‘WELCOME TO THE HANGAR!’ declared frontwoman Amy Lee, as Evanescence took off, full throttle, at the Port Melbourne Industrial Centre for the Arts (PICA) on Friday night.
As Evanescence’s opener Afterlife clicked into top gear at 8.12 PM, two thousand fans, most of whom had queued outside in the rain for hours, ascended into goth metal heaven.
Lee, alongside guitarists Tim McCord and Troy McLawhorn, drummer Will Hunt and Aussie bassist Emma Anzai, ripped through a blistering 19 songs in under two hours, a veritable time capsule of heavy metal hits and rock ballads, spanning the band’s discography from Fallen (2003) to The Bitter Truth (2021).
PICA was tightly packed and roiling with hard core Evanescence fans, evoking a similar scene depicted in the band’s Going Under music video from twenty years ago.
Evanescence
- When: Friday 7 November
- Where: PICA
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The Evanescence clip famously starts with Lee sitting in a make up chair rasping: ‘Now I will tell you what I’ve done for you…’, before proceeding onstage to perform to an adoring, demonically possessed audience.
Lee’s legions arrived on Friday night similarly spellbound and dressed to the nines, from black eyeliner to buckleboots, studs and leather and everything in between. They poured in from everywhere. Fans Sarah and Amanda drove from Ballarat, Brooke flew from Tassie. Two lucky fans, Lisa and Amy, got barrier and were soon belting out ballads with Amy’s namesake, just feet away.
The last-minute venue upgrade to PICA retained the intimacy that was promised originally. During one pause between songs, as the pitter-patter of rain fell on the corrugated iron roof, Lee declared: ‘Melbourne – this is a sanctuary!’. For die-hard fans, truer words were never spoken. There was simply no better place to be.
At 8.45PM Lee, taking her seat at the piano remarked ‘We’re pretty stoked to be here!’ before launching into the fan-favourite Lithium from The Open Door (2006). Then came some newer Evanescence songs, including ‘Fight Like A Girl’. At the stroke of nine Lee rallied the crowd with: ‘Remember we are in this together and we are powerful!’ before launching into the politically charged ‘Use My Voice’.
At about half nine Lee announced: ‘We’re coming round the bend – we only have two songs left!’. The anticipation was palpable. Everyone knew what was coming. Lee sat solo on the piano for My Immortal, the crowd raising their torches and singing along before McCord, McLawhorn, Hunt and Anzai rejoined Lee on stage to deliver the crushing crescendo of the final chorus.
The best was saved for last. Lee started tinkling the keys for ‘Bring Me To Life’ and fans joined her en masse for the intro: ‘How can you see into my eyes. Like open doors…’. This song was the band’s first mainstream single released in January 2003. Back then, in the blink of an eyebrow piercing, Evanescence was propelled into the metal stratosphere and Lee into rock goddess immortality. It was a fitting finale.
Then Evanescence took a bow, tossed drumsticks and guitar picks into the crowd and passed out of site, fading into the night. We had just heard one of the most distinctive and breathtakingly beautiful voices in modern music. So prolific is Lee’s voice, it continues to breathe new life into nostalgic hits two decades on.
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