- œHello Sydney…how the fuck are you?’ Jared Leto is barely audible above the screams of an almost capacity crowd Hordern Pavillion, such is the allure of the move star front man of 30 Seconds To Mars.

Although he prefers not to ride off his success as an actor, there’s no denying that a large slice of the audience are here solely to see him, and him alone. The question hangs over the venue, is he just another actor who decided to be a rock star one day, or is he the real deal?

When the band take to the stage later than billed the anticipation in the audience is palpable, the Asian influenced stage set up complete with red lantern lights and oriental shades. Classical music fills the venue, building up and up, blue spotlights pick out figures behind the curtain, Leto in a Jesus Christ pose, people moving quickly. When the lights settle for little more then a matter of seconds, suddenly Leto and Co are revealed, all in black, with black bandanas covering their mouths, punk rock bandits ripping across the stage. Kicking off the show with “A Beautiful Lie” it’s an impressive sight, Leto works the crowd aggressively, his voice true and clear, his swagger as he moves across the stage draws further adulation from the already fever pitched front rows.

Picking and choosing mostly from their second (and much better known album) - œA Beautiful Lie’ the band belt out - œThe Story, - œThe Fantasy’ and more, but it’s the single - œThe Kill (Bury Me)’ which stands out, as Leto throws himself into the crowd, but manages, unimpressively to neglect his vocals while he plays with “the believers” in the crowd.

Tracks are adrenaline filled and fired up, the band roll out explosive track after track, but it’s hard to work out who they are aiming this for. Leto makes a big deal about being the – œreal deal’. He promises to continue returning to Australia “again and again” and his banter between songs, while corny at best, seemed to suit the legions of adoring fans.

Leto even promises to stay and sign autographs for anyone who wants one after the show, you can’t help but feel he’s being a little too obliging, even a little too accessible?

Atheistically – the band look the part. While the stage outfits could have been easily borrowed from My Chemical Romance – the attire fits the mood and definitely the many fans who’ve dressed likewise.

Highlight of the set is when the band allows the audience to decide which song from the first album they will perform. That’s right – one song from their debut offering, still one can’t complain when “The Mission” is chosen above “Buddha For Mary”. The song brings to life the 30 Seconds to Mars that I fell in love with few years ago. A kind reminder of an album that didn’t quite make it to out of space but deserved a life on mars.

They round off the set with a couple of acoustic track “A Modern Myth”, but it’s their single - œAttack’ which rounds off the night on a high note, it’s a beautifully written, awesomely performed track which the band absolutely nail. Throughout the set the focus is on Leto, the rest of the band aren’t even introduced, and remain in the background. It’s clear who the star of this show is.

It was never going to be easy for Leto to make the transition from Oscar nominated actor to front man without some naysayers, and even though 30 Seconds to Mars are maybe a little too polished, a little too perfect – it’s backed up with well written, exciting tracks and a front man who clearly has the crowds wrapped around his little finger. It’ll just be interesting to see whether this mission to mars will be a success – or rather a plan that was good in theory, worked for a while and crashed and burnt with the times.