Evanescence streamed a "virtual live concert" tonight, from Nashville, California, and Germany. The entire show was excellent!🎵🎸🎹
Amy Lee and the band have returned to the "traditional rock" format, but their new hard-driving music continues to be innovative, brilliantly crafted, and superbly performed.⭐💥
The video presentation features shining individual moments from every member of the band: Jen Majura in Germany backing Amy's vocals and playing guitar, Troy McLawhorn also on guitar in the studio in Nashville, Will Hunt bringing rhythmic energy and precision on drums (Nashville), and Tim McCord doing the bass from California.
Ordinarily, on stage, the powerful voice and virtuoso musicianship of singer-songwriter, keyboardist, pianist, and creative genius Amy Lee dominates the show. The video allocates the musical space differently, and illustrates well the coherence, durability, and breadth of talent of the whole current band lineup (which with one exception has remained consistent for more than a decade).
Still, Amy's creative leadership and charisma are everywhere apparent. In addition to singing lead vocals on all the songs with her inimitable expansive range and depth of tone, Amy also presents the final two songs alone, accompanied only by the piano she plays so beautifully.
Moreover, before the concert, she spent a half hour answering pre-submitted questions, discussing the challenges of the past year and the upcoming new album. As ever, she was articulate and cheerful when speaking - seemingly quite different from the melancholic intensity of her songs.
The big dramatic Evanescence style has a quality analogous to Opera, in that it treats much of the "twilight" themes related to sorrow, tragedy, disappointment, loss, anger, and seemingly irresolvable conflict. But the music, especially, suggests a persistence of hope. It has a "dark" character, but the twilight here is the one that usually signals the coming of the dawn.
An audience from all over the world watched this virtual show from wherever they happened to be. Listeners of my age and condition appreciated this kind of accessibility. There were nothing but "good seats" for everyone.
