Thirty Seconds To Mars: Monolith Tour in the Queen City

Summer Camp in session in Charlotte, NC as Thirty Seconds to Mars stops by with some friends.

Photos by Luke Jamroz Photography

With summer in full swing Thirty Seconds To Mars continues their tour across America (also the title of their latest album) while also bringing a powerhouse list of friends with them. We caught up with them as they made their stop in the queen city of Charlotte, NC at the PNC Music Pavilion.

In late 2017 fans were given their first taste of a new album from Thirty Seconds to Mars with “Walk On Water” which would go on to be part of their new album titled AMERICA released in April of 2018.

This marked the bands first album in 5 years, and rightfully so it came paired with an announcement that the band would be embarking on what has been titled The Monolith Tour. As if the sheer excitement of the tour itself didn’t get you jumping out of your seat, the opening acts that accompanied sure would. On the first half of the journey Jared and Shannon Leto were joined by acts such as Joywave, MisterWives, Walk The Moon, and, in the case of this stop, Sir Sly.

Kicking open the door to a night of amazingness was Sir Sly, an indie rock band from California. This is a band that consists of three members, but have an insane ability to rock hard and entertain a crowd in a way you don’t find too often. The highlight of the set was the finale where keyboardist and producer Jason Suwito and drummer Hayden Coplen used their looping powers to create an electronic hard rock mix of their instruments that pushed its way into a technological sound. As part of their finale performance of their song “&Run” lead singer Landon Jacobs lends his vocals and carefree attitude to help bring the solid rock environment this band aims for, including shoving the microphone into his mouth during the last few moments of the set.

Following that was a band from Rochester, NY by the name of Joywave. This was an act that brought guitar riffs that hypnotized while also driving the crowd further into a frenzy of fun. This is especially showcased as the players on stage move around with such energy while the lead singer brings a sense of comedy with his jokes, awkward demeanor and physical movements around the stage. Some moves that even felt influenced by the great Freddie Mercury. Smiles were abundant especially when lead singer Daniel Armbruster mouths the sounds that fill some of their sounds including “Tongues”.

Up next was MisterWives, an act that gets the crowd and onto their feet with songs that move the body. A feeling of equality and empowerment is brought as they fill the stage and speakers with a performance that can only truly understood live. Lead singer Mandy Lee stole the show as she dances around while flawlessly hitting every note. From popular originals such as ‘Reflections’ to covers like The Cranberries “Dreams” they have it all.

In fact their music creates an environment that makes it very difficult to not dance so why fight the urge. At one point the show includes songs like “Drummer Boy” that feel as though they are straight from the 80’s and would pair perfectly with songs such as Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. The level of talent on the stage burst through the roof as the bands trumpet player simultaneously plays keyboard and the set concludes with multiple members of the band playing drums in a street style fashion.

The final act before the Leto brothers took the stage was Walk The Moon, whose entrance onto the stage included the intro of Lion Kings “Circle of Life” which immediately filled the crowd with smiling faces.

Throughout their time on stage it was clear that this group from Ohio wasn’t playing around as vibrant colors filled the darkness and insane guitar solos and dance moves amazed the crowd.

There were even moments where it felt as though a headband should be worn to absorb the sweat that was produced as this group of five put you through a workout that was truly just the warm up for what was to come later in the evening.

As the music continued it was heard all around how enthused the crowd was about what they were experiencing and witnessing in front of them. With hits like “Shut Up and Dance”, “Different Colors” and ‘”Kamikaze” a bottle of water or preferred beverage is definitely needed to keep you hydrated through their set as you dance around.

(Luke Jamroz Photography’s son was way into the show and had the honor or doing flags for the band!)

The time had then arrived for Thirty Second to Mars to show Charlotte why they have such a loyal following of fans. As the house lights went down a low rumble is then heard throughout the pavilion as the area remains completely dark, only lit by the lights on the phones that are out and recording video anticipating the start of an epic performance.

As the rumbling bass continues, a series of large rectangular LED screens descend from the sky while the only thing on stage is a set of drums still surrounded in darkness. After about two minutes the screens have found themselves in the shape of a box almost touching the stage now hiding the drums that were previously seen. A few moments pass and the rumble continues to grow as the sound of strong drum hits now begin and the fans amplify their screams. Then the front screen slowly rises to reveal both Jared and Shannon Leto in front of another screen that fills the background with color and then it all begins as the notes to to :Up in the Air” send the crowd into a mode of hysterical excitement.

The thing that makes a Thirty Seconds to Mars show is the leading direction of Jared Leto who demands you get down low when he says to or else you get called out. Knowing that concerts are to be experience is what drives this band, not just watching them through the screen of your phone.

During the song “This Is War” Charlotte’s own Richie Gasier from local band Jistu was given the opportunity to join the brothers and play guitar as the crowd was given giant balloons that flew around the pool of people over the course of the next few songs.

Following that Jared felt the stage needed more people and chose a few fans to join him on stage to present their worst dance moves. Before beginning the song he demanded that every single light in the house be turned off and reminded the audience that depression is faced by many people and you are not alone and the next song was about just that.

With that being said and dancers in place on stage it was time to begin “Rescue Me” but not before adding a few more dancers to the mix including Mandy Lee from MisterWives and Sir Sly in its entirety.

Continuing the evening the instrumental song “Pyres of Varanasi” occupied the void of visuals and presence of the the Leto’s as they prepared for the next song. Which found Jared Leto center stage standing on top of one of the large rectangular screens that was laid flat creating a platform to be lifted high above the audience.

While Jared was ascending into the air Shannon and his drum kit were wheeled beneath him as they preformed “Great Wide Open”. Concluding the song Shannon left the drums and took the mic as he introduced the audience to stripped down acoustic song titled “Remedy”.

As the night drew closer to an end it was necessary to give the audience a fan favorite song, which this night was dedicated to a fan who was a Charlotte native named Ashley. The song here was titled “The Kill (Bury Me)” and put us all in a time warp taking us back to 2005.

Closing out the night Jared needed his craziest and most passionate fans to join him on stage. He decided who these people were by looking for the ones on others shoulders or wearing their merch or just completely ecstatic by the chance to be up there with the boys. This began one of the craziest stage swarms ever witnessed as fans in the pit continued to climb on stage, and Jared kept choosing more and more people to have the moment of a lifetime.

As time passed at one point it was like watching a herd of zombies crawl from beneath and squirm their way onto the stage. When all was said and done close to three hundred people were there to join Shannon and Jared as they brought the audience “Closer to the Edge” drawing on the energy of the surrounding audience before saying goodnight.

The Monolith Tour runs finds itself running through July 22nd of 2018 and the second half will feature opening acts such as K. Flay, Welshly Arms and Walk The Moon. Make sure to get you tickets and be part of a night you won’t soon forget.

See full gallery of the night here!