Evanescence : NEC, Birmingham 22nd May 2004

After completing a successful sell out tour last year, Evanescence decided to raise the stakes on their return, by playing in arenas this time around instead of the usual intimate venues that they would normally play.


First of all, it was easy to see that the Birmingham NEC hadn’t quite sold out - don’t get me wrong there was plenty of atmosphere but you had plenty of room to move around whilst headbanging. This was a stark contrast to last years tour because in the intimate venues you had barely enough room to move your hands. Apart from the loss of intimacy between performer and audience, the only other problem was the lack of screens, surely screens are a standard requirement whilst doing an arena tour?

So apart from those little annoying differences, the actual show was as entertaining as ever. Amy Lee was looking particularly wonderful, and since last year she seems to have gained so much confidence on stage that she can now compete with the best female performers in the business.


Musically the band were tight and faultless, and the sound was crystal clear. The stage lighting was dazzlingly colourful, and suited the mood of every song. Admittedly Evanescence didn’t have a new album to promote and so it was all the usual songs from ‘Fallen’. However they do have a new single to promote called ‘Everybody’s Fool’, which was obviously included in the set.

They demonstrated that they are able to pull off arena shows with almost no effort. But however great it was to see Evanescence again, I felt that they should have waited until they had a new album to promote, as they would have been able to play material that wasn’t just from ‘Fallen’.


Still, one of the best live bands around. However, I personally preferred them when they were playing intimate venues.

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