Report of Riccardo Plata
Picture of Moon La Chimia
In the hottest month of the year on the concert front – between AC/DC, Metallica, Green Day and Bring Me The Horizon, just to mention the biggest ones – there is also room for the return to Milan of Evanescence, whose task it is to inaugurate Fiera Milano Live in the Rho Fiera area.
Between the pavilions and the Ferris wheel, the large space is well set up with a giant stage, the usual pit (with attached dedicated bathrooms) and numerous stands, albeit also in this case with the inconvenience of tokens. From our position in the pit the visual and sound performance is excellent, but, given the smaller audience compared to the events mentioned above, the view is also guaranteed for those further back, thanks also to two large screens positioned at the sides of the stage.
With an eye on the Weather App (also mindful of the storm that blew up Polyphia at the Carroponte only twenty-four hours earlier), we arrive in time to attend the Atwood performance, announced somewhat quietly a few days before the event, but well received by a still small but warm audience despite the rain.
With their mix of styles (alternative, pop, hard rock, electro) the ATWOOD they are the perfect appetizer for this evening and, even if the setup is logistically disproportionate for the trio, which barely occupies half the stage, in terms of stage presence and sound performance the Milanese band, after a moment of understandable emotion, puts in shows excellent entertainment skills, with singer Alice able to foment a warm audience despite a climate that is not exactly summery.
Also noteworthy is the rhythmic and scenographic contribution of the drummer Simone, who compensates for the lack of the bass on stage, while the guitarist Daniele is able to juggle more delicate arpeggios and some more sustained riffs, in line with their positioning than at the time of their We defined our debut EP as halfway between X Factor and a metal festival.
Updating the DYI spirit to the age of social media, the singer Alice, in addition to brushing the notes of “Parallel Lines” with her mezzo-soprano vocalizations, also shows notable skills as a barker (including invitations to tag videos of the show on social media and framing the giant QR code on the sheet that refers to the band’s merch), until the definitive consecration on the notes of the final “Dangerous”, the last single sung loudly by the public and repeated surprisingly in an unexpected encore after the usual photos.
As the sun sets and the clouds become more and more threatening, just after nine o’clock, the notes of “Killing In The Name” by Rage Against The Machine, intro by Rage Against The Machine, come out at full volume from the speakers. EVANESCENCE who enter the stage as Tom Morello’s last note fades away: the wall of sound from the opening “Broken Piece Shine” is remarkable, as is the vocal power released by Amy Lee who is decidedly on the ball and well supported by a band of first-rate.
The honorable mention certainly goes to the drummer Will Hunt (someone will also remember him as a session musician for Vasco Rossi a decade ago), able to catch the eye thanks to a NWOBHM look as well as for the tightrope walking behind the skins, but also the Australian bassist Emma Anzai actively contributes to the second voices, without ever stealing the show from the protagonist; the more secluded stage presence of the two guitarists Troy McLawhorn and Tim McCord, veterans of the alternative / nu metal scene and the rhythmic column of the band for almost twenty years.
The choice to focus heavily on the most recent material is also courageous in some ways, and so almost a third of the setlist is focused on the latest “The Bitter Truth” (released in 2021 after a twelve-year recording break), among which we especially appreciated the power of “The Game Is Over” and a “Use Your Voice” sung loudly by the entire audience.
An Evanescence concert wouldn’t be such without the presence of the ivory keys, and so the intro of “Taking Over Me” opens the way to a piano and vocal cover of “Ordinary World” by Duran Duran on which the whole band then enters band, creating an intimate moment which, thanks to the soft lights and the fine rain, continues with “My Heart Is Broken”.
However, if a large part of the audience is here tonight it is thanks to the first two historic records, “Fallen” and “The Open Door”, so in the last half hour the number of cell phones raised increases dramatically to resume the timeless “Going Under” and the explosive “Call Me When You’re Sober”, made even more epic by the increasingly pouring rain; without encore, the best comes at the end with “My Immortal” and “Bring Me To Life”, in the now usualband version‘ (without rapped parts, imposed at the time by the record company to ride the nu metal trend).
The fans of the first hour would probably have appreciated a few more minor classics, such as “Torniquet” or “Lithium”, but, beyond personal tastes, we can talk about an excellent show, with an Amy Lee if possible even more galvanized by the storm and an audience perhaps not very numerous but more involved than ever. For those who were there, an evening to remember and not just for the rain.
EVANESCENCE
