The Le Teen Café Review Corner: 30 Seconds to Mars Concert

 

For days preceding the concert, I was too excited for words. I was going to see 30 Seconds to Mars for a second time. To make matters even better, they were going to be supported by You Me at Six. My two favourite number-related bands under one roof! Now that roof was exciting too. In October, the city's new concert venue, the Hydro, opened and I had heard stories about how good it was, how high up the seats were and how you could see well from any seat (I was really, really hoping the last one was true because I was in row V, which I later discovered was the very back row of the place!)

When I first heard about the Hydro, I was sceptical. What was the point of building a brand new concert venue directly beside the one we already have? I was also worried the very large building would block the view of some of the buildings in the Clyde Waterfront, which contains some of Glasgow's most iconic buildings. But as soon as I saw the Hydro from the train window, I knew it was going to be a very special place. I had not seen it since it was still being built, but what a transformation there had been! It glowed, flickering from green to blue. The only word to describe it is: magical! You Me at Six played brilliantly and I jumped about like I was on a trampoline despite most people in the seated section doing as the name suggests—sitting. Thanks to Scotrail (Scottish railroad)’s unreliability, I missed half their performance. But I thankfully caught all their best songs and I plan to get tickets to go see them when they return to Glasgow in April.

When 30stm started, it was one of those rare moments that is completely magical and stays with you for the rest of your life. The place went dark, the curtain dropped, the music began and there stood Jared Leto. But he wasn't standing on the stage. He was standing on the rigging above the stage! He was lowered down to stand beside his brother Shannon who began beating on his drums and Tomo who began playing his guitar, creating 30stm's amazing sound.

The whole concert was jam packed with brilliance: enormous balloons thrown into the crowd, so much confetti I couldn’t see the stage, and two acrobatic routines involving a hula hoop and a seesaw! But it was the music that I came for of course, and what amazing music it was. The real highlight was without the theatrics. Shannon and Tomo had left the stage and Jared stood there, one man and an acoustic guitar, taking requests—all the oldies like Hurricane and my old favourite: The Kill. There was also the most unenthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday I have ever heard.

The night did have some slightly worse parts. For one, 30stm kept us waiting twenty minutes before arriving onstage. Also, they never sung This Is War, which is currently my favourite of their songs as well as From Yesterday.

All in all, it was a magical night and my only wish is that I arrived at the train station a minute earlier so I didn't have to travel on the next train (AKA the snail express). I hope the next concert I see, which will hopefully be You Me at Six, will be equally amazing.


-Barista Ellen-

Image: Kristina Cortez