MUDKISS FANZINE

Tonight 30 Seconds to Mars bring their 'Into the Wild' tour of England to an end in Bournemouth; this much anticipated gig has bought a massive sold out crowd to see if Hollywood film star Jared Leto and his band can bring their music to a new bigger stage. Their latest album produced by the infamous Steve Lilywhite, ’This Is War' has been highly acclaimed by the critics and fans alike and shows a great new sound. The first of tonight's two support acts 'Lost Alone' arrive onstage, a 3 piece band from Derby comprising of Steven Battelle (Vocals and Guitar), Mark Gibson (Drums and Vocals) and Alan Williamson (Bass and Vocals). They warm up the audience with some great metal numbers such as their single "Blood is Sharp" which includes some great guitar work. A huge backdrop is raised up at the back of the stage signaling the arrival of the 'Street Drum Corps', three masked drummers appear as the front of the stage and smash out a beat getting everybody's immediate attention, the drum beat rang out around the hall for several minutes then the band launched into their 1st number. Their numbers are all drum lead with two drummers onstage with additional bass and guitars.’ Knock Me Out Again' and the rather catchy 'Marry Me" with the lyrics being sung back at the band by the audience "I Feel the Love inside won't you marry me today". The band left the stage to generous applause from the excited audience, a huge black curtain was lifted over the front of the stage to add to the anticipation while to road crew set up the stage for the main attraction.

At around 9pm the lights dimmed a massive cheer rang out around the hall and the intro to  'Escape' started, their were screams ringing all around from excited fans who wanted to get a first glimpse of their heroes, the curtain fell to the ground and there they were, surrounded by a rather elaborate production. The stage comprised of a huge three tiered lighting rig with two huge screens on rails which moved up and down as they broadcast various pre-recorded and live images from the show. Jared ran around the stage like a man possessed so obviously enjoying his role as front man, the crowd were word perfect and sang along to every word from every song. Songs such as 'A Beautiful Lie' and "From Yesterday" from the 2nd album were delivered brilliantly with Jared's excellent vocals backed by his brother Shannon on Drums. Half way through the set Jared appeared up on the balcony with an acoustic guitar and asked the fans what they wanted to hear, he then proceeded to play a few verses of The Police's 'Message In A Bottle' along with a striped down version of 'A Modern Myth'. The band instructed the audience to form a huge circle pit in the middle of the floor and the audience parted giving way to massive circle in the middle of the dance floor giving many the opportunity to dance around live drunken idiots.

The encores came around far too quickly and of course the fans wanted more, the noise in the Windsor Hall tonight made by the fans was deafening, their enthusiasm for this band was absolutely amazing. The band returned and Jared took a picture of the crowd and posted it up on his Twitter site with a message of 'Best Gig Ever' such was his feeling about this show. A lucky handful of fans were invited on to the stage with most of them crowd surfing their way to the front and climbing over the barrier, a few of the female fans were rather hysterical after being so close to their heroes. The band played their last number 'Kings and Queens" and were joined by the three masked drummers from 'Street Drum Crops' who accompanied them along with the excited onstage fans. To sum up the show was amazing and the crowd reaction was awesome this band have shown they can move up to larger venues and still deliver in a big way with large amounts of passion and emotion. I can easily see the band filling stadiums sometime in the future. I will remember this gig for a very long time as possibly being one of the best gigs that Bournemouth has had to offer.
 
Set List - Escape, Night Of The Hunter, Attack, Beautiful Lie, Search & Destroy,                        VIDEO: From Yesterday.

Vox Populi, This Is War, 100 Suns, L490, Message In a Bottle (Acoustic)
A Modern Myth (Acoustic), The Kill, Buddha for Mary, The Fantasy

VIDEO: Kings & Queens

www.myspace.com/thirtysecondstomars
www.myspace.com/streetdrumcorps
www.myspace.com/lostalone
 
Review/photos/videos by Dave Chinery (Chinners)