It was not a long wait after Lilith wrapped up with "Anarchy" that Halestorm came on, and while I will say that there is only a small handful of Halestorm songs that I like, they definitely did put on a good show. I love frontwoman Lzzy Hale's wild and chaotic energy, and highlights of their set included "Love Bites (So Do I)," "I Miss the Misery" (which they closed with), and, of course, "Break In." "Break In" was my favorite part of Halestorm's set not only because I love the song - a beautiful and haunting piano ballad in which the speaker is thanking someone for being their rock - but also because Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee came out and joined Lzzy on vocals, which I totally expected would likely happen given that the two have not only done so countless times in the past but also because Halestorm re-recorded the song in the studio with her. (You can watch my video recording of the performance here.) I really liked how they encouraged audience participation when they did "I Miss the Misery," which was one of the main reasons why, as I said, it was one of their set's highlights. I also enjoyed Arejay Hale (Lzzy's brother)'s drum solo which was very impressive (and he was very easy on the eyes too). I overall enjoyed their set, and, as I said, they did put on a good show. With that being said, however, I, as I said, only like a handful of Halestorm's songs. I saw someone say in an Evanescence fan group on Facebook that while they don't hate Halestorm, they didn't love their set when they saw them with Evanescence because Lzzy Hale is a rock star through and through and doesn't have the range or as many facets as Amy Lee does, and I completely agree. (The idea here, of course, is not to pit these two women against each other in any way whatsoever; they're very close friends which is awesome. All that I am saying is that I vastly prefer Evanescence as a band and that I prefer Amy's vocals and style.) I was surprised, however, that Halestorm's set wasn't longer; with Halestorm and Evanescence co-headlining, I expected their sets to be about the same length, but Evanescence's was about twice as long.
After Halestorm finished their set, I heard a lot of people around me complaining that Evanescence was taking a ridiculously long time to come on, but I didn't think so. I totally understand being anxious for who you're ultimately there for to come on (especially since it was a Thursday night which meant that a lot of people had to work the following morning), but it was approximately a half-hour wait which wasn't all that long. I have been to shows at which I waited much longer than that. Anyway, when I first heard The Bitter Truth when it came out last March and listened to the transition between "Artifact / The Turn" and "Broken Pieces Shine," I just knew that that was also how shows would open when they toured for the album, and I was correct. (You can hear both songs together in one track here.) I envisioned it as such: the stage would stay mostly shrouded in darkness with only a little bit of lighting and colors as "Artifact / The Turn" played, the band not yet on stage, and only when "Broken Pieces Shine" started and that incredibly sick guitar riff came would the stage light up fully, revealing the band members and eventually Amy once she started singing the first verse, and I couldn't have been any more on the money. (Amy was at first centered and elevated in the background in shadow before making her full entrance which was very cool.) I just knew that the quiet atmospheric nature of "Artifact / The Turn" while fans anticipated the band to come on stage and then that guitar riff coming in to cut through that and actually get the show started would be a kicka** way to start the show. (Plus, Amy has said before that "Broken Pieces Shine" was essentially written as an anthem for us the fans, so it only made sense to open with it.) That countdown and opening riff at the beginning of "Broken Pieces Shine" was honestly what I was most excited for, and I was not disappointed. Before I continue discussion of the show and some of its highlights, however, I will reveal the set list. There were definitely aspects of the set list that took me by surprise while there were also a couple of aspects that disappointed me, but I will get into all of that shortly.
- Artifact / The Turn / Broken Pieces Shine
- Made of Stone
- Take Cover
- Going Under
- Lose Control
- The Change
- Lithium
- Wasted on You
- The End of the Dream
- Far from Heaven
- Better Without You
- Call Me When You're Sober
- Imaginary
- Heavy (with Lzzy Hale)
- Use My Voice
- Bring Me to Life
- My Immortal
- Blind Belief
Starting with the highlights, "Take Cover," as one would likely expect being familiar with the song, was packed with fierce and raw energy, and it seems to be a favorite of theirs to play live since they actually debuted it live several years ago long before The Bitter Truth was even conceived. There is a part of the song in The Bitter Truth version (that is not in the version that they used to do live) in which Amy sings, "...so come on inside; rest in peace!" When she sings inside, she holds the second i for several seconds in a high pitched wail, one of Amy's most impressive vocal displays thus far in her career in my opinion, and she nailed it perfectly on stage. "Going Under" was also a highlight because it's a song featuring a different vocal style than Lee usually implements, a much lower register in its verses, so it was really cool to see/hear her do that again. The transition from "Lithium" to "Wasted on You" (The Bitter Truth's lead single released a good year or so before the album was) was kind of a cool moment because while I don't know if it was intentional, it made for a pretty cool thematic parallel. In "Lithium," Lee is of course referring to the drug which acts as a mood stabilizer, usually for people who are manic-depressive. "Wasted on You" is also a metaphorical reference to drugs, with Lee telling the addressee of the song that she is wasted on them like she would be a drug. (The first line of the chorus is even "I don't need drugs.") What makes this even more interesting, however, is that on the final night of the tour (which was the night after the show that I went to) in Newark, NJ, the band followed up on "Wasted on You" with "Part of Me" which also makes a metaphorical drug reference ("I need you now like the drug keeping me alive"). Other highlights included "The End of the Dream" (especially since they combined the Synthesis version and the Evanescence version, which was a very pleasant surprise), "Heavy" (a Linkin Park cover - possibly to commemorate Chester Bennington's passing - which involved bringing Lzzy back on stage), "Use My Voice" (mainly because of how Amy involved the audience for the chanting part of the chorus), and "Bring Me to Life" (which was a highlight for me because Amy did Paul McCoy's rapping part - "All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see..." - another pleasant surprise).
I personally would have scrapped older songs such as "The Change" (especially "The Change" because that has always been one of my lesser favorites on the self-titled album) in favor of some more content from The Bitter Truth. Four songs from The Bitter Truth - "The Game Is Over," "Yeah Right" (technically another single albeit a promo single), "Feeding the Dark" (a fan favorite and one of the heaviest tracks - if not the heaviest track - on the album, so that was another surprise), and "Part of Me" were not played, with, as I said, "Part of Me" being the exclusion that disappointed me the most. I also would have loved to have heard them play band versions of "Imperfection" and/or "Hi-Lo," since, with them being the two new songs released as singles from Synthesis, a pretty recent album, it would have made sense to play at least one. With all of that being said, however, I have far more to rave about than I do to complain about and am so, so grateful that I took advantage of the opportunity to see my favorite band a second time, especially since it had been fifteen years since the first time which was far too long. They didn't lose a bit of energy and are still very much in their prime, and the stage was so colorful with really cool graphics and metaphorical images showing on a screen at its rear. Even though I totally expected this because she has been doing it for several years and did it all through the Synthesis tour, a touching moment was definitely when, right before beginning to play "My Immortal," Amy dedicated the song to us and thanked us for being there for her for as long as we have. I also got emotional during the video interlude in between "Far from Heaven" and "Better Without You." A beautiful piano piece (which is apparently appropriately titled "Time Travel" and is from the Donnie Darko score) played during a video that showcased some of the band's memorable moments over the years, and I especially got emotional when a fan was shown at a concert in the past absolutely bawling his eyes out as he sang along to a song. I knew exactly how he felt in that moment because no artist has hit me emotionally like this band has for nearly two decades now, and Evanescence is part of me, now and always.
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