lie’ was followed by their latest single ‘This Is War’, during which a competition winner by the name of John took to the stage with his guitar to live his 'Guitar-God' dream, performing the song alongside the band as the 'hometown hero' of the night.

The night then took a softer turn, with Jared Leto taking up an acoustic guitar and playing softer track ‘100 Suns’ accompanied by his band-mates, before he disappeared from the stage only to re-appear at the back of the venue at the sound desk to perform ‘From Yesterday’, ‘Was It A Dream?’ and ‘Alibi’, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar and the voices of the crowd. It was during these three songs in particular, where Leto’s voice was on full display and any doubts about his vocal ability were nullified.

Fighting his way past the mob of crazed fans to run back on to the stage, the band blasted their way through ‘Closer To The Edge’, encouraging the audience to mimic those seen in their video for the song... and so, the Logan Campbell Centre became a crowd of fist pumpers screaming "no no no no" - all captured by the band's videographer for a “New Zealand version of the video”. Jared then made yet another fan's dream come true by commenting on his pink Mohawk with a simple “cool Mohawk brother”, followed by a rain of confetti falling upon the audience for the closing moments of the hit single.



Ending the main portion of their set with ‘The Kill’, Thirty Seconds To Mars proved themselves to be well-seasoned musicians who really do give their all in a performance. Jared jumped into the crowd to finish off the track, before the band departed the stage. Chants for an encore immediately started, and the screams were deafening when the band reappeared on stage for their final song ‘Kings And Queens’, accompanied by the Church Of Mars (made up of competition winners and fans plucked from the audience by Jared Leto) assembled on stage.

If you missed the show, the band made a “public declaration” that they “will return to New Zealand” - and when they do return, I highly recommend that you attend. High energy, high passion, and an abundance of talent, proved that Thirty Seconds To Mars deserve all the credit and praise that they get, and cemented their place at the forefront of their genre.


For more photos of THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS live - click HERE. Read our 2010 interview with Tomo Miličević HERE - new interview with Tomo and Shannon Leto coming soon!