The atmosphere in the Grand Arena was expectant – this was it, 30 Seconds to Mars would be on next and the night’s wildness would begin. We had missed the first band due to a series of unfortunate events – we left the tickets at home (on the fridge), took a wrong turn, took another wrong turn, had to draw money, you get the drift. But we were finally there and nothing would stop us from enjoying the amazingness that was in store.
When the music finally started up there was a line of traditional African drummers beating their instruments, and alongside them drummer Shannon Leto was kicking his bass drum and pummeling his snare. Shannon is known for his fast-paced drumming and is awesome to watch.
When fans finally saw lead singer Jared Leto (younger brother to Shannon) emerge from the darkness of the wings, the room erupted into piercing, desperate screams.
Jared really knows how to get the crowd going and just wants to have a good time with his audience (whom he refers to as his ‘family’, much to the excitement of his fans).
The band’s hardcore rock ‘n roll, blended with the perfect amount of heart, is fantastic to experience. They played their hits “The Kill”, “Closer to the Edge”, “Attack” and others with an immense energy, and with the whole arena singing along right back to them. At times Jared didn’t even have to sing.
Every song was presented to the audience with a heightened pleasure – and Jared even stopped halfway through a song or two to ensure his audience was having a good time and jumping around. He drives his onstage power into the audience, and they feed off it, letting go and totally immersing themselves in the music.
This is not the first time they have visited South Africa, and Jared declared their love of this country saying that if it wasn’t for Cape Town they wouldn’t be where they are today – it was in Camps Bay, in a rented house, that 30 Seconds to Mars composed their first big hit.
They continued to visit the country, returning to the “magical house” (as Jared refers to it), creating music. He spoke out to his “family” saying that the major hit song “Queens and Kings” is “a thousand percent South African”. Of course, they loved it.
After an encore which was like an entire show on its own, the band left their satisfied fans with a promise of returning soon. And boy, we cannot wait.
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
