Thirty Seconds To Mars ‘Seasons’ Tour
American rock band Thirty Seconds To Mars, comprised of brothers Jared and Shannon Leto, played their penultimate show on the UK leg of their Seasons World Tour in Birmingham, at the Utilita Arena on 9th June 2024.
Longstanding fans of the band finally got to see the renowned rockstars live after a short wait as some shows were rescheduled due to Jared’s acting commitments. What a night they were in for as a setlist of eighteen songs, including an acoustic set halfway through, meant the duration of the bands presence on stage in Birmingham lasted nearly 2 hours long.
During the evening, on ten occasions, the crowd got to witness pyrotechnics consisting of confetti, flames, smoke, flares and balloons to accompany newer songs from their latest release as well as older, more memorable fan favourites. Some of my favourites that they performed included “Kings and Queens”, “Seasons”, “Stuck” and “The Kill”. Even though I haven’t always listened to the band religiously with every release, I still vividly remember first hearing the record “Kings and Queens” when I was around 14 years old and I’m 29 now so it was quite nostalgic to hear live. There was something incredibly memorable about the music video which accompanied K&Q that I still hold a deep memory for and this is something which I don’t have a recollection for for many records I hear so, as soon as I saw Thirty Seconds To Mars were touring, I made sure I was attending a gig purely for the teenage nostalgia it evoked within me.
Just before 8:30pm, a countdown from 100 seconds commenced on the stage backdrop, as fans eagerly awaited the brotherly duo to take to the stage. When the countdown reached 60, a live video projected in the arena on the side screens showing Jared and Shannon exiting their private vehicle outside the arena and shown them making their way on stage along with their guitarist, Stevie Aiello, camera crew and tour personnel. A triangle shape showcased each visual on stage, along with music videos to accompany every song performed.
Throughout the evening, I witnessed how humble and down to earth both brothers were with their fans and I’ve never experienced a gig where so much crowd interaction took place. About a quarter of a way into the setlist, a small number of fortunate fans were invited onstage to rock out with Jared and Shannon, as well as a lucky listener called Oliver who got the opportunity to play guitar during “Rescue Me”. A few songs later, during the track “A Beautiful Lie”, Jared came down the steps from the long walkway and ventured into the golden circle to perform closer to fans. At this point, I could only see the lead singer on the enlarged screens yet, not long after, I randomly turned around from where I was standing and noticed a spotlight appear just a few feet away from me. To my great amazement, Jared Leto was walking amongst the crowd and he walked straight past me and waved! This experience all occurred so quickly that I couldn’t quite believe it had happened. He continued to sprint and walk through the crowd until he made his way back on stage whilst I was still in disbelief from seeing the singer up close. Personally, I have never seen an artist or band at such close proximity like this, so this rare experience made the night even more special for me.
Halfway through the show, Shannon departed the stage and fans were left with Jared and his acoustic guitar for a while. This segment of the show allowed fans to truly appreciate the lead singer’s incredible voice in its entirety and, during this part, he noticed a fan holding a sign which read ‘Song Roulette’; it consisted of 3 little doors which Jared could choose a song from and, if he felt up to it, perform that chosen track to the crowd. He opened the first door and wasn’t sure about it, then continued to open door two, in which he gave it a go, and then proceeded with door three as his curiosity got the better of him. Afterwards, he told the crowd “I love this country so f*cking much, it’s so great to be here” and then went on to ask “Ozzy Osbourne is from Birmingham isn’t he?’” before sharing with the crowd that him and his brother, Shannon, grew up listening to Black Sabbath.
Straight after the acoustic part, the duo performed “Stay” by Rihanna, which they originally covered in BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge ten years ago in 2014. During their performance of “City of Angels”, Jared asked the crowd to light up the arena with their phone lights which was visually stunning to witness and, towards the end of this particular song, a young fan was brought on stage. As they walked together to the end of the B-stage, Jared instructed the young fan to hype the crowd up by shouting “SING!” in a moment that the young boy would surely never forget, and he even called the child a “future rockstar” as he escorted him off the stage afterwards. As “Night of The Hunter” was played, big black balloons appeared out of nowhere and were comically tossed around the golden circle crowd as the band performed. During the final track of the three song encore, Jared gathered a huge amount of the crowd to join him on stage for an unforgettable final hurrah. There must have been between thirty and fifty people who were invited to join the duo as they performed “Closer” which brought the night to an epic finale. Along with the abundance of fans rocking out on stage, a young boy played the drums with Shannon before both him and the band’s percussionist threw the drumsticks they used to play to fans in the crowd.
From the incredible audience participation throughout to the lengthy setlist of sensational songs, the fraternal rockstars put on one hell of a show for their patient and passionate fanbase and it’s undoubtedly a concert which will be etched in my memory for a long time.
