I love a big bombastic arena rock spectacle, and as such, without knowing a single 30 Seconds to Mars song, I enjoyed the hell out of their show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre last night.
Jared Leto is evidently well studied in the art of the arena rock show as all the standard ingredients kept getting ticked off. Big sing-along choruses? Check. Pyro, balloons, confetti? Check. Costume changes? Check. A solo acoustic interlude? Check. Bringing fans onstage? Check. Pandering to the locals with chants of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie and waving the Australian flag? Check. Having the entire audience hold aloft their phones to illuminate the arena in a starry sky fashion? Check.
It sounds like rock by numbers but it sure had me suckered in.
From a photo perspective it was also pretty rewarding to shoot as there was no 3 song limit. Accredited photographers could shoot the whole show. The minor downside was that it was from a riser behind the sound desk quite far from stage.
