"It's not for everyone. It's only for those who understand." - Jared Leto

So, here comes my first post in English. At first I started to write this in Finnish but after a little while I had some problems how to say some things in Finnish and I just thought it was easier to say them in English. (suomi, oot tyhmä kieli.) And finally something in English for you, Yulia. If you're reading this :))

Last Saturday morning I woke up around 7am, talked with some of my friends and just layed in my bed for about an hour. I got myself ready, made some snacks and took the train to Seven Hills where I met Sarah at about 9.30am. From there we took the train together to Redfern where we changed the train so we got to Circular Quay. We both had the Artifact screening package so it was nice to meet up already in the morning and freak out about the day together. We were at Circular Quay already a little before 11am even though the check in wasn't until 11.45am. We just walked around in CQ and looked for the movie theatre where Artifact was held. In the end we had to check from our phones where it was, and we were only about 20m from it. We just didn't see it :D Then we just sat in front of the theatre and waited that it'd be 11.45am. Naomi, who came there alone from Newcastle, joined us and we (me, Sarah and Naomi) spent the rest of the day together.

Then the check in started and we got checked in to both Artifact and Meet&Greet. They just gave us two different kinds of wristbands. Then we lined up downstairs and waited there around 20 mins (maybe?) before we got inside the theater. The whole check in started a little bit late so I think we got inside around 12.30. Or even later. When we got to our seats, there were some popcorn and water for everyone. Yumyum.

Then it started. Artifact on a big screen. So special and truly amazing. I've seen Artifact once before about 7 months ago. I had been thinking about watching it again for the past couple of months but I just never watched it. And when I bought this package, I didn't even wanna watch it anymore. I wanted the next time seeing it to be on the big screen. Seeing it on the big screen really made a difference. It is meant to be shown on big screens. And now, anyone who has no idea what Artifact is about, check the trailer below :) I truly recommend to watch it. Even if you're not a Thirty Seconds To Mars fan. Artifact shows how messed up business music business can be and why we need to support music in any way we can.

At one point during Artifact, I started to miss home all of a sudden. Well, not really like Rovaniemi or Finland, but all the MARS experiences I've had in Finland and with the most amazing people (you know who you are!). It just would've been so amazing to experience Artifact, the Meet&Greet and the show in Finland a few weeks ago with those people. Fortunately, they rescheduled their Tallinn show to July so I'm able to go there with those people!

After watching Artifact, we had a little question&answer session with Jared. Me and my friends were sitting in the second row so we were pretty close to him. I didn't have any good questions in my mind so I didn't ask anything. Would've been nice to ask something, though. Because when he answered the question, he kept looking at the person, who asked the question, almost the whole time. Just imagine him looking straight in your eyes for a few long minutes. Umm, where was I... haha. The Q&A session was really interesting and Jared gave really good and thoughtful answers. Even though there were quite a lot of people, the whole thing felt really intimate. Jared's really down to earth and it made the whole thing feel even more special.

After the Q&A, we lined up to take our pictures with Jared. Since we were sitting in the second row, we were the first ones to take our pictures. I had planned that I wanna hug Jared in our picture but I think I just got so nervous when it was my time because I didn't end up really hugging him. After we took the picture, I thought I hugged him. But when I got the picture, I saw we didn't actually hug. The moment to take the picture was so fast and I think all I can remember of that moment is just one big blurr.

After the pictures, we had to wait outside the theater until everyone had taken their pictures and then we could go and get our bags. That was a bit annoying since we were in a little rush to the concert venue for the M&G. Before we went to get our bags, Jared walked passed us when he went out. Got a little glimpse more of him before leaving the movie theatre.

We got our bags, took a taxi together to the venue and lined up for a while outside to get in. Because my concert ticket was included in the M&G package, I didn't have any actual ticket. But we got tickets outside the venue just to show them at the door. But then they took them away. I would've wanted to keep it :(

Just a little bit blurry... but I didn't have any time to take another picture.

There was some spare time before the M&G so we just hanged around there and I bought the Australia Tour shirt. For once, the tour shirt is not like a huge tent but actually a decent size. Yay. My first reaction when I saw all the people waiting for the M&G was "Oh god. This M&G is gonna be huuuuge". And it was huge, but the M&G was still amazing.

Then we lined up ready for the M&G and walked a little bit more far away to a room where the M&G was held. We sat down there, the crew members handed out the VIP laminates and we waited for a little while before the guys came there. At first I didn't even notice when they came (because I was talking with my friends) but when everyone started to shout and cheer, I turned around and saw them too. And they looked so goood. Especially Shannon! I just wish he wouldn't have worn the sunglasses. Most of the time I just kept looking at Shannon even though Jared or Tomo were talking. I just couldn't get my eyes off of him.

Then it was time for the "Q&A". Well, it really wasn't a Q&A since the guys just talked and we weren't able to ask any questions... This was a bit disappointing but anyway, it was nice to just sit down there and listen them talking. They asked our opinions about the set list and what changes they should make about it. But they didn't end up changing it at all... They also talked about a possible new tour to Australia (a little different) and about some other stuff. I think. Can't quite remember. :D

After the Q&A, it was time for the autographs and pictures. First we lined up, got the autographs, went back to the end of the line and waited till it was our turn again and took the picture. I knew it's gonna be a really quick moment to take the picture so I had planned to go straight to Shannon to ask for a hug. And I did, and got the hug. He held me so tightly. :') As you can see from the picture.

They said we could get our VIP merch right away after the M&G or after the show. We decided to come and get the stuff after the show so we didn't need to hold the stuff during the show. I had a small bag that I had planned to hold during the show but I also had a bag which had the tour shirt and the laminate and I needed to put that somewhere but the crew members didn't say where I could put it... Luckily I found out there was a free cloak room and I ran to put my stuff there. Because we had no idea at what time we were able to go to the pit.

I don't know how long we had to wait but after some waiting, we were finally able to go to the pit. There was a little bit of panicking because first we had to go down a few stairs and only two people could walk side by side on the stairs. And because me and my friends were quite in the middle of all the people, we had to run so fast to get a good spot when we got to the pit. Luckily there was still some space at the barrier.

It was a little before 7pm when we got there. So we had to wait there around 2 hours for MARS. There was one opening act which was pretty boring. All the songs sounded exactly the same and there was no energetic or high tempo songs. And almost the whole time all the band members just stood at their spot and moved nowhere. The singer was the only one who moved around at least a little bit.

This was taken after the opening act but it wasn't that empty during MARS!

Thank god that was over quite quickly and then it was time for MARS!

I would've wanted to put some more videos but my singing kinda ruined them. I should learn not to sing while filming...

Something happened to the colours...

The crowd went absolutely crazy when they came on stage! No wonder since the last time they were in Sydney was I think 3 years ago and this show even got rescheduled so the long wait was finally over! For Aussies it was a really long wait but also for me. I bought the ticket exactly 10 months before the show.

Birth is the perfect song to start the show. It sets you in to the right mood and gives you some time to prepare yourself for what's coming. The next song was Night of the Hunter and it just set the crowd on fire! It was so crazy. But only in a good way!

I'm not gonna list all the songs that they played but I have to say Bright Lights was definitely the highlight for me. "I've been dreaming of things yet to come. Living, learning, watching, burning, eyes on the sun .. Bright lights, big city .. A new day, a new age, a new lay, a new love, a new drug, a new me, a new you .. Time to live, time to love ..". Bright Lights has definitely been one of my favorite songs while I've been here in Sydney. Sydney's my big city with bright lights.

There was also one other highlight besides Bright Lights. It was the moment when all the guys came on stage in onesies! Thirty-something and forty-something guys in onesies. What could be more adorable. Just look at them! Haha.

Blurry, blurry... Don't care, he's so adroable!

Even though I was far away from home on that day, at one point I just had this amazing feeling, and realized home is not just a place back in Finland. In City Of Angels, there's a part "I am home". I know, the song is about LA but that part just hit me really hard. I was home on that day. They say home is where your heart is, and my heart is with music. When Jared and the whole crowd sang "I am hooooooome", I got little teary-eyed and felt so good and happy in that moment.

When they started to play Up In The Air, people just lost their minds and went crazy. But this time not in a good way. They started to push so much so they'd be able to get on stage. (Jared always picks some people to get on stage for UITA). And some guy even kinda climbed over me to get there. For a little while I even felt that I needed to get out of there right away because I was so pushed to the barrier. Aussies, you don't need to turn into some crazy animals. It's not THAT important to get on stage. Even though it is so damn amazing to be on stage with the band and other fans!

Another blurry Shannon... but now it's shirtless Shannon. So yeah, had to put the pic here.

The show was over way too fast. Time just flies when you're having a great time. When it ended, we left straight away from the pit because some people came to clean it right away. We went back to the room where we had the M&G to get our VIP stuff. All the stuff had the same print and I think the poster and the shirt are kinda boring but I really like the bag! I love that all of those say "Australia 2014". When I go back home, I'm always gonna feel so happy when I look at those things.

After we got the VIP stuff, we went to get my stuff from the cloak room and we headed to McDonald's because everyone was starving! :D But no one ended up eating that much. Guess we were just high on Mars and we didn't need anything to eat. Some other people were meeting up in a pub after the show but none of us felt like going there because we would've had to pay to get inside and we were just exhausted of the day. It was so nice that we all (me, Naomi, Sarah + Sarah's friend) lived in the same direction so we all could take a train together. I think I was home a little after 1am so it was a pretty long day but totally worth it!

I tried not to fangirl too much but what can you do when you have the most amazing day with the most amazing band and people. :) And I just wanted to write down all the feelings I had on that day. And thanks if you read the whole thing. I know, it was quite looooong. :-)