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 The last time I saw 30 Seconds To Mars was Jan 07, just over a full three years ago at Manchester Academy 1. Although I'm all for small venues over larger ones, I couldn't wait to see them work the huge cavity that is Manchester Evening News Arena. Because, of course, since then, 30STM have been on the rise, overcoming various tribulations to make their third empowering masterpiece, This Is War. Reading an article in Kerrang that very day during my lunch break, I saw that Jared Leto had been reporting that this next set of shows would be something else; that they wanted to recreate The Summit on stage; to make the show more interactive and make the fans feel like they are IN the band.

Sounded good to me.

Upon their sudden presence on the stage behind a large black curtain, the crowd in the arena was already mostly on its feet, screaming their lungs out. The band opened with the first track on their new album, Escape, and on the track's choir explosion of the words, "This is war", the humongous curtain was torn down, with white house lights blinding the crowd like a descent from heaven. It was definitely an entrance to remember. They fell straight into Night Of The Hunter, yet another musical excellence from This Is War. Following this, the crowd was driven wild when they heard the siren synth that hallmarks the beginning of popular hit Attack, which was unexpected so early on, but hey, they didn't seem keen on being predictable. This was an epic singalong moment, the lyrics to the chorus reverberating throughout the place, as a million voices joined together to sing it.

The highlight of the night came shortly after Jared had performed A Hundred Suns solo on stage. a 'Modern Myth' -esque acoustic number which had everyone transfixed. An instrumental followed whilst the place went completely dark. Suddenly a spotlight flicked on a few moments later to reveal Jared sat up in the right seating area, at the top of the staircase. He politely cleared his throat through the mic to the sound of gasps and then cheers from the audience. Dozens of fans from the surrounding rows (mostly female) thrust themselves forward to reach their idol, only to be held back by burly security guards.

After a few minutes of light, friendly bantering, Jared picked up his acoustic guitar and treated us to Capricorn (A Brand New Name), one of the most memorable tracks from their first self-titled album. Following this, the rest of the band members were helped through the standing crowd onto a small, square plinth in the middle of the standing area, and together the band broke into their highly regarded hit The Kill, with Jared fighting his way along the rows of seating with barely a falter in his voice, security guards batting away girls left, right and center. He was crowd-surfed to the middle plinth to join his bandmates where they performed the sensational The Fantasy, from their groundbreaking album A Beautiful Lie. At this point the crowd was mad with hysteria and excitement.

Other singalong magicals included the singles A Beautiful Lie and From Yesterday. The show was ended with current single Kings And Queens, during which lucky fans who had earlier been selected from the seating area and then later from the standing area got to join the band on stage. Supporting 30 STM was Street Drum Corps, involving heavy tribal-sounding drums and a Nine Inch Nails feel. (Click the link to visit their Myspace.)

Only downside of the night was that favourites like Battle Of One, A Modern Myth, Saviour and Echelon were not played. Still, it is understandable that 30STM have a new baby to focus their attention on and so their previous two albums will probably take a back seat for a while. They certainly filled the room with their energy and their incredible musical talent, accompanied by extraordinary lighting effects and Jared's skill of entertaining the audience definitely made it a show to remember, no doubt for them as well as us.