COLUMBUS – Shortly before taking the stage on the Audioslave tour currently traveling the nation, 30 Seconds to Mars’ Shannon Leto (drums) and Matt Watcher (bass) decided it was time to say a prayer.

As we joined hands to form a circle, a tongue-in-cheek thank you was made to a “Higher Power.”

Shannon explained his brother Jared (lead vocals, guitar) and Tomo Milicevic (guitar) were “scattered” somewhere in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

Dressed in ripped jeans and a T-shirt exposing his tattoos, Shannon sat with a Mohawk perfectly in place.

A Bryan Adams’ cover of a Led Zeppelin song played on Shannon’s computer.

“Have you heard this version?” he asked, his brown eyes lined heavily with eyeliner.

Shortly after, the music changed from Adams’ poppy song voice to a tune that’s something of a cross between tribal and salsa music.

Shannon said he and Jared were introduced to a variety of music when they were kids, hence his eclectic playlist.

“My mom was a hippie,” Shannon said. “We were subjected to Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Pink Floyd, Kiss and Zeppelin.”

These formative young years would later be the beginning of 30 Seconds to Mars.

“We started with just my brother and I,” Shannon said. “It was just he and I in this room banging on drums and playing guitar strings. We wanted to share that experience with more people. So we started a band and started playing locally.”

From their humble beginning as a duo performing in front of chairs and tables in single room, the Leto Brothers added Watcher and Milicevic and released their first self-titled album in 2002.

Now, the band is on tour promoting their second release, “A Beautiful Lie” in front of thousands of people.

Though Shannon and Watcher have a cool and collected presence backstage, their on-stage presence is yin to their daytime yang, as they tear through songs and incite the crowd to sing along with them.

As the guys described what it’s like to play live – Shannon noted it as an event where the band feeds off of the audience and vice versa – the stage crew collected their instruments and placed the backdrop.

As they walked on stage, that feedback was instantly on display.

A tornado alarm blared through the auditorium. No light had yet touched the stage as the band picked up their instruments one by one.

As the lights came on and the music took form, Jared’s visible intensity brought some of the audience to their feet.

He stared deeply into the audience with eyes wide open, as if he was looking everyone straight into the eye.

And with equal intensity, Jared leapt off stage and ran through the crowd.

The response was nothing short of high-pitched screams and feedback from the crowd – the same feedback the band uses as their stage fuel.

“It’s kind of interesting how what we do is all centered on 25 minutes out of the day,” Watcher had said earlier.

In front of an audience now nearly all on their feet, this was the center they were talking about.

On stage, Jared has a presence that puts him in the limelight. But once he steps off, Leto, a private person, becomes introverted and hidden.

“A Beautiful Lie” – an album that exposed Jared’s personal side – was a stepping stone to opening up.

“This album was a lot more personal and revealing, and Jared definitely let his guard down in a lot of ways, especially when we are playing,” Watcher said. “He opened himself up and I think that led to a more personal and revealing record.”

Amen to that.