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June 6th, 2006 by Foxopoly 30 Seconds To Mars, 05-27-06 at Ogden TheaterSeldom do opportunities for an Alaskan boy to see some of his favorite bands (any bands for that matter) come to be. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to see several of them. Smashing Pumpkins (‘96), Metallica (2x!), Hum (‘98), Foo Fighters (‘98) Juliana (‘04). However, finally seeing 30 Seconds To Mars on Saturday night took the cake. What an incredible experience! Denver was originally scheduled to be the second stop of the 30STM’s first ever headlining jaunt AKA the “Forever Night Never Day Tour” way back in March (Academy Awards night). Due to an injury within the band the show was postponed- you could only imagine my disappointment. Fortunately, and only by some stroke of luck, the reschedule date fell during my next Colorado visit and my same tix were to be honored. I’d been to the Ogden Theater last fall, but barely recognized the joint after a recent major remodel. Whereas before it was very hard to get a good view of the band (especially short people) or even find a seat to claim in the balcony, the new layout was slick. The reconstruct now wraps around on both sides and almost overlooks the stage at each end. The balcony bar was close, quick and cheap and I very much enjoyed talking to other folks in line about their experiences so far. Opening bands Broke (Utah), Keating (Tennessee) and Men, Women & Children (NYC) were all EXCELLENT. You will most likely be hearing from all these bands in the near future. I particularly enjoyed Keating and every song of their set. Kind of GlassJaw-like, but with better songs and a better singer. Funny to bring up the GJ comparison because one of the guitar players in noise-funk band, MW&C was actually an ex member of said band.
After a short eternity and one Cure song after another over the PA, the familiar “O Fortuna” intro ushered the band onto the stage. Frontman Jared Leto tossed out red roses to an eager crowd before reaching for Pythagoras, his incredible, but road-worn guitar. It was an absolutely thunderous intro to an experience a long time in the making. I was overcome with excitement and emotion and am pretty sure that I wasn’t the only one in the house harboring these intense feelings. The crowd was ELECTRIC, OVERJOYED and INTO IT. Who knew 1,000+ people could be so ferocious?
30STM aren’t exactly known for long setlists (but it’s their first headlining tour???) and the songs seemed to fly by so quickly, but I enjoyed every second. Jared kept the between-song banter to a minimum and didn’t apologize for the cancellation months prior. He did however comment numerous times on how energized the audience was and dove into the crowd any chance he got. They neglected to play an encore, but Jared did come out for some solo electric performances and requests though he never actually played any of the latter. The band soon returned to finish out the rest of the show with the rarely played “From Yesterday”, “The Fantasy” and the blistering “Attack!” complete with un-named outro riffage (A scrapped song from the ABL sessions I believe). After the show we waited to meet the band out by their bus (Moby Dick) for autographs and pics for which they were more than generous. Most of the crowd had left the venue already so it was easy to just hang out and visit a little bit. What a great way to top off a wonderful evening.
Thank you 30, BROKE, Keating, MW&C, Samuel Adams, Jessie, and the ECHELON for an incredible time. Little thanks to FYE, Virgin or Ogden staff. SETLIST |
