30 Seconds to Mars!

This past Saturday Neil and I had tickets to see 30 Seconds to Mars at The Hollywood Bowl, the last of my Birthday concerts...thank you Daly!  We didn't want to miss the show (or be late) but thankfully an insider tip from my lovely friend, Thi, said the band wasn't starting until 9 pm, after the two openers including Panic At The Disco!

'Night Of The Hunter'

With a bottle of wine packed and some candy after being at The Hollywood Bowl a couple weeks prior for the Keith Urban concert, this time we came prepared.  Our seats were incredible, the boxes to the right of the stage with a great view of both the stage and a giant TV screen.  We sat for a few minutes but as soon as the band started there was no more sitting down!  There was a short instrumental but then they opened with 'Night of the Hunter,' went into 'Search & Destroy,' and then 'This Is War.'  During the first song they had giant beach balls in different colors that were lit up and glowing so that was super cool and people kept them going for a long time so that was really neat to see.  The video for 'This Is War' was really graphic and interesting and had the words going across the screen so people could sing along.  I was actually really surprised because maybe it was where we were sitting but I felt like we were the only ones in our section that knew the lyrics to all of their songs.  Why go to a concert if you're not going to enjoy it?!  They had acrobats between songs and perhaps they had a bad night but I thought the two guys on the teeter-totter were going to fall off the stage and the guy dancing with the hoop was going to fall flat on his face.  It was more nerve-wracking than exciting.

'How awesome is this photo!'

Jared talked before 'City Of Angels' as he said that he remembered when they had a studio on Melrose & Highland and were just happy to have Air-Conditioning finally, and here they were, playing the Hollywood Bowl in their city.  He seemed super appreciative and then moved from the main-stage to the lawn area, and where he said the fans were way better, louder, and more fun.  He also told us that he was sick, and for some reason, that always happens when he comes to play in LA, but to be honest, you couldn't really tell, especially when he started his next set.  Before he started an acoustic set a guy jumped on-stage with him and got a picture (how flippin' cool) and said he had driven 30 hours just to get to the concert!  Jared sang 'Hurricane' acapella and it was absolutely beautiful, and probably my favorite song, and followed that with 'The Kill' which was also awesome and probably their most well-known hit!  Then he did 'Stay' originally sang by Rihanna and just blew her away, it was so beautiful that I actually cried.  After that he made his way back to the stage and closed out with 'Closer To The Edge' and 'Kings & Queens.'

Neil & I at The Hollywood Bowl for 30 Seconds to Mars while they sing 'This Is War'
"It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie."

He announced when he came back on for the Encore that he would be showing us something that no one else had seen, and played a short film, called 'City Of Angels' to accompany the song they had played earlier.  There were famous actors and musicians giving commentary and beautiful scenery of Los Angeles, it was such an inspiring video and made you believe in the good faith of LA, which is definitely hard at times.  They closed out with 'Up In The Air.'  On the way out, I noticed Derek Hough next to me and at this time 2 years ago I was sitting with my Aunt watching 'Dancing With The Stars' while she said she really enjoyed Derek's dancing.  It was a nice little reminder that she's still looking out for me, even if she's not here :)

30 Seconds to Mars at The Hollywood Bowl

Overall, I was really happy with the concert but do wish they would have played some more of the new songs off their album because I think they'll be hits.  The problem was they required Jared's strong voice and since he was sick, he probably wasn't up to doing them.  My only frustration was that I went to the concert to see him sing, and not have him point the mic to the crowd and have them sing throughout the show.  His voice is so amazing, I just wanted to hear all him; perhaps I'm just being selfish!  They were the first band and big concert I saw in LA almost 3 years ago so it was really neat to see them again, playing at such a huge venue!

Keith Urban at The Hollywood Bowl!

Two weekends ago Neil and I were gearing up for the Keith Urban Concert at The Hollywood Bowl.  I don't know why I was dreaming about Keith Urban last night (it was a phenomenal dream) but perhaps it was just the push I needed to write about seeing his awesome Concert in my blog today!

We found parking about a mile away and were happy to enjoy the walk and then find our seats.  We had terrace seats and Little Big Town which was the 2nd Opener before Keith Urban was still playing, and songs I actually knew!  I really miss having good country stations here in LA like I did back in Wisconsin.  We thought it might be fun to have some wine while we enjoyed the show knowing it was going to be around 2 hours long as he had lots of songs to play so through the line we went and $45 later, one bottle of wine and one bag of sour patch kids, we were ready to enjoy the show.

Neil & I at The Hollywood Bowl for Keith Urban

Keith Urban is not a 'Stupid Boy'

The show started with some singles off past albums and a more recent song 'Long Hot Summer' as it was The Light The Fuse Tour all Summer long!  He slowed it down with 'Cop Car' off his new album and then 'Stupid Boy' a song he originally wrote for a female singer but ended up recording himself giving me a little idea to do a recording or cover of it!  One thing I really loved about this concert was the lighting and production of it because each song really evoked emotions from you through the colors and shadows they created on-stage.  Using blues, reds, purples, and yellows to fit the mood of the song, I thought that was awesome!  Next up was 'Even The Stars Fall 4 You' with lyrics up behind Keith on the stage so everyone could sing along.  One of my favorite songs 'Without You' was played next and it was neat to see Keith working the whole stage, singing to the seats all the way in the back, and also changing up guitars for each song.  I never knew what a talented guitar player he was not to mention how fantastic he sounded live; just like he does on his albums!  The crowd went wild when he did 'Kiss A Girl' and in between his first few songs he actually brought a girl from the crowd up on-stage and she asked for advice on her upcoming wedding with her fiance who was also in the crowd and he said he had more advice to give to him than her.  Funny, talented and handsome...Keith Urban has it all!

Keith went into a cover of The Who as he moved towards the sound and lighting board where he played a bunch of songs on the lawn area!  How cool that he moved to the middle of the Hollywood Bowl to play a set to the people in the back.  Once again he got the whole crowd involved by singing 'Days Go By' and this was the Cover set with 'Rumor Has It' sang by his Bass player, Jerry Flowers and then 'Hollywood Nights' a Bob Seger cover.

Keith Urban singing 'Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me'

Awesome concert!

After a couple more songs he made his way back to the stage through the crowd of people and then went into one of the first Keith Urban songs I ever heard, 'You'll Think Of Me' then picking it back up with 'Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me.'  'Somebody Like You' had the whole crowd standing up and singing again as that was the song he closed out the show with.  We knew he wasn't finished and had an encore coming so when he came back to the stage and told everyone to pull out their lighters or flashlights on their phone and light it up, as 'fireflies' were now everywhere at The Bowl.  He took a seat at the piano and started singing 'Tonight I Wanna Cry' which was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes...clearly I wanted to cry!  Of course, he couldn't end on a sad note, so there was a snippet of 'Locked Out Of Heaven' a Bruno Mars cover which was sang by his guitarist, Brian Nutter, and then his final song of the night was 'You Look Good In My Shirt' and as he sang the song, he walked down into the pit and actually took his guitar, signed it, and gave it away to someone.  WHAT?!  Yes he did!

This was definitely one of the best concerts I've ever been to, not only because I knew a lot of his music and this tour was about playing his Hits in addition to promoting his new album 'Fuse' but because he was such a performer.  His singing and guitar skills were so impressive and he made it such a fun concert!  It was his first time playing The Hollywood Bowl and I'm certain he'll definitely be back :)