Evanescence - Manchester Arena - 6th November 2012 (Live Review)
Thursday, 08 November 2012
Written by Sadie Walton
Evanescence has come a long way since it was comprised of two best friends jamming in bookstores and coffee shops around Little Rock, Arkansas in the mid-nineties. Today, they have sold a whopping 23 million albums despite numerous line-up changes and the departure of a founding member. This is 100% due to the fact that without lead vocalist, performer, song writer and classically trained pianist Amy Lee, Evanescence would undoubtedly be just another rock band, gigging and fervently refuting their Christian roots. Keeping her shining brightly at the core of the band is utterly crucial; her band know this, her label knows this, she knows this.
This is even more evident on stage than it is on any one of their three studio albums. The second Evanescence swagger onto stage and the band take their positions behind guitar, bass and drums, Lee’s bouncing entrance to front centre leaves the audience in absolutely no doubt as to who controls the show. She launches ferociously into 'What You Want', leading her band effortlessly with her long, jet black hair swinging as she marches around the stage hurling lyrics from her iron lungs into the audience, who respond wildly. Her pitch perfect performance sees her become the very embodiment of the goth rock princess, holding court in her arena of adoring denizens.
She careers into 'Going Under', one of Evanescence’s signature tracks which give the rest of the band a chance to showcase just how heavy they can be. With textbook rip roaring nu-metal riffs juxtaposing Amy’s incredible operatic voice, Evanescence are technically perfect. The five-piece continue with ferocity, belting out 'Weight of the World' and 'My Last Breath' before a piano is wheeled on stage to enable the performance of more reflective tracks, including 'Lithium'. This performance immediately stood head and shoulders above anything performed thus far, with Lee’s classical training shining through. However, it wasn't just Lee that made 'Lithium' stand out. The musical arrangement of this track was note perfect and delivered superbly by all members, proving that the rest of the band is so much more than just an appendage to Lee’s admittedly outstanding vocals.
Stand out tracks of the night were – as fans of the band would probably guess – 'Bring Me To Life', which saw an explosive on stage performance that had the whole crowd animated with glee, and the beautiful, haunting 'My Immortal'. Lee appropriately introduced this (their final track of the night) by declaring they would, “end with the one that started it all,” referring clearly to the fact that the signing of Evanescence to their first record label was due to a raw, early demo performance of this track. Fast-forward 15 years later, and the haunting melody still has the ability to send shivers up the spine of an arena full of fans, generating a reflective but appreciative frenzy as the climax of the set saw a cannon full of glitter fired into the air to wild applause.
All in all, Evanescence’s performance was exactly what would be expected of an American rock band. Perfectly timed (they came on stage at precisely 9.30pm and left at 10.57pm), perfectly choreographed and technically flawless from the drummer’s drumstick theatrics to Amy’s emotive, pitch perfect wailing. However, despite the high technical scores, they do lose a few points for raw emotion. The performance came across as slightly mechanical and clockwork – almost as if it was box ticking rock by numbers. It was just a little too perfect in some ways, lacking that little bit of humanity, humility and raw passion which fans desire to see in their rock and roll stars. Yes, they have the swagger, the talent and the ability – but has the passing of time lost them the ruggedness and the zeal which led to the creation of masterpieces like 'My Immortal'?
For the sake of accessible, classic goth rock nu-metal fans everywhere, let’s hope this is not the case.
Evanescence continue their UK tour tonight in Birmingham, before concluding in London tomorrow.
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This is even more evident on stage than it is on any one of their three studio albums. The second Evanescence swagger onto stage and the band take their positions behind guitar, bass and drums, Lee’s bouncing entrance to front centre leaves the audience in absolutely no doubt as to who controls the show. She launches ferociously into 'What You Want', leading her band effortlessly with her long, jet black hair swinging as she marches around the stage hurling lyrics from her iron lungs into the audience, who respond wildly. Her pitch perfect performance sees her become the very embodiment of the goth rock princess, holding court in her arena of adoring denizens.
