30STM in Lisbon 12.16.2010

I've created this page dedicated to the 30 Seconds to Mars concert I went to, in Lisbon, on December 16th of 2010. 30STM have been my favorite band for years and I just felt I should share my experience with you.

I was able to buy a Golden Ticket (see the picture of my VIP Pass above) for the show in Lisbon, which was wonderful. I paid a bit more (a huge bit...) but it was totally worth it. My package (Package 4) guaranteed an early VIP entry, a Meet and Greet with the band, access to the side stage (or, if I preferred, a spot in the first line of the General Admission Room - I'm talking about the huge crowd standing in front of the stage) and also (which was awesome) guaranteed access to the stage on Kings and Queens.

December 16th had to be one of the coolest days of the year. After my parents dropped me at Atlântico Pavilion, I picked up my ticket (at your left is my ticket signed by the band :D) and waited outside, with all the other Golden Tickets. It was clearly the worst part of all this 30STM show experience but, I mean, it's nothing compared to the excitement you feel!

Finally, we were called to get in. We were explained where we should meet for the side stage access, where we could go, what we could do and so on, and we waited together. There were only two more Packages 4 among us and I started thinking we were going to have the stage just for ourselves :D

More Than a Thousand (a Portuguese metal band) played before 30 Seconds to Mars. Honestly, I expected them to be worse, but they actually had a few nice songs. More Than a Thousand left and we were guided to the side stage. I must say that, at first, I thought the soundboard was the best place. That's a lie. The side stage (at least in that show) was amazing. The sound was perfect - it wasn't even too loud - and it felt like we were on stage with them. We had a completely different perspective of the show there: we could see the staff handing Tomo and Jared the guitars, picking up stuff that fans had thrown to the stage, ... We were incredibly close to Tomo, the guitar player, and he looked at us several times!! Yey!

Side stage view of Tomo and the audience is shown in the picture above.

The show was amazing. I already knew 30 Seconds to Mars have an incredible energy on stage, but being there and witnessing it for myself is totally... indescribable. This album has lots of "positive energy", as a side stage mate of mine said about the song Closer to the Edge and, if you add it to the band's interactivity and hyperactivity, what you get is an outstanding show. That's what happened that unforgettable night: they shouted for the audience, threw red balloons and confetti, made us scream and jump and loose control of ourselves. It really was an amazing experience I will never, never, never forget. That's what Jared asked us, the big Echelon family, on stage: to never forget them. And we won't, we won't.

If there was a vibrant energy marking the show, 30 Seconds to Mars also created moments that crushed us with their powerful beauty. I clearly remember Jared asking the audience to take off the cell phones and put them in the air while he sang and played his acoustic guitar. This was the result:

Not only did 30 Seconds to Mars play the songs from their latest album This is War, but they also played older songs and covers. Among these are The Kill and A Beautiful Lie (both from their second album, A Beautiful Lie) and also Lady Gaga's Bad Romance.


I know that bands probably say this in every show, but it always touches the heart when they say we're one of the best cities in Europe and they love playing for Portuguese audiences. One of the girls right in front of the stage threw a Portuguese flag to Jared, which he wrapped around him and kept during the rest of the performance.

Only right at the end of the show did we get on stage for Kings and Queens. Packages 4 weren't the only ones to go on stage - everybody at the side stage was taken with us and Jared picked some of the fans who were closer to the stage to come with us.
I must say it is an amazing feeling to be there, on stage, among the band, in front of all that people! There's something about the spotlight that makes it so unbelievably exciting...!
Here are the pictures I took on stage to the band:

And the show came to an end. We left the stage and were, shortly after, escorted to a room were we waited (in obvious anxiety...) for the band to come to the Meet and Greet session. The M+G was planned to be before the show, but it was delayed. It would have been a lot better to meet the band before the show, when they would be excited and much more energetic. Still, it was great. Shannon Leto, the drummer, looked at me when he autographed my ticket and asked me "How are you? Are you good?". That's a lot of talk for an autograph session... He was so nice!! After the autographs we took photos with the band. Honestly, it must have been so boring to be there and smile to all those photos, talk to all those fans... Well, the truth is that we really adore them and I hope that makes every moment of their work sweeter.

click here to get more info about the band

Well, three days after the show, I finally received an email with the link to my beloved photo with the band! Guess what: despite all the doubts, it actually LOOKS WONDERFUL! Here you have (from left to right: my dearest Shannon, me, Jared and Tomo):

Yours,
the hysteric millou