Think Hippie: "One life, one love, live."

Switzerland, the land of fine wine, wealth, cheese, and chocolate… a neutral country split into three different cultures… a country where I saw Thirty Seconds to Mars for the third time at Paleo Festival in Nyon.

I packed my bag and hopped on a plane with my two best friends and before I knew it found myself in Geneva in torrential rain trying to find our hotel, wondering what on earth Jared Leto would think if he were to know what three crazy English girls were doing just to see a show. This was a trip I’d been waiting for since November (when I saw them last) and I was desperate for a Thirty Seconds to Mars fix, and the fact that The Black Keys were following Mars’ show was a bonus that was beyond anything I could have hoped for.

The Black Keys were something else… If you haven’t seen them live, do it! They sound identical to their records, and hearing them play is incredible, they are so talented and I literally had so much fun dancing around to their set. They played ‘Lonely Boy’ and we did the dance, and they played Fever, which was my favourite to hear live, I seriously love that song. Dan Auerbach is a rock god and his music is like heaven. I will definitely be going to see them when they come to England because their shows leave you feeling so happy and on cloud nine. I would honestly recommend anyone to go and see them live if they can, their music sounds so unbelievable live.

Paleo festival itself was such a pretty festival, so fancy and so colourful; I’ve never experienced anything like it. In England our festivals are so mucky and so trashy in comparison. Not that I’m necessarily complaining, there’s something comforting about trashy... I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a weird festival and place in general, I found it so different from what I had expected, and I found the fans at the festival so different as well. Switzerland is super expensive but so pretty, everywhere has mountains as a backdrop, and the Old Town in Geneva is so gorgeous. I could happily hang out in Old Town for a few months, it had such a chilled out vibe and I really didn’t want to come home.

Going to this festival with my two best friends was the best decision in the world, they literally made this trip. I have honest to god never laughed so much in my whole life, I had tears streaming down my face the majority of the time we spent there, and I love them all the more for it. Being with people you love, for the band you love is to me what life is all about. We made some amazing memories and I will treasure those two girls for the rest of my life.

Now onto Mars: visualise, me sick with excitement, covered in glitter, sitting at the gate ready to run for our front row spot. We arrived at the festival at one in the afternoon, gates didn’t open until four but we wanted to be on the barrier for the show, we had barely slept, barely eaten anything, and we were buzzed. We met two Swiss girls who were absolutely mental in the best kind of way, they were so funny and so friendly, (as is in the Echelon’s nature), and we chatted about how much we love Shannon Leto, and how much of a cool cat Tomo is, and what our favourite Jared hair is… It was the best feeling to be with the Echelon, when you’re all together before a show, so excited and all on exactly the same page it makes you feel indestructible. They opened the barriers and we all ran for it (I almost died of embarrassment) but we got our place on the barrier right in front of the stage and that was all that mattered!

When you’re waiting for Thirty Seconds to Mars to come on stage there is a crackling energy in the air, like everyone has taken a collective breath and is waiting on the edge of a cliff to hear the first strings of ‘Birth’. And when you do, your mind goes blank and you start screaming without realising it, your body shakes and you’re grinning from ear to ear. Tomo literally is hands down the coolest guy in the world, he just always looks sick and he’s so freaking funny! Jared was there in all his splendour, rocking a crown and giving off the most incredible energy, and Shannon… oh my god, Shannon… We were all so happy to see him laughing and playing in his element where he belongs; it felt like such a gift to see all three of them together on stage playing and loving life. It gives so many people so much faith and motivation and during their set you leave earth and you float around in heaven. For me personally Kings and Queens and Closer to the Edge stick out the most, City of Angels made me want to cry - obviously – and Jared’s acoustic set was one of the best I’ve ever seen, even though it was short, his voice was so on point, so unbelievably good.

I have to complain a bit now… Never will you ever hear me complaining about Thirty Seconds to Mars, for me they are life, but the Swiss/French crowds are not something I want to experience again. During Mars’ final song, ‘Up in the Air’ Jared (as we all know) gets people from the crowd onto the stage, and obviously everyone goes mental because we all want a chance. Being at the barrier we had thousands of people behind us, and of course I expected to be crushed against it, its going to happen, but during ‘Up in the Air’ things got way too out of hand and I seriously couldn’t breathe. Girls were fainting left right and centre. Guys were bruising me and girls were climbing on top of me to get over the barrier even if Jared hadn’t picked them. At one point Jared even stopped and said to the crowd to stop and take two steps backwards, which shows you how out of hand things were when Jared usually asks the crowd to get cosier and take two steps forwards! At the time it felt like hell, but when I look back on it (all bruises aside) I wouldn’t change a second of it because I got to see Mars again and that is literally the most important thing. I don’t get a feeling of pure euphoria from anything else like I do from Mars and the show they played was amazing as always.

To so many Echelon Mars is so much more than just a band, and to a lot of people it’s hard to understand why. Okay so you seem a bit crazy when you travel all the way to Switzerland for a concert, but don’t knock it til’ you try it. I defy anyone to go to a Mars concert and not come away feeling so high and hyped. Jared reminds me every day to follow my dreams, no matter how small or huge they are, to keep going and to live life to the fullest, and to be happy and that’s so important. I don’t think it matters where you get that motivation from, but the Echelon find it in Mars and we are a family. I’m pretty good with words and I can’t sum up the way they make me feel. Its like knowing someone will be there for you no matter what, even if Jared, Shannon and Tomo were having a hard time themselves, they still go out almost every night and perform as if its their last show, they give us everything they’ve got and they are such an inspiration. So call me crazy, because I won’t care, I have Mars and they’ve got me and the people who get it are the ones who matter.

Thirty Seconds to Mars = life.