I think this will have been at least my fourth time seeing both 30 Seconds to Mars and AFI, but when they’re touring together at a nearby venue, it’s obviously a show I could not pass up.
Admittedly, 30 Seconds to Mars hasn’t been that impressive to me in a live setting the past couple of times I’ve seen them, so the real draw here was the chance to see AFI again. Especially if I have to wait any length of time for them to release new music again. The only drawback was that the show was at a massive outdoor venue, but I forgot how good of a seat I bought myself and the evening ended up being really pleasant for early August. Due to being a working girl, I missed the entirety of KennyHoopla’s set, but I was seated for Poppy. Dude, she kind of ruled! Not much of a stage presence, which surprised me, but the songs were bangers. I’ll definitely be taking a closer listen in the near future.
Some clueless woman beside me thought she was AFI, which I had to inform her, no, those GUYS are next up. Oof. Anyway, they got the sets turned around quickly and within thirty minutes I got to enjoy AFI again for the first time in almost two years. God are they good! And for hovering around fifty, they are just so energetic and nimble onstage. The crowd hype for them wasn’t nearly as large as it should have been, but all of us real fans were standing, arms pumping, and singing along as loud as we could. Only in looking at other setlists from this tour did I realize how much they were switching the songs up.
Would I have loved to hear “Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings)” and “The Killing Lights” instead of “End Transmission”? Sure, but they still killed all THIRTEEN songs they got to play. Of course staples like “Girls Not Grey,” “Love Like Winter,” and “Silver and Cold” made the setlist, but I was really pleased to hear “Snow Cats” and “17 Crimes.” Had my sister elected to go with me, she would have been excited to hear “Beautiful Thieves.” Davey Havok, as usual, sounded incredible. And again, these guys are “old,” but were doing jumps and leg moves that I think even I would be struggling with. All while sounding flawless. This band is legendary, and I think the entire crowd’s reaction to “Miss Murder” just proves that.
Though I was less enthused to see 30 Seconds to Mars after just having caught them at the When We Were Young Festival in the fall, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by how excited the crowd was to see them. The confused woman beside me said this was her first time and she was just bursting with excitement. I held her in a higher regard as she was also a fan of Jared Leto’s acting career (though I doubt she ever made time for his Oscar-winning turn in Dallas Buyers Club). They kind of had an anti-climatic start, but Jared made up for it with his kind words and serious crowd interactions. So many people got to go up on that stage! And they all had understandable reactions. It kind of padded the show a bit, but it’s hard work playing a place that big with just two people.
As the years have gone by, I’ve become less familiar with 30 Seconds to Mars’ newer albums, though I have at least given them all at least one proper listen-through. With so many albums, naturally they are going to play a lot of the old hits, but they squeezed in four songs off the new album. That’s pretty gutsy! As much as I enjoyed “Stuck,” it did not translate well to a live setting. The others were fine, but forgettable. Of course I, like many other fans presumably, were there for the old stuff and they did not disappoint. I was amped that they opened the show with “Up in the Air,” but “Hurricane” is just magnificent. “From Yesterday” was also impeccably well done. I skipped out during “The Kill,” but the beginning of that song is my favorite bit anyway.
Overall, it was a really fun show! 30 Seconds to Mars earned back a little bit more of my respect with this outing, so maybe I won’t count them out on future tours. AFI always kills, so I’ll take as much of them as I can get! I’m sure there’s plenty of stops left on the tour, so go watch them somewhere!
