The Red Bull Sound Space has done it again; it seems like this small little venue at KROQ studios in Los Angeles has been booking more and more shows lately, and who can complain about that? This time around was the world famous, Alternative rock band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.
The lucky winners entered the studios on Monday, October 14, 2013 at 1pm, many of whom were happy that they could skip out on work and school because of Columbus Day to enjoy the show. Radio host, Ted Stryker introduced the trio as they walked on stage and continued to do a short interview with the guys. They answered Stryker’s and some fans’ questions and proceeded to their performance.
There was no set-list on stage, instead there were lyrics to the Rihanna song, Stay which was what the band opened their short set with. After the song, singer, Jared Leto mentioned how shocked he was that he didn’t cough through the whole song, since he had been sick for the past couple of weeks. Considering there was no set list of songs, Leto asked for requests and in between the fans shouting out different songs, Leto told everyone how sick they would all get because of him.
As the song requests continued to pour in, including a Free Bird cover, Leto brought a small girl on stage, no older than six. He kneeled down and asked what her name was and then poked her stomach, so she could laugh. He asks if she was having a good time to which she replied with “yes”.
“Okay, I’m going to sing another song now.” Leto told her and after a short pause, the small girl said into the microphone, “City of Angels!” Shocked, Leto agrees and the band performs City of Angels, from their latest album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. During the song Leto walked off the small stage and went into the crowd, continuing the majority of the song, hugging a crying fan who held him the entire time.
After each song, Leto interacted with the crowd for a good amount of time, thanking them many times and mentioning how sick everyone was going to be. He thanked everyone at KROQ and questioned where DJ Nicole Alvarez was. “She called in sick, huh! Yeah, we were making out after the Hollywood Bowl show, that’s why”, Leto joked.
“Let’s play a weird song, let’s get weird. It’s my show, I’ll play what I want!” Leto sarcastically said before the band went into End of All Days, also off their latest album.
After the song, the band teased the crowd about leaving and not playing anymore songs, “I mean we should probably stop while we’re ahead right?” Leto said, which the crowd quickly disagreed to. “You do hear my voice falling apart in front of you, don’t you?” Leto exclaimed before a fan reached out to offer him a cough drop. “No, I’m not taking your dirty cough drop! I don’t know how long that’s been in your pocket or if you went licky, licky on it before you give it to me!” Leto told her, as they both smiled. The band then agreed to play one more song, which the crowd was more than happy to hear and their set ended with Alibi from their 2009 album, This is War. As the song was reaching the end, Leto held out the microphone and had the crowd sing the chorus, “Away oh”, over and over and over, until they started laughing and the song ended.
After the show fans were treated, as always, with custom posters from the show and some lucky ones got guitar pics and drum sticks. This show was probably the most interactive and fun shows to witness at the Sound Space because it wasn’t just the music that sounded so great, it was about the band connecting with their fans and giving them a once in a lifetime experience. We can’t wait to see what both this band and the Red Bull Sound Space has to offer next!
Review by: Nicole Lemberg
