Freeborn Hall was filled to the max at the Entertainment Council’s biggest show of the current academic year, 30 Seconds to Mars. In case you missed it, two Aggie arts writers give you their take on everything that went down at Sunday night’s performance.
Rating: 4
It’s hard to say how or when it happened, but the sold-out 30 Seconds to Mars show had a line all the way to the Death Star, with fans itching to get their Echelon fix.
The opening act, Middle Class Rut, performed with all the creative integrity of Jane’s Addiction and tenacious bravado of Queens of the Stone Age. The guitar and drum duo controlled the stage better than most full-fledged bands with mind-blowing depth and complexity. The amount of sound and energy coming from Zack Lopez (guitars/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals) put the already eager crowd into an uproar.
Surprisingly the main act took the stage with humbled fervor; after hearing about Jared Leto’s (vocals/guitar) various unappreciative antics toward fans, it was hard to keep judgments aside. But, by George does this little man want to be a rock star, and who is anyone to interfere. Leto, a tiny little hurricane, whizzed and whirled onstage, truly having a good time interacting with Freeborn Hall. The band played all the favorites, and a few hidden gems, but what made the show special was that Leto and crew were not afraid to stop the song to the get the crowd even more riled up, even catering to the screaming fangirls inside all of us by taking off their shirts and playing acoustic.
Having seen 30STM six years ago, when they were the opening act for a much larger band, it’s nice to see that they have stuck by their fans by producing the same record over and over and creating a small army of followers. But hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
– Anastasia Zhuravleva
Rating: 3
“Do you guys remember those school assemblies? Well, I feel like I’m in one now,” said Zack Lopez, vocalist and lead singer of the two-man band Middle Class Rut, who opened for the 30 Seconds to Mars concert Sunday night. Criticism? Compliment? I’ll let you decide. But by default of course, the crowd cheers on. Three songs in, the venue is packed in like a can of sardines — well, if the majority of those sardines were adolescent teenagers. With a few crazy moms in the crowd and vomit that somehow accumulated a few steps behind me, this was looking to be quite an interesting night.
Middle Class Rut held the stage with catchy rock anthems. But the true anticipation was for the big headliner, 30 Seconds to Mars. Jared Leto strutted onto the stage in a glam rock blue and gold tassel-lined jacket and sunglasses. Leto worked the crowd by encouraging everyone to get “motherfucking crazy.” Everyone jumped and cheered in unison with Leto and eventually became one happy, gross and sweaty mess.
But one major factor didn’t seem quite right — Leto’s voice sounded completely different than their recorded material. Granted, he hit all the notes, but his voice sounded a few octaves higher than it does on the album. But when the crowd sang along and harmonized with Leto’s voice, it wasn’t overwhelmingly apparent.
During the final number, Leto and the band invited over 20 fans to sing on stage. It was definitely a memorable moment for many. While leaving the venue, I overheard a few girls squeal “I can’t believe I touched Jared Leto!”
– Uyen Cao
