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This week I got one of the biggest surprises I’ve received from a rock show in a while. No, it was not some ramshackle experimentalists summoning up some voodoo on the cement floor of the Red Star or some eardrum-blasting cannon being fired from the stage at Spanish Moon. Nope, this happened at the Texas Club, the mammoth hangar of a club known more for its male stripper nights and the errant new country show. Since neither are really my bag, I’d never ventured down Donmoor off Florida, but of all people, Jared Leto made the trip worth while. The former-and-current heartthrob actor has been pushing his 30 Seconds to Mars band for over a year now, becoming quite a formidable unit, unlike the vanity projects of Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves.

I worried that I had accidentally driven through some sort of time-bending wormhole by the Honeybaked Ham store, because when I pushed my way into the throngs, opening act Kill Hannah was running through a remarkably accurate version of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.” I half expected a motorcycle to come tearing through the tarp bearing their logo any second. This proved to be their second or third to last song, the rest sounding like outtakes from Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 tsunami of a record Pretty Hate Machine. As a general rule, I’m not much into nostalgia. I know everything comes in cycles and I am reaching a full revolution of the wheel in age, but the current state of new wave revivalism, with some exceptions, leaves me pretty cold. Given the last headline act 104.5 and 104.9, 104 the X put its name behind was the cartoonishly bad She Wants Revenge, I did not have the highest hopes for the show Thursday.

After The X’s deejays whipped the crowd into a frenzy the man of the hour appeared among the strains of Carl Orff’s "Carmina Burana" and a supernova of strobe lights. Leto and his band kicked into feedback drenched number after number with the light show all but inducing seizures. Musically, 30 Seconds to Mars is above average, sounding like what would’ve happened had Judd Nelson, fingerless gloves and all, high jacked Simple Minds at the end of The Breakfast Club and tasked them with saving the world. In other words, it was a bit overwrought, but still serviceable. The thing that made the show transcend from the “I am watching an actor’s band” moment was Leto’s unbridled showmanship. I have never seen anyone work a crowd like Leto did that evening. None of the mock-casual how-ya-doin here, Jared Leto was looking to lead us into a bright new tomorrow. I loved it. I see a ton of concerts and I had forgotten how powerful a good front man could be, particularly one with a giant ego and willingness to project that ego over a thousand people in front of him.

He was a class act throughout the night, thanking the soundman by name and never letting anything but a desire to give us the best rock show he could in his character. “Baton Rouge, I want you to f***ing sing this with me,” he bellowed at one point and everyone did. I talked with a colleague not long ago about the amazing Flaming Lips show at Voodoofest, about how great it was that someone had come to put on a show, and while Jared Leto is no Wayne Coyne in the songwriting department, he is as good or better a showman. We’ve elected much worse actors to public office. Why not elect Jared Leto as the people’s pop star?

Also it bears mentioning that the show started at 8 p.m. as advertised and I was home by 11 p.m., which is practically impossible otherwise in this town. Kudos to the Texas Club, I hope you start putting on more shows.

Come on feel the noise

Wednesday, December 13: Blue Eclipse is at the Spanish Moon.

Thursday, December 14: Zenbilly with Giant Bear and Juan Prophet are at the Red Star. Another Big Machine is doing an acoustic show at the Caterie. The Darkroom hosts Before…There was Rosalyn, Death to Juliet, Rest a While and Rural Route Nine. Willis Delony displays his mix of jazz and classical piano at the Manship Theatre.

Friday, December 15: Copa Cabana is at the Red Star. Elsah is at Chelsea’s Cafe. Zenbilly is playing a Katrina benefit concert at the Varsity Theatre with Phillip Hawke, The Lazarus Heart, The Black Box and others. Righteous Buddha is at the Spanish Moon. No Fuego and Speed of Sound are at North Gate Tavern. Nothing More, Pandemic and J Remy are at Clicks. Another Big Machine rocks it up at the Caterie. This Once Was a Beautiful City return to the Darkroom with a slew of metal and hardcore bands in tow.

Saturday, December 16: Six Pack Deep is at North Gate Tavern. Southern Backtones and Epic are at the Spanish Moon. Hippie, Swords at Sundown, Six Foot Shallow and Echelon are at the Darkroom. Mower and Echelon are at Click’s. The Pine Leaf Boys are at Chelsea’s Café.

Tuesday, December 19: Heather Sewell Day’s “All My Favorite Things” is at Chelsea’s Cafe. DJ iExist throws down a hip-hop night at Click’s.