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30 Seconds to Mars @ Nottingham Arena 19/02/10

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The curtain drops, the crowd scream, the spotlights robotically rotate filling the room; many colours; blues, reds and greens fill the stage. Singer/star Jared Leto in particular looks ready for war with his new mohawk hairstyle. He looks a little more worn and more aggressive than the last time seen in the U.K., back in 2007. The new punk subculture visual style creates a whole new look for the band. The new album, This Is War, speaks for itself, and the hairstyle minus the war paint tells a whole different story.

Amplified synth sounds vibrate and a media frenzy fills the room. Real-time visual projections are on the wall via two strategically placed screens that take a dominant position behind the band. The images also consist of the beautiful cinematography created by director ‘Bartholomew Cubbins’, a.k.a. Mr. Leto!

The crowd’s screams intensify as “Closer to the Edge” begins. ”A Beautiful Lie”, “Kings and Queens” and “This Is War” gain an equally intense sense of delight from the audience. In fact, all of the tracks performed through out the evening were received with much love.

Midway through the performance the smoke machines create an atmospheric sense of intensity; the lights go out and additional synth sounds fill the room with philosophical quotes that complimented the nostalgic ’80s electronic music (slightly reminiscent of Vangelis sound tracks from the ’80s cult film Bladerunner). These sounds defuse the situation, which is that the stage is now completely empty. The band had entirely moved themselves away from the stage.

Jared Leto - Nottingham Arena Photography Michelle Heighway 2010

Jared made himself comfortable, way up high in the seating area, creating a personal experience for the lucky people that decided to seat themselves comfortably throughout the night. People who had made their way to the front looked slightly perturbed. However, the band eventually made their way back down.

Overall, the evening was a huge success and a fantastic way for the band to start their first date of the tour. Another highlight of the evening being Shannon’s atmospheric acoustic song, “L490″.

During the show, the support band ‘Street Drum Corps’ appeared; drumming, stomping and clapping. However, towards the end of the show, the ‘Corps’ made a more predominant Jared Leto entrance, placing themselves at the front of the stage to accompany ‘Thirty Seconds to Mars’ for the performance of “Kings and Queens”. The crowd was also invited to join the band on stage, which momentarily caused hysteria amongst the masses. Many young women and men crowd surfed with huge determination to get on that stage, which may have caused a few minor injuries.

Another huge memorable aspect of the evening was that you could see the time and effort that was put into the stage design in order to compose a unique evening. The structure of the songs along with the visuals certainly painted a picture and told a story.

Recent Articles by Michelle Heighway:

Public Image Ltd [Leeds O2 Academy 2010]

Bradstock Festival 2010

All Tomorrows Parties [Photos: Minehead 25/05/10]

Shakespeares Sister [Photos: Liverpool Academy 16/04/10]

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club [Photos: Leeds Met 16/04/10]

Damo Suzuki @ Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, 23/03/10

Yeasayer @ The Faversham, Leeds

Scribsnaps: 30 Seconds To Mars - Nottingham Arena

Scribsnaps: Imogen Heap Live @ Leeds Met 09/02/10

Imogen Heap wins Grammy

Laura Marling Forthcoming album 'I Speak Because I Can'