Memorable Concert in Sydney, 2011

Answers from Anya Tretyakova

30 Seconds to Mars, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney 30 July 2011

Almost five years following the release of their second album A Beautiful Lie, 30 Seconds to Mars delivered their third, highly anticipated album This Is War at the end of 2009. Promoting this ground-breaking musical transformation, the group delivers a concert which can only be described as a religious experience for the die-hard fan, and nothing short of an impressive show for the newly initiated. The awesome combination of rock, interwoven with progressive, symphonic composition made this album and this show – the last on the Australian leg of their worldwide tour – truly unforgettable.

"A Beautiful Life" cover

It is apparent that the group adopted a more spiritual approach to their latest album and tour. Gone are the charmingly self-pitying lyrics and deliciously melodramatic guitar riffs, replaced with a sound that can only be described as a hybrid between a thousand voice protest rally, singing and screaming their demands in unison, whilst supported by an electric symphony of guitars and tribal drumming echoing sacrifices of old. With the fervour of a general preparing his soldiers for war, front-man Jared Leto effortlessly moves the crowd through an expanse of emotions, plucking each soul like the strings on his guitar.

Hordern Pavilion
Friday 30 July 2010

If there is one thing the group succeeds in, it is inspiring and touching a crowd of thousands, not just at this venue, but at countless others around the world. From every walk of life, the music energises and arouses the senses, ignites the fire within us all. Whether we wish to be led on a journey, or to distinguish ourselves from the masses, every note Leto sings stirs something in the murky depths, something both monstrous and glorious – just waiting to be released – this concert succeeds in violently exposing the desperate desires and dreams we all sometimes forget.

♣♣♣

Plus Art  Review by Anya Tretyakova

Inception Entrenches Itself in the Imagination

That wonderfully groggy feeling when you awake from a vivid dream and reluctantly reacquaint yourself with reality is beautifully evoked in Christopher Nolan’s latest work.

Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) leads a team of specialist “extractors” with a difference – their target – the secrets hidden within the very depths of the subconscious.  Cobb, who is for all intents and purposes a fugitive, takes on a special job in exchange for the right to return home to see his beloved children.  Rather than extracting important information as per usual, the team is required to plant a seed, an idea, into the mind of Richard Fischer (Cillian Murphy) – young heir to a business empire – and make him believe he thought of it himself.  Joined by right-hand man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), recent recruit and architect of dreams Ariadne (Ellen Page), along with shapeshifting Eames (Tom Hardy) and modern-day apothecary Yusuf (Dileep Rao), the team grabs us by the hand as they plunge into the chasm of Fischer’s mind.  Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, Cobb’s own demons await in the abyss, echoing the loss of his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard), who poses a threat to more than the success of the mission.

Inception is a 2010 science fiction action heist film which was written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

A beautifully interwoven story, supported, rather than eclipsed by special effects awaits viewers from all walks of life.  Surpassing similar cinematic attempts to explore the nature of reality such as Vanilla Sky and The Matrix; Inception feeds on the idea gnawing at the back of our minds that the ‘real’ world is often not as fixed as we think.  We all dream and we all wake up, Inception manages to blur the lines enough to have you pinching yourself on the way out of the theatre.

Anya Tretyakova