Concert Review: 30 Seconds To Mars Logan Campbell Theatre

30 Seconds to Mars at Logan Campbell Theatre. Photo / Brooke Montaperto

"We love you Jared" shrieks a pretty young thing up on the balcony. The object of hers, and the thousands of other adoring girls and guys desire tonight is up there on stage flaunting his impressive mohawk, his thick white-rimmed sunglasses, and striking a Jesus Christ pose.

The 3000 screaming and ecstatic fans are here to see Jared Leto, because while his band might be called 30 Seconds To Mars, it really is his show.

The thing is, with that mohawk and his constant "New Zealand we love you" plaudits, 30 Seconds To Mars are more about style, showmanship, and crowd participation over substance. Songs like Closer to the Edge and Search and Destroy off latest album This Is War are big and bold, but not particularly rousing and powerful in the same thrilling and unhinged way Muse are.

Night of the Hunter sounds tinny and empty, and apart from the distant remnants of a band in the background all you can hear is Leto's voice - which, by the way, is strong, high, and soaring.

Vox Populi, with the crowd singing along to the catch cry of "this is a call to arms", is a rare musical highlight.

But then again, who's to argue with the rabid devotees who love every single second of it.

Leto - star of films such as dark and dingy junkie movie Requiem For A Dream and blockbuster Alexander - has been in a band with his brother and drummer Shannon for more than a decade now. While previous album A Beautiful Lie was their break-through, this year's tour for This Is War is proving their most successful yet, selling-out arenas around the world, and it's a sell-out tonight (in fact, it was sold-out months ago).

While they play a handful of old songs the majority of the 90-minute set is focussed on This Is War, which doesn't disappoint the crowd who know every word to every song - and even drowning out Leto at times.

Three quarters of the way through he disappears from the stage. A few minutes later, he pops up at the sound desk, out among the masses, to serenade his flock with a few acoustic numbers - and he has them lapping out of his hand once again. Up above him the pretty young things lean over the railing desperate to touch his mohawk. He's just out of reach. But Jared, rest assured, they love you.

The encore of Kings and Queens - by far the highlight - was a fitting tribute to a devoted crowd, many of whom ended up on stage for a mass sing-a-long. So lets hear it for the fans.