Concert Pics

I don't have any pics yet of us with the band, as we weren't allowed to take them at the VIP party, but the group was taking pics, so I should have one of us with Jared, Shannon, and Tomo in about two weeks. Meeting them was wicked cool. I managed to have a brief conversation with Shannon about L490, and got a hug from him, which was awesome. Tomo and Jared liked Eddie's mohawk, as did quite a few of the fans. I can't tell you how many people came up and asked if they could take a pic of his head.

The concert itself was pretty wild. Eddie and I got separated early on, and we both got the crap kicked out of us, but that's par for the course at a rock concert. I spent the first several songs right at the front, but eventually got pushed back to the 3rd or 4th row. Still...being that close to the band? No complaints here. Especially since we were in the center, so when Jared went crowd-surfing, we were right there. So. Wickedly. COOOOOL.

But enough about that. Pictures!!!

Since Jared is sporting a bright pink mohawk, we thought it would be fun to dye Eddie's hair red, spike it into a mohawk, and put the 30 Seconds to Mars symbols on the sides of his head. Why? Well...why not?

The result:
Yes, the symbols are drawn with eyeliner.

While we were outside waiting in line, guess who decided to go grab coffee:
Thank God for a telephoto lens!! And these are probably the only decent pictures I got of Tomo the whole night. For whatever reason, I couldn't get a clear shot during the show. But...at least I got these.
Shannon, jaywalking:
Then we got inside, met the band, bought some 30 Seconds to Mars propaganda, and took our places in the front row. Hellz yes. There was a super lame opening act, followed by a less lame - but insanely long - opening act. Once they were finally gone, the curtain went up...and a few minutes later...it came down:
I've heard from a lot of people that the band puts on an awesome show, but it has to be seen to be believed. Shannon is completely insane behind the drums, and Jared...well...he's even crazier than his brother. The man is nuts onstage. He certainly knows how to work the crowd, too. He even stopped the show to tell one of the security guys to back off and let us crowd-surf.

Yes, that's a baseball bat in his right hand...
After the first song or two, off came the sunglasses...
Eddie got a somewhat decent pic of Tomo...at least enough to prove the man was actually onstage:
Why he was so hard to photograph, I have no idea. But there he is.

Also onstage was touring bassist Tim Kelleher, who my loyal blog minions may recognize from previous mancandy posts...
Tim and Shannon...
Shannon, in his natural habitat, going fucking crazy on the drums:
Of all the pics I got of Jared, this is one of my favorites:
Shannon, in all his inked glory, performing L490:
Zoomed all the way out to show just how close to the stage we were...
The whole band (well, Tomo in a gas mask, Jared, Tim, and Shannon's arm):
Jared crowd-surfing!! Not zoomed in at all. About 5 seconds after I took this, he went right over my head. You're damn right I touched him.
At one point, while crowd-surfing a few feet away from me, Jared - along with a few other people - fell. This was taken after he'd gotten back on his feet, but hadn't gotten on top of the crowd yet. Not zoomed in at all.
So there you have it...pics from the coolest, craziest concert I've ever attended. I fully intend to get tickets to either the Tokyo show or the Osaka show...possibly both. If you're a fan of the band, go see them live. Seriously. They put on a wild show, and their music is just as awesome live as in the studio (given how much I prefer studio over live most of the time, that says a lot). The VIP tickets are worth the price and then some...the band members are incredibly gracious and friendly to their fans (*cough*and they're even better-looking in person*cough*).

Was it worth flying in from Japan, paying through the nose for tickets, standing outside for three hours, and all the bumps and bruises the next day?

Abso-fucking-lutely.