PHOTO GALLERY: Evanescence and Within Temptation

Veridia, Evanescence and Within Temptation

Utilita Arena // Birmingham, England // 15 November 2022

Photos and review by Sophie Jones

After being rescheduled repeatedly due to the effects of the Covid pandemic, the long-awaited co-headline tour from two iconic rock bands finally has kicked off across the U.K. Tonight, it arrives at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena.

Veridia

Opening up the show tonight was Veridia who is an American alternative rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. Never seeing or hearing this band before, they definitely got the attention of the crowd quite quickly as Deena Jakoub worked that stage, capturing the audience’s attention with her powerful vocals and stage presence.

Evanescence

Evanescene took to the stage first with a few technical issues, it sounded like the microphone kept kicking out, causing a click sound; Amy continued to power on through her vocals, albeit this technical glitch didn’t seem to bother anyone in the room and seemed to be soon resolved for the rest of the evening.

Tonight, the audience saw Evanescence play more deep-cutting songs like “Broken Pieces Shine,” “Better Without You” and “Use My Voice” which felt very raw. Amy’s voice has always been powerful during those key moments, which just showed how versatile her vocals are. Soon, the grand piano emerged for the beautiful tribute to her late brother who died in 2018 aged 24, “Far From Heaven.”

Amy took the moment to speak with the audience to say, “I learned through this hard time to appreciate the moment we’re in. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring or if we have tomorrow, but we’re here tonight! And this is a good night, thanks for sharing it with us,” just as the crowd erupted in agreement.

Shortly after, as I stood in the audience, I took a moment to look around the room. I noticed it was eerily silent from the crowd; as I looked around the arena every person’s eyes were fixated on the stage, no phone in hand, no chattering with each other, everyone was in awe and fixated with what was happening on stage.

It was now coming to the end of the set and Amy took a moment once more to say, “LADIES!” The crowd barely responded, “GENTLEMEN” an eruption of male cheer filled the room, “I’m going to give the ladies one more chance…LADIES” before cheers and screams could be heard. Amy continued to say, “Don’t stop fighting for what is right, don’t stop fighting for each other, use your voice. The visuals on the screen behind them started playing, showcasing protests, marching and protest signs as the band performed their track “Use My Voice.”

It was now the last song of the set and the energies were only heightened when the intro started for “Going Under.” You could just about hear the mummers of the crowd singing along, but not too loudly. It seemed as if they just wanted to listen to Amy’s vocals and not drown her own; The night finished with a confetti streamer canon being set off, covering the audience in purple streamers.

Setlist:

Artifact/The Turn

Broken Pieces Shine

Made of Stone

Take Cover

Going Under

Wasted On You

Lose Control/ Part Of Me/ Never Go Back

Far From Heaven

Your Star

End of the Dream

Better Without You

Call Me When You’re Sober

Imaginary

Use My Voice

Blind Belief

My Immortal

Bring Me To Life

Within Temptation

Up next was Within Temptation; now, personally, I’d never seen or heard this band before, so I didn’t know what to expect. However, it’s safe to say they blew me away from the visuals to their performance and perfectly timed light show. It really was a feast for the eyes.

Their set started with a circular screen tilted in the middle of centre stage, low to the ground, which saw an image of Winston Churchill appear before the dry ice started bellowing in from the side of the stage. As the band members appeared in their relevant places, the pyro shot up and filled the stage with orange ambient light; this is when Sharon appeared with a crown placed upon her head, standing in-front of the said screen before it was raised to the ceiling.

From the start, the set was energetic, with everyone working every corner of the stage as pyro was set off perfectly timed to each track. Later in the set, Sharon said to audience, “If your country was invaded, would you defend it?” The crowd cheers in agreement before Sharon simply said, “I dedicate this song to Ukraine,” as she raised a Ukraine flag in her hand, swaying it back and forth as she sang, “Raise your Banner.”