Live Review: 30 Seconds To Mars, White Lies

30 Seconds To Mars attract a rough crowd of assorted ages to Hisense Arena after agreeing to move their show from next door to accommodate The Rolling Stones at Rod Laver Arena. Sadly, The Rolling Stones tour wound up being cancelled due to tragic circumstances but 30 Seconds remain at this slightly smaller venue that somehow lacks atmosphere. As we roll up to the gates, it's announced we can cloak our laser pointers, or any other prohibited items, before entering the stadium.

White Lies do a lot more than merely warm up the venue's sound system and To Lose My Life (“Let's grow old together”) immediately establishes the band's expertly polished sound with its undercurrent of melancholy. Also categorised by Charles Cave's fuzzy bass and the New Romantic vocals of Harry NcVeigh – who boasts outstanding pitch and precision diction – Death (“Yes, this fear's got a hold on MEEEEEEE!”) transcends. Some White Lies songs belong on John Hughes soundtracks, which could be because they evoke Simple Minds.

If you attend a lot of stadium rock shows, you'll note the 30 Seconds To Mars live experience ticks all boxes without adding anything unexpected: confetti cannons, oversized colourful balloons (which are almost as pretty as the band's lead singer) and a catwalk for the genetically blessed frontman to strut down. Jared Leto is good with a prop and enters brandishing a baseball bat during Birth, 30 Seconds To Mars' opener tonight. (Later an Australian flag on a pole is manipulated to great effect à la Les Misérables – albeit with the wrong flag – and Leto should totally have been cast in that movie.) You can't drag your eyes away from the frontman, whose printed lap-lap over skinny jeans and boots ensemble would look wack on anyone else. He also earns the Unisex Best Hair In The Biz For Eternity Award and everyone's pretty excited when Leto removes his couture jacket to put on a gun show. “Let's have the best night of our entire lives,” he encourages before making us jump in unison during Search And Destroy. Leto (thankfully) removes his shades in time for the explosive This Is War. Temporarily, our attention is diverted over to Jared's older brother, Shannon, who drums shirtless in profile – the muscle definition in his back glistens with sweat. After a while, it's difficult to distinguish between 30 Seconds To Mars' tracks and there's always a “Woah-oh-oh” refrain. A stage hand is responsible for batting away any massive colourful balloon that floats toward Leto and at times he looks like he's warding off a swarm of bees.

The 30STM triad hand symbol is pretty complicated and there are various versions of this in tattooed form on fans' bodies. Leto welcomes “Dave from Bayswater” to the stage to play guitar on City Of Angels, which borrows heavily from U2's With Or Without You. In between songs during blackout, there are loads of unexplained pauses, which messes with the show's pacing. Tomo Miličević is given the chance to demonstrate some gorgeous piano work and then Leto performs Hurricane solo halfway down the catwalk. The crowd are terrible at singing along to this one, but Leto sounds like an angel. The Kill (Bury Me) gets the solo treatment to begin with also and proves a clear set highlight. Leto invites a dude wearing a onesie rolled down to his waist, which reveals the 30STM triad tat on his back, to the stage plus various other goons and they're all so busy filming and taking selfies that they miss the opportunity to be present and engage with the band members.

The requisite “Ah-oh-oh”s in the band's first encore song, Bright Lights, call to mind a melody from Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (“They just wanna...”). Leto once again points out specific people he wants to share the stage with (“You in the triad T-shirt!”) until there's probably more people on stage than off. He definitely resembles hot Jesus with balayage and needs to be cast in a movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Being in the presence of someone as beautiful as Leto rubs off on the congregation, right?