Live Review: 30 Seconds To Mars, White Lies

There's more polite curiosity in the air than genuine excitement when the members of White Lies take their positions in the smoky shadows, but the early throngs are quick to be won over, especially when encouraged by Jared Leto, who runs out to hype the audience two songs in. However, A-list appearances notwithstanding, the dark Ealing quintet do a great deal with a minimal 30-minute set, touching on their finest cuts of old like Farewell To The Fairground, To Lose My Life and Death, while playing anthemic recent tracks such as There Goes Our Love Again and closer Bigger Than Us. A bit more movement on stage would have been welcomed, but with just the right compliments and delivery – led by the powerful tones of frontman Harry McVeigh – they twist plenty of new ears tonight.

The collective scream that erupts when 30 Seconds To Mars appear is enough to remove the entire bird population out of the Botanic Gardens, rhythm section Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević getting Birth started before frontman and recent Oscar recipient Jared Leto appears – keeping with his award-winning character in a skirt and stockings no less – to complete the song, helped along by the thousands in the audience that are screaming the lyrics back word for word. It's an introduction that sets the tone for the evening, with the American stadium rockers not simply performing, but looking to share a communal experience with the masses. Leto sings “I'm No Jesus” during Search And Destroy, but you get a feeling a lot of people here would disagree.

Giant balloons of all size and colour bounce out during This Is War; confetti canons are getting fired during Conquistador; we're only five songs in and the bells and whistles are coming from every angle. The mass chanting choruses are relentless, visual cues are acted on with unwavering passion by the entire hill, and while this all takes place the band strut, stretch and pout beneath the omnipresent 30 Seconds To Mars logo that shines from the back of the stage like a symbol to worship. Plenty of the band's songs are weak – a fact that's amplified during an acoustic stretch which includes The Kill (Bury Me) and Closer To The Edge – but Leto makes them so much more, allowing the believers to be part of the experience, whether that means letting them play guitar with the band, or collectively gathering them on stage for celebratory closer Up In The Air. And suddenly it all clicks – 30 Seconds To Mars is the ultimate Hollywood blockbuster, the band acting as a perpetual platform for Jared Leto to shine in the lead role. And does he what.