Evanescence concert more the Amy Lee show at Comerica

Think about it: Evanescence was "Twilight" before "Twilight" was cool.

 

The gloomy-goth-girl-not-getting-sex deal, the Addams Family-lettered logo, the videos and album covers drained of any hot reds and yellows. It was all there in 2003 when Evanescence hit the streets with "Fallen," an album that went on to sell more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone.

Now, with a new album just out mere days ago, a self-titled effort more about branding the Evanescence name than exploding it into a bold new direction, one wondered if the fans would come out for yet another reheating of the formula.

One needn't have worried. Moms with teen daughters in slutty Beetlejuice outfits were there at Comerica Theatre on Friday, Oct. 14. So were a surprising number of dudes chanting "Amy! Amy!" like it was "The Jerry Springer Show" back from a commercial break. Also out in force were young women almost 10 years removed from the "Fallen" years, seemingly there more to relive a memory with an old friend who got them through a tough time than to make any new associations.

It's a tough tightrope to walk and Evanescence succeeded.

No matter how many times the name Evanescence flashed on the screen like a not-very-subtle subliminal message, this was the Amy Lee show beginning, middle and end. Consider that not one musician is afforded more than a few perfunctory seconds to show their mettle (or nu-metal, as it were) before Lee's operatic pipes intercede. Her voice is their sound and only trademarkable feature, whether it's juxtaposed against heavy metal riffing or standalone piano and she is singing virtually non-stop in this 16-song set.

The crowd matched her stamina, remaining on their feet through the whole show, even the balladeer junctures in the show where people who want to sit usually do.

Rocking a lot harder than you might expect, they opened boldly with the new headbanger of a single "What You Want," the first of eight songs from the new album (that's exactly half of the show for you mathematical slackers not keeping score).

The biggest shrieks came when the piano movers made their first appearance and wheeled a baby grand onstage for "Lost in Paradise."

"Thank you; we love you very much too," Lee answered, rather businesslike, as if she were Tracy Flick running for class president a third time. It's with this pianissimo material that you realize why the Goth girls and boys love Amy Lee - everything she sings is black and white with no grey areas of ambiguity, no shades of irony or off-colored humor. Really, when your heart is broken, you want a song that's as idea driven as "My Heart is Broken" to carry you through and that's what she delivers.

Not being a show where audience participation is necessary or even solicited from Lee, people worked out their own involvement, like the 30-ish woman a few rows ahead of me, contorting herself in order to sing "I know what's wrong with me" just like Lee.

"I hope everyone comes back from the bathroom in time," Lee joked when she returned alone onstage for the encores. No worries; Evanescence arrived just in time to supply the bombast when needed for "Your Star" and "My Immortal."

And then it was over. I can't recall ever seeing a concert audience disassemble out into the streets so quietly, not unlike a movie audience content to just let everything sink in.

In that quiet time, they might recall what they thought of The Pretty Reckless, the middle opener from New York City. The fact that it's 2011 and we no longer even talk about women in rock as being a novel thing went out the window during their prehistoric heavy metal set. And you've got to tip your hat to the fact that they have you thinking in those terms again. Part of you thinks this could be cool post-millennial hipster irony, that a female lead singer, Taylor Momsen of "Gossip Girl" fame, can come out dressed in lingerie like some Apollonia 6 escapee singing Pat Benatar sex-kitten songs and still expect to be taken seriously. The other part of you feels like you've been shoved into a time machine to the year 1981 and you're looking for a time portal somewhere so you don't have to spend the rest of the night listening to bands in spandex whose names end in double xx's and zz's.

Evanescence' Set List

"What You Want"

"Going Under"

"The Other Side"

"Weight of the World"

"The Change"

"Made of Stone"

"Lost in Paradise"

"My Heart Is Broken"

"Lithium"

"Sick"

"Oceans"

"Call Me When You're Sober"

"Imaginary"

"Bring Me to Life"

Encore:

"Your Star"

"My Immortal"

Source: azcentral.com