It might be the start of Britain's worst winter since 1993, but the droves of people that turn up for tonight's show definitely don't care. There aren't very many seats empty in the arena tonight, as most of the crowd brave the snow storms that are plaguing the country to watch 30 Seconds To Mars.

First up, however, are LA rockers Funeral Party. Sounding less like 30 Seconds to Mars and more like something from the New York indie scene (tying in with the title of their final track 'New York City Moves to the Sound of LA'), the five-piece's erratic yet dance-laden rock punk is great. Yet, with too great a genre divide, they fall short of really causing a stir within tonight's crowd.

In contrast, when Enter Shikari step onstage in a blur of bright white strobe lights, the crowd go insane. Clearly a major pull factor for tonight's show, the Hertfordshire four-piece storm through an introduction of 'Common Dreads' into 'Solidarity' - the latter sounding huge in such a massive venue. The set follows much of the same pattern; hectic, energetic and explosive, only slowing down when frontman Rou Reynolds steps away from his mixing desk and picks up an acoustic guitar for 'Gap in the Fence'. This is short-lived however, with tracks like 'Mothership', 'Destabilize' and 'Hectic' inciting riotous ripples through the crowd, while the band leap and bound around and Reynolds sees fit to climb up the lighting rig to the left of the stage.

'Sorry You're Not A Winner' is nothing short of epic, with probably all 10,000 members of the audience joining in for that iconic clap moment, whilst closer 'Juggernauts' is simply huge, and a perfect way to finish one of their final sets of 2010.

The lead up to the headliner's set tonight is a little strange. Wandering around in front of the barriers, hooded figures wearing an assortment of oversized masks encourage clapping and chanting throughout the crowd. Who they are exactly, remains unknown, but it's a bizarre touch for sure.

Finally though, 9.15pm arrives and the white curtain that has been hung covering the stage all night drops, revealing at first, Shannon Leto pounding his huge drum kit to an introduction of 'Escape', before being joined by guitarist Tomo Milicevic. Quickly transcending into 'A Beautiful Lie', Jared Leto appears centre stage and the crowd go wild. Bathed in a sea of flashing blue lights, the song sounds massive and Leto is near-instant in authorising himself as a larger than life frontman.

Repeatedly commanding the crowd to jump, sing or scream, Leto's arrogance is balanced out by his talent. Very few frontmen allow for their stage presence to be so strong yet genuine, but with Leto it's completely natural. His efforts in encouraging audience participation are unmatched; just a few songs in, the sheer volume of the crowd's singing is insane, and he continually tells the security that he's changing the rules of crowd surfing. Plus, you can't really deny a man who does all that, and runs around stage playing guitar whilst single-handedly handling vocal duties.

Everything in the show is a little extravagant, a little over the top, edging into the surreal; it's a real rock show. The majority of songs become more like anthems or war chants, most notably during 'Vox Populi' and 'This Is War', being exactly what the fans hope for. 'Attack' is explosive, and 'Closer to the Edge' is out of this world. And that's what this band are fantastic at doing: taking massive arenas and uniting all of the audience with a range of huge-sounding songs.

The only slight drawbacks tonight are that only fifteen songs are played and none of them are from the band's debut album. Despite this though, the set amazingly still lasts well over an hour and a half, with acoustic renditions of 'L490' and 'The Kill' thrown in for good measure. Also, we are treated to a first in Newcastle, with Leto telling us tonight is the first time they will play 'Stranger in a Strange Land' live in the UK; an intense experience, doused in red light, that Leto later compares to "having sex in public"; an offer most females in the audience would not say no to.

Closing the set with the truly glorious 'Kings and Queens', Leto grabs fans from across the venue to join the band on stage - a surreal but touching addition - and as he sings along with a crowd of 10,000-strong, it's evident that the snow was worth braving after all.