30 Seconds To Mars - London Barfly @ Monarch - 24/6/02
3/5
By: Toby L
Where does politeness fit into the concept of rock 'n' roll? Surely, the alternative music-industry thrives off of characters that ruin the contents in hotel-rooms, swear abusively at rival-acts and drink until they find themselves waking up in a dustbin next to a congealed banana-skin? Aren't these the signs of true heroism in modern-day music?
Well, you wouldn't think they are if the latest US sensation 30 Seconds To Mars were held up as role-models. Creeping on to the tiny London Monarch stage this evening, there's not so much a hint of danger and anger surrounding them as there is a necessity for the four-piece to smile bashfully after each of their intergalactically-proportioned compositions.
Demonstrating even more of their peculiar niceness, we get the homage of being told that it's 'a fantasy' for them to be present here this evening, prior to a namecheck of their favourite British acts: inclusive of The Cure, Led Zep, Joy Division and The Who... Yet, as they charge through another of their space-fuelled anthems, it soon finishes, singer/guitarist Jared Leto exclaiming into the mic on the realisation of a missing influence from those already stated, 'Oh - and Iron f**king Maiden!' Disturbing, yes.
But, despite the marvel at their Brit-inspirations, 30 Seconds To Mars, as the name suggests, are quite exempt from anything else. The image may initially fool you, though - they don cheeky schoolboy-esque shirts and ties, after all, frontman Leto meanwhile possessive of a mop of blonde hair which covers his eyes much like a younger (and American) Gavin Rossdale - but seeing past this will allow you to discover that their music is a far more compelling and well-engineered affair, dealing with those all-important issues of 'standing on the edge of the Earth' and other key interplanetary occurrences.
You may worry at times that it could get a bit too Babylon Zoo (don't remember them? That's a good thing...), but 30 Seconds' saving-grace is their incomprehensively tight and able musicianship, which fuses the grisly energy of nu-metal's better and more sincere moments with the epic, forward-thinking songwriting of their heroes. Take the quite dazzling majesty of 'Capricorn', for instance - sky-scraping vocals, searing guitar and a live drums-performance from Leto's brother, Shannon, that would collectively have your jaw drop before you could even utter the word 'impressive'.
Naturally, by the time their inexplicably short-set reaches its towering climax, the tightly-packed audience, most hiding from the baking sunshine outside, have just witnessed a debut-London appearance to challenge the concept of currently viable commercial-rock. And what a change it makes to have it presented to us from a group of guys that would probably do the washing-up after a meal at your own house, too; fail to introduce them to your mother at your peril.
Artists in this article: 30 Seconds To Mars
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