Evanescence, The Beautiful Monument @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 28/8/2023
It has been a long time since Evanescence have been in Adelaide (well 2007 in fact) so the old adage that absence makes the heart grow folder holds true. Even more so that the show had been completely sold out for quite some time. Absolutely masterstroke by Destroy All Lines and no doubt this tour will go down as one of 2023’s best.
Powerful, emotive and intense are some of the words to describe the phenomenal performance by Evanescence who are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their debut album Fallen. Old fans, new fans… who could complain about this experience, it had everything and more. The production was right up there with the best of them and vocalist Amy Lee sounds incredible serving as another reminder about why we fell in love with this band to begin with.
Opening act The Beautiful Monument relished in the opportunity to play on the big stage looking right at home. From humble beginnings this band has really grown in stature playing a commanding set to well and truly warm the stage. Singer Lizi Blanco made the statement “we are The Beautiful Monument and we hail from everywhere’. Plenty of killer songs in their set including Invisible, Manifestation, Deceiver, Burn, Give Up, latest single Misery, Stay and Hellbound. Take note, we’ll be hearing a lot more of The Beautiful Monument.
For a Monday night the atmosphere was more like a Friday and as the walk on track Killing In The Name Of by Rage Against The Machine was blaring through the PA the crowd went hyper as the lights dimmed. Broken Pieces got the show off to a barnstorming start. Evanescence are an incredible band with Tim McCord (guitar), Troy McLawhorn (guitar), Will Hunt (drums), Emma Anzai (bass) and fronted by Amy Lee (vocals) makes for a formidable line up. For the next ninety minutes fan were treated to some of the very best moments of Evanescence.
Going Under and Take Cover followed before the Triple Threat Medley which included Lose Control, Part Of Me and Never Go Back. Awesome way to cover a lot of songs and keep the fans happy hearing their favs. Call Me When You’re Sober and Lithium were big moments in the set with Amy saying you can’t have the light without the dark and take the good with the bad and emphasising the connection with their fans. Far From Heaven was incredible and tugged at the heart strings and Amy Lee on piano is sublime. The great songs kept coming with Better Without You, Imaginary and Wasted On You.
Amy spoke of something being missing in the band which led to bass player Emma Anzai (formerly of the Sick Puppies) joining the band and strengthening that Australia connection. The End Of The Dream Medley was epic! Wowsers! Haunted, My Last Breath, Cloud Nine, Everybody’s Fool, Weight Of The World and Whisper was off the hook. Take nothing away from Use My Voice and Blind Belief which were also amazing.
With the end approaching Amy’s words resonated with the crowd as she spoke about so much happening since their last visit and all the worry that we need to live in the moment with the Adelaide show being a ‘fucking great moment and our love runs deep for Australia’. The show lifted another couple of gears with big singles My Immortal and Bring Me To Life. This is one of those shows not to have missed and for those who did there will be nothing worse than hearing how awesome it was from someone who did.
Live Review By Rob Lyon