It began with a 30-second countdown. As the clock ticked down, I rushed to find Jake who had secured us a spot near the equipment fence before Thirty Seconds to Mars began. See, we had previously split up so that I could catch Sabrina Carpenter and he could catch the 502’s and Foals. Anyone who has been to a festival before can attest to how much of a challenge it can be to link up with your people, so the landmark was much appreciated, but the chaos had left me a bit flustered.
After arriving I didn’t even have time for a greeting as Jake directed my attention upwards and what I saw left me a bit baffled. Jared Leto, lead vocalist, was on top of the Bud Light stage.
As the sun began to dip in the sky and a literal choir began to sing back down on Earth, Leto began his set with the song, “Walk on Water.” The opening track, penned by the brothers who make up 30 Seconds to Mars, echoed out across Grant Park’s incredible views of the skyline like a call to arms.
Roughly halfway through the song, Leto, leapt from the top of the stage, counting only on a pair of wires to halt his fall. Upon landing he continued to belt out the chorus, leading the crowd in the chant-like number.
It was one of the wildest entrances to a stage that I have seen. After a stunt like that, how could there be more? And yet there were plenty more stunts to come.
Thirty Seconds to Mars: Has us look to the Sky
About three songs into the set Leto, in one of many of the set’s jarring stops, pauses and points out to the sky and announces a plane. Knowing how gullible I am, and after already being juked by an encore by Sabrina Carpenter, I don’t look. After all, why would there be a plane for the band?
Ironically by attempting to not be gullible, I fell for it. There was an airplane, an airplane with a banner that read “Breaking News: Mars <3 7:00.”
With all this performance value, one might think the music got lost. Unfortunately, I have to say, yeah, it did a bit. Yet the group still rocked the crowd with a set that would have felt right at home in an earlier less corporate festival culture. Hits like “The Kill” and “This is War” got the crowd roaring. And Leto took all that energy to mean it was time for a mosh pit.
I can’t confirm or deny whether that mosh pit opened. Ultimately, we were a little too far back to get the full scope of what was going on up front. Either way, the crowd was energized and mostly rocking along.
Starting to Stop
With everything going on around the set, there was almost too much crowd interaction. And yes, that feels as weird for me to write as it sounds.
To me, it felt like the set devolved at times into a classroom like atmosphere. Directions, often layered one after the other, included things like “all of you better jump,” “get down,” and “open up that (mosh) pit.” In a way it was the most ridiculous game of Simon Says I have ever played.
With that said, not all of the crowd interaction was too much. While the number of pauses and interactions was at times overwhelming, Leto generated his fair share of awesome moments.
Of note, he made more than a few fans day as he walked the rail, interacting heavily with those who had been lucky enough to grab a spot.
In addition, during “Rescue Me,” Leto invited a handful of fans on stage to dance along with the band. While this was already the largest number of fans I had seen on stage, Leto was not yet content. He proceeded to top this by calling even more fans on stage for the end of the set. Bringing maybe a dozen or two lucky fans to the stage as Leto himself abandoned it.
He would, it seemed, end the set as it began, looking out over a crowd held in rapture.
All in all, Thirty Seconds to Mars delivered one of the more memorable sets of Lollapalooza even if the memory was of the gimmicks!
Upcoming Shows
If you are hoping to catch Thirty Seconds to Mars yourself, so far, they are exclusively playing fests in 2023. Upcoming appearances include Music Midtown (Atlanta, Ga), Austin City Limits (Austin, TX), and When We Were Young (Las Vegas, NV).
Entertaining story to read but certainly not as entertaining as the band itself from the sounds of it 😉
So glad you had a great time!