"BEHIND THE CURTAIN"
8.3.2014 - Helsinki, Finland
I woke up on the morning of March 8th with mixed feelings; today was my last European MARS show so on one had I was a little sad, but as it was my birthday in a few days, I treated myself to the ‘Behind The Curtain’ VIP MARS ticket. It was pricey, but I figured it would be a once in a lifetime experience and since it was my Birthday – and last show in Europe, why not? I got myself ready and headed to Helsinki train station to take a train to Hartwall Arena.
Travelling to a MARS show on your own is never as much fun as when you have company as you don’t have anyone to get excited with… it’s always nice to be able to share the lead-up to the show, but I knew I’d see familiar faces once there so I sat quietly on the train just watching the world pass by.
Once I arrived, a friend came running up to me like she’d known me her whole life – even though we’d never even met before now. We spent our time waiting flicking through her MARS yearbook and seeing how many people we knew. It was surprising how many faces I knew in that book! It was absolutely freezing and check in ended up being really late which was a bit of a pain but just one of the things that comes with the whole ‘MARS experience’ :P Eventually we went inside and lined up for our merch packs. This time around, there was a wristband again – purple with blue, and the other items were the same as the previous shows. We lined up again to check in with Reni, and then as we waited to go into the arena, I noticed the merch stand appeared to be finished. I wandered over and bought myself a Euro tour shirt and another tour programme to get signed. In a moment of brain loss, I forgot the guys now sign with black pens not silver (as they used to) so the programme, being black, wouldn’t be able to be signed… so I decided I’d get the guys to sign their individual picture pages in the book instead. A lady working the merch stand said ‘you two, don’t go anywhere!’ as she walked past. She came back a moment later and said “What the hell are these creeps things?” I laughed and we explained they were something Jared had done. She looked at us a little puzzled then thanked us for the info as they’d been “dumped” on them and she didn’t know what they even were. LOL. We went back to the group, chatted and took some photos.
After a long wait for everyone to get checked in we went into the arena. I chose to stand up this time as there were a lot of people and a lot of people sitting up on their knees etc. and I wanted to be able to see. Reni, as usual, explained the rules and what was going to happen to the eager crowd before Tomo came out and said Hi. He always puts a smile on my face! He spoke for a bit before Jared joined him in front of us. The guys started talking about random things, then Jared asked what he should do for Shannon’s birthday which was the next day. He said he thought about flying up to the Ice Hotel in Finland, or flying to the North Pole. He had done his research! Either of those ideas sounded completely amazing to me but he still asked for more suggestions. Obviously I was no help as I don’t know enough about Finland! Shannon started to come out mid-way through Jared speaking, and he told him to go back and wait. LOL. Poor Shannon! We all let out a bit ‘aww’ as he turned and wandered away again. After a minute or so Jared said “Ok, you can get him out here now”, so we all called him and cheered and out he came. We all started singing Happy Birthday as he got to us… some people in English, some in Finnish (or maybe Russian – I don’t even know) but he said Thankyou with a big grin as we finished and he sat on the table. Jared told him to make a speech so he said a few words, but I can’t remember what they were. They spoke for quite a while longer before starting the Q&A.
I can’t remember much of the Q&A – of course there was a lot of Oscar congratulations flying around, and some girls decided to ignore the rules and stand up mid Q&A and hand the guys gifts (!) and there was a tonne of the usual kind of questions. When talking about the Oscars Jared said “Did you see how I managed to sneak ‘Thirty Seconds To Mars’ in there?” with a cheeky grin. He went on to say that LLF+D is number 3 on the iTunes chart right now because of his Oscars buzz and it was great that more people were finding the album. He also mentioned about how he took the Oscars broadcast down in certain countries because he mentioned the Ukraine and how he was not trying to make a political comment. Jared (as he seems to do quite a lot) said we were a very attractive audience – he seems to use this flattery a lot lol, and then at one point pointed over at our group and said ‘and we have the pirates of Finland here…’ lol. Hell yeah!
One question I remember very clearly was my friends. She said the guys are always giving advice to people chasing dreams, but what advice would they give to someone who didn’t know what they wanted in life yet. Jared fielded the question, saying to listen to your heart. He then went on a big speel about how only people who are willing to take that first step and face failure will be rewarded, and that it takes a true dreamer to take that first step out of the comfort zone. I related to what he was saying so much as I’ve been thinking about doing something terrifying lately. I felt myself welling up as he spoke. It almost felt like he knew I was at this crossroad he was kind of telling me to go for it. The Carnivores tour with Linkin Park came up in the Q&A of course and Jared seemed a little hesitant to answer the question as to who’s idea it was, but eventually said that it had been talked about for years, but that Linkin Park ultimately approached them. I was shocked by that! Jared didn’t seem too impressed with the ‘Carnivores’ name and said that was nothing to do with them… and I can’t remember if Tomo said it here or later on, but he said “It will be a great way to finish up”. (about Carnivores tour) I read into that as it will be the last tour for a while, but maybe I shouldn’t.
Jared pulled out a young girl who was in the Do or Die video up to the front and Shannon took a few questions, actually speaking more than I have seen him do at the past few shows and while he was talking, Jared wandered away from the group and came back with his guitar. He sat down on the table and asked what we wanted him to play. An overwhelming amount of people said ‘Save Me’ so that’s what he played. Tomo sat down on the floor and started playing with his phone – actually videoing us and posting it to Twitter! When Jared finished, Shannon took a couple more questions until eventually Jared asked “Who wants to get something signed?” The talk/Q&A lasted for about 45 minutes which seemed longer than the previous 2 I’d done.
We lined up to get our things signed and I sectioned off the guys pages with my fingers so I could flip the pages in front of them to sign nice and quickly. Jared was first, so I put the book down open to his picture and he signed the page then said ‘What is this?’ as he flicked to the front cover and kind of pulled it away from me. ‘It’s the tour programme’ I said. “Reni!” he said. “Get someone to put one of these aside for me.” He added, as he took one last look then flicked it over to Tomo still open on his page. Before I even had a chance to say or do anything, Tomo started signing Jared’s page. “Ahhh….” I said, trailing off - as I knew it was too late. Tomo stopped mid-autograph and said “Oops………. too Late.” God dammit! I thought to myself. “It’s ok.” I said to him as he flicked it across to Shannon. I didn’t even try and stop Shannon signing the same page. I said Thankyou and went and put the programme back in my bag up the back of the room. I grabbed my sign for the photo and got back into line again – about 10 people from the back. I watched about 30 photos being taken then started talking to the girls about what we were doing in our photos. When I looked back at the guys taking photos - about 2/3 of the way through the line – I realised Tomo and Shannon had switched positions. ”OH MY GOD!” I said loudly, he heart racing all of a sudden. “TOMO IS IN THE MIDDLE! OMG OMG OMG!” I was saying crazy excited. To explain, I have always wanted to do a photo between Tomo and Jared, but they have always been in the exact Tomo/Shannon/Jared line up. I started hyperventilating in excitement and had to rethink my entire photo haha. As I got to the guys, they stopped the line and the 3 of them huddled in and started whispering to one-another, hands shielding their mouths and everything. I have no idea what they were talking about but man was I curious! When it was time to go, I handed the sign to Shannon and said “Can you hold this? Just don’t ask me what it says.” He took it from me and looked at it and let out a huge “WOOHOO!” (I’m assuming he saw the word Kinky). I went in between Jared and Tomo with the hugest smile on my face and said excitedly “I never get to be between you two!” as I wrapped my arms around the back of both of them. Naww… my 2 fave boys! I was so happy!! I said Thankyou as I took the sign back from Shannon and walked away. I know it sounds insane to be so excited over the guys changing positions, but I always face the dilemma of who I want to stand beside because I want Jared and Tomo and you can’t usually have both… so I couldn’t believe I finally got that!
After the photos were finished, everyone waited behind a line until the coast was clear and then when Reni said go, everyone bolted and scrambled for the barrier. It sounded like a stampede! I was so glad I was doing side of stage so didn’t have to worry. The backstage people met Reni by the side of the stage and once dinner was ready, we were escorted out the back of the stage. The first thing I noticed were the print outs of the times everything had to happen with 9:00pm MARS ON STAGE big, bold and highlighted in red. I also noticed signs that had pictures of the guys and Emma that said something like “Please give these people all access and escort service”. I guess some security might not know who they are… lol. As soon as we walked into the dining room I saw Tomo getting a coffee. We sat down at a table and then were free to go get whatever we wanted to eat. I had a very delicious Tandoori Chicken with rice and veges, and then went and got some Toblerone mousse and a piece of chocolate flan lol. ‘When in Rome’ I said to Reni as she saw me taking it lol. As we were eating, Tomo came and sat with the group and started talking to us about all kinds of things. I wish I could remember what. A few things I remember was that he told us, if it seems like the band are rushing sometimes, they probably are as all venues have a curfew. He said if you go over that curfew you are looking at $10-20,000 per MINUTE you go over. Yep, really. I was shocked. My friend asked if they’d be touring the UK again this yearh and he mentioned something about they won’t be touring next year, as they can’t do a new album if they are always touring. But he did say “but don’t quote me on it”. Sounds to me like maybe next year will be another studio year…
While others were finishing eating, Tomo came and stood behind me and asked how the food was. I said it was great – and it really was – I was surprised how good it was! I turned around and I said “Tomo, I have a request… well, maybe not a request, but a question… Colour War in Australia?” He made a noise like he was thinking how to let me down easily. “Brisbane is an outdoor venue!” I said. “Well, it’s not really about if it’s indoors or outdoors…” he said. “It’s how much the venue is willing to clean up after us.” He explained. He went on to say that it would be very unlikely they will ever do another one, and said they didn’t actually tell Le Zenith (the venue) in Paris they were doing it. I think they might have got in a lot of trouble lol. He said the clean-up bill was massive. I said “I can imagine” and he replied “Hmm….. no, you probably actually cant.” He said they basically made no money that night so I guess that gives you an idea. I then said “Well, I’m glad I was at that one then.” And he said something. “Hey Tomo…” I said, getting his attention. I pulled back my hair and showed him the green STILL in there from the colour war. “It’s still there from the colour war!” I said. “Serves you right” he chuckled back at me.
We all got up from the table and Tomo led us out to Shannon’s side of the stage to meet one of the crew members and show us the man who controls basically everything. It was really interesting and I wish I could remember exactly what he said, but it was quite technical and I just can’t recall. He explained how a show will sound different depending on where you are positioned in a venue too and said “So if we’re sounding like crap, it’s probably that you’ve got a crap seat.” or something along those lines. He also explained that during the show, the guys only hear certain things so for example, through the guys’ ear-pieces, Jared only hears himself and a bassline or beat (not 100% sure) so he can concentrate on his voice. He said when you see Jared playing with his ear, he’s popping his ear-piece out so he can hear the crowd ;) From memory, Tomo hears himself and Shannon at 50% or so and I can’t recall what Shannon has coming through his ear-piece. He joked and said “they’re not just there so we can talk about you and make fun of you guys.”
We then moved around to Tomo's side of the stage where he introduced us to his 'genius' guitar tech, and also showed us his guitars. He also showed us a single speaker and said 'that's where everything you hear from me comes out'. That's just nuts to me, one little speaker? Well, I guess Tomo knows what he's talking about! He then explained how they have to select songs for shows up to a year in advance because they have to 'build' songs for the parts that they can't physically play live. He said it's built in parts so that if for example, Jared wants to stop half way through a song they can. They don't want to just have a 'backing tape' and 'press play'. Very cool!
We then went out to the tour buses and got to see all the trucks that take the equipment everywhere. We boarded the bus and Tomo stood at the front, everyone sitting down on the couches. I ended up kind of standing in the aisle, sitting on the arm of a couch. He said that 16 crew members travel up to 20 hours in the bus. Holy. Crap. The bus was really nice but 16 people?! That’s crazy! Luckily they keep it nice and clean. We spent a good 15-20 minutes in the bus talking about things. Tomo said the MARS guys themselves don’t do the bus anymore, only the crew. He confirmed that MARS fly in and out as they need quality sleep – especially Jared. That’s understandable. Someone asked him if he gets lonely on the road. He very quickly said yes, that they all do. He said however that he loves touring and when he knows he’s going on tour he can’t wait to go, and it’s weird because his wife Vicki is always so sad and he’s like ‘woohoo’ to leave lol. I can’t remember the exact order of conversation, but he said that he likes to be alone. He said he is happy with his own little group of people and friends and he doesn’t really like going and meeting new people. He quickly said “this is different” and that he loves taking the backstage tour, but in his personal life, he’s very closed and to himself. He said Shannon is also the same. He said when MARS are back in LA the 3 of them don’t see each other at all, lol, and that he’s completely happy walking down a street on his own in any city and not having a care in the world. “I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.” He quipped. He said the ‘travelling band’ definitely isn’t the thing for everyone, and many bands can’t tour like MARS do because of ‘this’ he said as he pointed around the bus. He said it’s not as glamorous as people think. He said that MARS is a ‘live band’, that they aren’t the type of band that spends copious amounts of time in a studio then tours a little, then goes back into the studio. He said they are the opposite, they tour a lot and spend minimal time in the studio. This may have been where Tomo mentioned they would be back in the studio next year, but I’m not sure.
Someone asked why they don’t play old songs anymore, and he said they don’t like to play old songs because it would be like someone asking you to wear something you wore in 5th grade… it’s almost embarrassing. I said that I could relate being a graphic designer, that if I look back at things I did 5 years ago, I think it’s terrible. ‘Exactly’ he said. He made a good point. He said he and Shannon refuse to play ‘The Kill’ full band anymore, and Jared has no choice to sing it because it’s ‘The Kill’. “You can’t NOT sing it.” Tomo said. He said he of course loves the old songs, but they feel a bit silly because at the time they were “kids trying to write rock music,” so that’s why they don’t really play them. It’s like stepping backward. He said they also have to be excited to play the songs they play, so I can understand that!
We somehow got on the topic that Jared spoke about at the Q&A about chasing dreams. I found myself in a situation where Tomo was speaking to me, looking me straight in the eyes and I was standing there nodding, completely relating and agreeing with what he was saying. I kept speaking up (which is a bit unlike me to be honest) saying how I could relate etc. I felt like, again – just like Jared had in the Q&A – that it was like Tomo was telling me to go for it. To go after what I want to do but yet am so unsure and terrified about doing. I felt like two of the most inspiring people in life had just told me to go for it, so I was again, feeling a bit emotional. Not sad, just almost… inspired or something. Anyway… it then turned into the topic of ‘the journey’ etc. of our dreams. He said ‘getting there’ isn’t the important part, it’s the journey of getting there that you remember. I spoke up again and said how I had spoken to a friend recently who wasn’t sure she was going to go to another M&G (because of how it is now), and that I reminded her it’s actually about the travelling and meeting people as much, if not more than the actual MARS show. He was just nodding and then agreed and spoke about it a bit more. He said other bands have asked them how they do it, and how they broke into the European market, and their reply is that they don’t know. He said other bands used to hate touring with them because even with MARS were the support act, the Echelon were the ones in the front who had waited all day, and the main band used to hate that! LOL
I agreed with him about the Echelon and spoke out again – I said that when I had been to other bands’ concerts, their fans aren’t the same, they all sit in their little groups and don’t talk, but with the Echelon, everyone seems approachable and friendly – and it really is like a giant family! And of course everyone agreed, Tomo saying some lovely words about us all being, well, awesome basically :P
There was a silence for a moment when Tomo stopped speaking, I think we were all just listening so closely too him that when he stopped speaking, it was quiet. Reni broke the silence and said “Wow. That got deep.” And we all laughed. Suddenly Tomo asked Reni what the time was. “8:45” she said. “Holy shit!” Tomo said as he realised he had better go. We all jumped off the bus and Tomo said we should all take a group picture. Tomo stopped and turned to face Reni, I was kind of already there so Tomo’s arm went up around my shoulder and then everyone started crowding in around for the group pic. I think we did 2; a normal one and a ‘best time ever’ one. When it was done, my friend said ‘Tomo can I have a hug’ so he said sure and hugged her, then he turned to me and gave me a big hug too. I was pretty happy about that! Then someone else asked for a hug and everyone sort of approached him for one, so he just ended up rounding around and quickly hugging everyone before jogging off to get ready for the show.
As Tomo had to leave, Reni took us backstage into another room - I think it was the production room... and Emma was there. She said hello and said she's not usually part of the tour… lol. "This is where I get to get mad at people." she said with a cheeky smile. She pointed to where all the gifts were (that people had given to the staff to take at the M&G) to show us where they’re kept and she said she had already eaten the macarons that someone had given to her LOL. Reni then went and found a box of chocolates that were also for Emma. She started opening the box but sort of played with it as she spoke to us and didn't end up eating any. I don't think we really did much in there, Emma just talked a bit and introduced us to the other guy there, then we headed back out to the stage and waited at the bottom of the stairs up to the side of stage. The normal 'side of stage' people joined us and then we went up. The side of stage is now a purpose-built ‘cage’ opposed to a section of floor marked out with fluro tape as it used to be! I got my position, put my things at the back of the cage and waited for the show to start. It should have only been 5 minutes, but MARS were running late and didn't end up coming on until around 9:30pm... I hope that wasn't because we made Tomo late hahaha.
The show started as usual with ‘Birth’ though it was obviously a different perspective watching the show from the side of the stage. As the show went on, Jared looked over to us and at one point came over to our ‘cage’ for a quick hello and Tomo stuck his tongue out at us a couple of times. That’s about all the interaction you really get over there though. As much as I personally don’t like doing side of stage (just because you miss out on all of the visuals like MARSfetti, and of course whenever Jared is on his catwalk you’re looking at his back) I actually quite enjoyed it this time. The fact I had a barrier to hold and space to move meant I could jump around like an idiot – something you can’t do on the barrier because you’re so squashed in.
During Jared’s acoustic set he called Shannon out to the stage and the crowd sang Happy Birthday. There was very disappointedly no Birthday cake, but at least we got to give him a little Birthday something. I’m pretty sure he actually spoke to the crowd from the end of Jared’s catwalk. Jared then got half a dozen people on stage to take the ‘group photo’ before Jared went back to singing. As the people who had been called onto the stage came and joined us in the side of stage, Shannon also came over and spent some time with us. Everyone was giving him Birthday hugs and saying ‘Hi’, it was pretty cool – though I’m pretty sure he came over because he wanted the number of one of the girls who had been pulled up onto the stage ;) haha. Don’t hate me – it’s just my theory!
Jared played a little bit of ‘Re-volve’ during the acoustic set, singing the first verse then stopping insisting he couldn’t remember the rest, he waved the Finnish flag around during ‘Do or Die’ and It was pretty much the same setlist as the previous shows.
When ‘Bright Lights’ came on, Reni called for the ‘Up In The Air’ people to come down from the cage and we lined up single file at the bottom of the stairs. Then as we heard Jared winding the crowd up, we went up to the stage. I was planning on heading to Shannon’s side as I always go to Tomo’s side but for some reason, I ended up in the middle. It was a great spot looking down Jared’s catwalk. As always, the song was crazy and this time I really didn’t care about photos or video… I just completely immersed myself in the moment. I ended up scoring one of Jared’s guitar picks which was cool and also one of Shannon’s drum sticks. At the end of the song I took a photo in front of the triad on stage before heading down and out of the venue with the other girls. We decided to get a cab back to Helsinki central and from there it was a short walk to my hotel.
It had been a great show to finish my European tour on; the backstage tour was so special and I was so impressed by it. It was also nice to finish the tour by finally getting a drumstick! I had learnt a lot about the new way Adventures In Wonderland works, and though I was apprehensive about the changes at first – and also a bit saddened by how fast it is – now that I’m used to it, I still like it. Sure, you don’t get one-on-one time anymore, but you get about half of hour of group interaction with the guys instead of maybe half a minute with them one-on-one so it’s not a bad trade off. To be honest, the only thing that I don’t like is how fast the signing is. I felt like some days I couldn’t even say hello to each of the guys because it’s that fast, which I think is pretty sad but I guess with 150+ at every M&G I did on this tour, I can understand why it has to be so fast.
I wasn’t sad when the shows ended like I thought I would be… just grateful to have had all the amazing experiences I had. I had met so many amazing people; old friends, new friends, and I was now just excited for the next MARS adventure back in Australia even more.
See you down under soon!