With some 3,000 screaming fans at its recent concert, the band proves it still has what it takes to rock, writes Jennifer Thomas
EVANESCENCE Live In Malaysia was a dramatic gothic rock concert which almost blew the rooftop off KL Live. With 3,000 die-hard fans packing the venue, the screams of delight at times overpowered the sound system.
Band members Amy Lee, William Mc-Lawhorn, Will Hunt, Tim McCord and Terrence Balsamo performed their hit singles including What You Want from their latest album and others such as My Immortal, Bring Me To Life and Going Under.
Frontwoman Lee remains one of modern rock’s leading women after skyrocketing the band to stardom in 2003 with Bring Me To Life.
“We are definitely a rock band but our music is epic, dramatic, dark rock,” said Lee in an interview before the show.
The 30-year-old is a pianist-vocalist and “occasionally plays the harp at home... in a quiet corner of the house,” she said.
“This is our first visit to Malaysia and we are glad to meet our fans here. We’ve been to Japan many times, but not anywhere else in Asia. I’d been talking about how cool it’d be to see more of Asia but we just didn’t have the time,” she said.
The band released its first album Fallen in 2003, spawning four singles at the top of the charts. It also won Best New Artiste and Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards that year. A year later, it released its first live album, Anywhere But Home and a studio album, The Open Door in 2006.
Lee’s recent four-year hiatus reflects the meaning of the band, which, in her words are “something that dissipates like vapour”.
On her absence, Lee explains that she had had no time for a proper relationship. She has married her old-time friend and therapist Josh Hartzler. The break also enabled her to rediscover herself and write songs.
Returning to the industry, Lee and her band mates released its self-titled album, its third studio album, in 2011.
Lee said: “We had a great time working with well-known producer Nick Raskulinecsz.” (Raskulinecsz has also worked with Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson, Trivium, Deftones and Velvet Revolver).
Touching on the changes in the band, Lee assures that “I am happy with the current members”.
The highlight of her career? “Playing at the Noble Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, two months ago, which totally overwhelmed me as it was about changing the world. We felt so honoured to be there.”
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