Actor's band aren't out of this world

30 Seconds To Mars **
Corn Exchange

JUST as most rock stars make terrible actors, most actors turn out to be terrible rock stars.

Ok, so no-one expected Russell Crowe's 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts to be anything other than abysmal, but even Hollywood golden boy Johnny Depp's flirtation with rock 'n' roll, with the band P, was instantly forgettable.

And as for Keanu Reeves' Dogstar, well, let's be honest, they suck, dude.

It was something of a surprise, then, to find that 30 Seconds to Mars – whose singer Jared Leto starred in the cult movies Fight Club, Requiem For A Dream and American Psycho – are not so bad.

Granted, they're not so great either, but the problem is not Leto's voice, nor his ability to make a convincing frontman – he paced the stage the entire evening, reaching out to his fans, and succeeded in making it personal for the masses of teenagers in the crowd.

Nor is it his band's ability to back him – bassist Tomo Milicevic, guitarist Matt Wachter and drummer Shannon Leto, Jared's other brother, proved themselves competent musicians.

The LA outfit have some credible modern rock tunes, but are ultimately outdone because the majority of their material is dull and derivative, with lyrics that verge on the pretentious.

They had their moments – such as on opener Beautiful Lie, closer The Fantasy and inbetweener R-Evolve – but by and large 30 Seconds To Mars just aren't that memorable.