{"id":5102,"date":"2026-07-21T20:11:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5102"},"modified":"2026-07-21T20:11:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:11:28","slug":"review-evanescence-is-at-the-height-of-its-powers-during-huge-bay-area-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5102","title":{"rendered":"Review: Evanescence is at the height of its powers during huge Bay Area show"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>Evanescence left no doubt as to what the main mission was on Monday night (July 20) at Shoreline Amphitheatre, as the multiplatinum-selling rock act devoted more than half of its winning 21-song set to\u00a0 the band\u2019s first new release in over five years.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5100\">Japanese market with DIY ramen bar readies grand opening in downtown San Jose with free giveaways<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are so many of you!\u201d Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee exclaimed at the sight of some 17,000 fans standing before her at the Mountain View venue. \u201cIt\u2019s also my extreme pleasure to finally be able to say that our album \u2018Sanctuary\u2019 is out. Thank you so much. We love you guys. Got a lot of ground to cover. Let\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Arkansas act, which Lee co-founded with former guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock in 1994 and went on to achieve massive success with the quadruple-platinum debut \u201cFallen\u201d in 2003, kicked off its 100-minute show with the new album\u2019s title track and then kept right on mining this sixth studio outing, which follows 2021\u2019s \u201cThe Bitter Truth.\u201d The band\u2019s next three offerings \u2014 \u201cTell Me When You\u2019ve Had Enough,\u201d \u201cAfterlife\u201d and \u201cRapture\u201d \u2014 all hailed from \u201cSanctuary,\u201d before the band finally zoomed back to the debut with a massive take on the goth\/nu-metal anthem \u201cGoing Under.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The extreme focus on the new album made sense in a lot of ways. First and foremost, \u201cSanctuary\u201d is an incredibly good album \u2014 easily the best the band has made since 2006\u2019s \u201cThe Open Door\u201d \u2014 and it\u2019s highly worth this kind of a showcase. Evanescence sounds inspired, revitalized and so very urgent on this record, which has a little more of an electronic edge but not enough to really feel like a departure from the kind of gothy mall rock that originally made the band popular with Hot Topic shoppers across the nation.<\/p>\n<p>And despite all the renewed love for all things early aughts \u2014 which helped Hilary Duff bring in a very different crowd (less goth, more butterfly hair clips) to Shoreline the previous week \u2014 Evanescence really seems to have no interest in being seen as simply an early 2000s nostalgia act. Lee and company clearly want to be a band that is still moving forward, still producing great new music and still capable of producing songs that stand tall next to the greatest hits.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to \u201cSanctuary\u201d \u2014 and shows like the one we saw at Shoreline \u2014 that goal has most definitely been achieved.<\/p>\n<p>Lee was her regular force of nature, showcasing her soaring vocals \u2014 which shake listeners to their very core with a mix of such unbridled strength and emotion \u2014 against the band\u2019s signature mix of orchestral-like swells and deep metal grooves. There were several occasions where Lee\u2019s voice would reach so high, or cut so deep, that it would leave one gasping in awe.<\/p>\n<p>What makes Lee\u2019s vocal work even more impactful is the way she sets it up by prefacing the songs in ways that truly connect with her audience. She comes across as part guidance counselor, part cheerleader and, more than anything else, fully caring friend as she uses the song intros to walk alongside the fans in whatever they may be going through. All of that was on full display as sat down at a long black piano and got ready to sing \u201cForever Without You,\u201d a song about coming to terms with the end of a toxic relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098\">Olivia Wilde still \u2018hurt\u2019 by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs terrifying and impossible as it may seem to take that first step out the door of a bad situation, I promise you \u2014 you are worth it,\u201d Lee told the fans with same sincerity that is found in her vocal work. \u201cYou deserve to know what you\u2019re capable of. You go into the world to find out what you\u2019re capable of. And it\u2019s better on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the band \u2014 guitarists Troy McLawhorn and Tim McCord, drummer Will Hunt and bassist Emma Anzai \u2014 was also in tip-top shape, always managing to convey the right emotive wall of sound to frame Lee\u2019s path. \u201cSanctuary\u201d is the first Evanescence to feature Anzai, who not only did solid work on the bass but also provided nice backing vocals.<\/p>\n<p>The staging was also quite impressive, with plenty of well-timed and dramatic pyrotechnics in use as well as three separate platforms that would individually lift the drum set and two guitarists into the air. It was good enough eye candy to even draw our attention away from Lee\u2019s vocals \u2014 at least momentarily \u2014 but it would never last for long as Lee\u2019s voice kept calling us back again.<\/p>\n<p>As the band charged toward the end of the set, embracing \u201cBring Me to Life,\u201d \u201cImaginary,\u201d \u201cAbout Us,\u201d \u201cWho Will You Follow\u201d and other numbers, one thing began to feel so very familiar \u2014 that usual cathartic experience one gets at an Evanescence show.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s as if Lee is howling not just for her own pain, worries and confusion \u2014 but for all of ours. And then, time and time again, she\u2019d leads us right back to hope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen (expletive) gets hard, when you feel scared later \u2014 tomorrow, next week, next month \u2014 when you feel alone, when you feel like the whole world is crazy, remember this,\u201d Lee said in reference to the experience that the fans and the band were having on this night. \u201cThis is what is real. This is who we really are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Evanescence setlist:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. \u201cSanctuary\u201d<br \/>\n2. \u201cTell Me When You\u2019ve Had Enough\u201d<br \/>\n3. \u201cAfterlife\u201d<br \/>\n4. \u201cRapture\u201d<br \/>\n5. \u201cGoing Under\u201d<br \/>\n6. \u201cLithium\u201d<br \/>\n7. \u201cLike You\u201d<br \/>\n8. \u201cSelf Destruct\u201d<br \/>\n9. \u201cCalm Down\u201d<br \/>\n10. \u201cCall Me When You\u2019re Sober\u201d<br \/>\n11. \u201cBeautiful Lie\u201d<br \/>\n12. \u201cWasted on You\u201d<br \/>\n13. \u201cForever Without You\u201d<br \/>\n14. \u201cBring Me to Life\u201d<br \/>\n15. \u201cImaginary\u201d<br \/>\n16. \u201cBetter Without You\u201d<br \/>\n17. \u201cAbout Us\u201d<br \/>\n18. \u201cFight Like a Girl\u201d<br \/>\n19. \u201cWho Will You Follow\u201d<br \/>\n20. \u201cMy Immortal\u201d<br \/>\n21. \u201cWide Open Heart\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5096\">82-year-old Bay Area man accused of attempted murder<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amy Lee and Evanescence highlight new album &#8220;Sanctuary&#8221; in front of massive crowd at Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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