I truly find it hard to believe that 12 years after 30 Seconds to Mars started, there are still people out there who make fun of the band and the fans. Why? Because it's "Jared Leto's band"? This isn't Dogstar, people. I think it would be difficult for anyone who is a fan of live music to go into a 30 Seconds to Mars show skeptical and walk out the same way. Jared has learned a lot over the years, whether from crowd reactions and interactions or from touring mates, and he can certainly command an audience the way few other frontmen can.

I am not a newcomer to 30 Seconds to Mars in any respect, as you will have noticed by browsing the Web site. However, since the band had not paid Omaha, Nebraska a visit in seven years, when Jared asked, "How many of you are seeing us for the first time?" it was impossible to be surprised that about 95% of the crowd raised hands high in the air. Wow! OK, maybe it wasn't impossible. Jared seemed taken aback, and had to ask two people in the crowd how old they were. At ages 19 and 17, he made the comment to the second: "You were nine years old when our first record came out!" That really puts things in perspective for us old geezers at the show. I was (legally) an adult (barely) when the first album was released. It's hard to imagine being that age with their current popularity. They've moved from opening shows with a few hundred capacity (which weren't even necessarily sold out) to headlining shows with a few thousand capacity (most of which are sold out).

Anyway, the fact of the matter is, the crowd was young and had yet to experience a 30 Seconds to Mars live show. We all know what that means. The crowd was insane. I know frontmen probably say, "you're the best crowd on the tour!" in all of the cities, but when Jared said that to this crowd, it really could have been true. Of course, having also attended the St Louis show two nights before, my personal take is that Omaha did not let the long wait for doors or the heat inside Sokol Auditorium get them down. When Jared spent several minutes teaching the crowd how to properly shout "no, no, no, no!" and thrust their arms high into the air, the crowd gave their all. He was so impressed that he had one of their two photographers spend some extra time getting shots of people in different parts of the crowd (with the promise of putting these shots into a video for "Closer to the Edge"). He didn't spend nearly that much time on it in St Louis. Way to go, Omaha.

I have to say, though, one thing I liked better about the St Louis set was Jared popping up at the soundboard to do an acoustic set. He spent a great deal of time singing alone with just his acoustic guitar, a spotlight, and a small railing between him and the crowd. He combined many songs, mostly from the first record, and took requests. He interacted with the crowd in a heartfelt manner, cracking jokes and having conversations. After that, he braved the crowd, and sang "The Kill" all the way through the crowd up to the stage. He even stopped the band to give a lecture on picking up anyone who falls down -- taking care of each other. Omaha's show lacked this. Jared stuck to the stage to sing with the acoustic and I felt that the interaction during it was no where near what it was in St Louis. Most of the crowd knew not what they were missing and ate it up anyway. Another sure crowd pleaser was the encore which was comprised of Jared and a keyboard alone on stage playing "Hurricane," followed by dozens of fans on stage helping the band sing their single "Kings + Queens."