Evanescence cranks it up at noisy Royal Oak show
Adam Graham/ Detroit News Pop Music Writer
Everything with Evanescence is always turned up to 12: its crunchy metal riffs; its big, dramatic piano accompaniments; Amy Lee’s towering, over-the-top vocals.
The band packed all of it into its sold-out concert at the Royal Oak Music Theatre Monday, armed with a light show equipped for a venue twice the theater’s size and a 16-song set that never slowed down or let up — sometimes to its detriment — during its 80-minute running time.
Perhaps the group was overcompensating. While little with Evanescence remains constant — after several shifts in personnel, Lee now is the sole remaining original member of the group — the group’s sound remains ardently the same.
And the formula is still a success: Evanescence’s self-titled third set is currently the No. 1 album in the country. (Following Adele in May and J. Cole earlier this month, Monday marked the third time this year the Royal Oak Music Theatre has hosted an artist while they sat atop Billboard’s album chart.)
The album is Evanescence’s first since 2006’s “The Open Door,” but it traffics in precisely the same territory as the band’s two previous efforts. Listening to the band Monday, all the songs sort of coalesced into one big cluster of riff-heavy gothic metal, with a slight New Age-y twist. Meanwhile, Lee’s constant vocal emoting — she’s always singing like the peak of a Mariah Carey song — makes it a wonder she doesn’t require more time off in between shows.
Lee is an enthusiastic performer, constantly running back and forth on stage, bending forward and twisting to the side while pushing out her vocals. But her energy can’t make up for her lack of charisma, and her excitement doesn’t match the darker themes of many of the songs. Lee’s cheeriness when addressing the crowd is like an actor stopping in the middle of a serious monologue to tell a joke.
But her pipes are undeniably powerful, and carry the group beyond its rather generic Creed-style riffage. And the group’s finer moments pack a punch – show-closer “My Immortal” is still a powerful, beautiful piano ballad, and new song “Oceans” was a highlight — amid the dirge of sameness from much of its material.
Evanescence can do big, but it could benefit from a bit of downsizing. Even if it turned it down to, say, 8, it could learn that being the loudest isn’t always the best way to make noise.
The Pretty Reckless — fronted by bombshell singer-actress Taylor Momsen — opened the show with a set of competent, pop-friendly hard rock, though the group’s cover of White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” was a risk it needn’t have taken, especially on a stage the Stripes have graced before.
agraham@detnews.com
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