Breaking Benjamin

This band has been reviewed on our site for their most recent CD. Now they've taken off on a tour of wonderful bands, in which they fit perfectly. Their set was simple but looked really good. The big black curtain that would sit behind all the bands except the last one was the background and on each side of the stage they had a big cloth piece with their new albums cover art on it. They seemed to appreciate the crowd really well and the feeling was mutual. They didn't wait real long to play the song they knew everyone would know, of course that was Polyamorous. Overall their set was really good. As short as it was, they certainly didn't seem like your typical opening act.

Three Days Grace

This isn't the first time that I went and saw this band. I saw them play back in February, and they've only gotten better since then. They took time out of their set to make sure and talk to the crowd. Their songs were more than well received by the crowd, almost everyone knew the words to almost every song. Unlike Breaking Benjamin, they waited to play their biggest hit. You couldn't tell that the song "I Hate Everything About You" was the song that has enjoyed the best mainstream success, because every other song was played just as good as that one. These guys played an excellent show and I'd certainly recommend seeing them.

Seether

You'd be pretty hard-pressed to find a band that wasn't headlining that would be better received by a crowd then the last two bands. Fortunately you wouldn't have to look, Seether was the band to do that. A huge banner was brought up in front of the black curtain that was the background of the other two bands that simply said "Seether" and had the cover art for the newest CD Disclaimer 2.

They started off the show with the song Gasoline. It was a great song to start out with because of the overall energy of it. It went along real good with the strobe lights on stage as they began their set. The third song they played was one of their hits, Driven Under. Even though the crowd was singing along with every single song they played, this one somehow the crowd sang louder for this one.

After a while they announced their gonna play their newest single, Broken. The lead singer started singing it, and there was no sign of Amy Lee who sings it with him in the new version of the song. Then the refrain started and she entered, wearing regular looking clothes, a white T-shirt and blue jeans and they sang the song together. As Amy left, she said, "See you later!" and Seether played their first single Fine Again.

As every good band must do eventually, they had to end. They wouldn't do so without a nice surprise for the crowd. The last song that they played was a cover of the "newest" Nirvana song, You Know You're Right. They did a great job with the cover and the show in general, if you get the chance go see them.

Evanescence

The wait between Seether and Evanescence seemed like forever. The pushing had not subsided on the floor and everyone in the seats were waiting anxiously. The lights finally dimmed and the music started. When the lights were turned on the band members were in place, and Amy Lee was standing in the back on a raised area behind the drummer, they started off with the song Haunted. She walked down onto the platform that extended past the rest of the stage that got her closer to the crowd. This was where she'd spend most of the time.

The show continued with the song Going Under. Amy as always was energetic on stage, and was very obviously pouring her heart out into the microphone. Between songs the lights would dim and there would be some silence, but then you'd hear the crowd yelling "I love you Amy" to their idol.

During one of the dark times, a piano raised on the right side of the platform. This was pretty early in the show, but most people in the crowd weren't expecting what they heard after she sat down. The piano began to play, and she began to sing, and pretty soon of the crowd realized that they were playing a cover of Thoughtless by Korn. The crowd responded really good to this, with a lot of them yelling the lyrics along with her.

The piano sank again and the show continued. They played a few more of their songs before the piano did come up again. This time they'd play the song that didn't quite make the cut for Fallen called Breathe No More. The fans in the crowd all knew the song from their (legal) mp3 copies of it. Then came the song that so many people had waited for, My Immortal. Amy's voice rang through the Target Center, as everyone sang along, but no one could hear anyone but her. The light was showing only her, until the part where the band came in, when the stage was completely lit up once again, and they played their part flawlessly.

At the conclusion of My Immortal, Amy started playing the piano again and singing/humming. This was a song that no one there had ever heard, or was it? This was just Amy's way of teasing the crowd as she then started up the piano part to Bring Me To Life, the song that pushed Evanescence into the mainstream. The guys seemed to like this song a lot, because when they would sing along, they didn't feel nearly as awkward, so they all belted out the male part as loud as the could.

After the conclusion of Bring Me To Life, Evanescence went into the song Tourniquet. Everyone sang along with that, and as usual, she avoided doing the scream "I Want To Die" as that would do a number on anyone's vocal cords, but she didn't need to, the crowd did so right in cue.

Then as on CD, the ending of Tourniquet moved right into Imaginary, which they said would be their last song. To either side of the stage you would see a group of people standing up screaming the lyrics, as did everyone else.

The lights turned off and the band left the stage. The crowd started to chant "Amy, Amy, Amy..." while this writer made sure to chant some of the other member's names too. It took a couple minutes, but they finally came back on stage. They said they'd play one more, and they went into their semi-famous cover of Zero by Smashing Pumpkins. Then they'd finish off the night fittingly with Whisper, the last song off of Fallen.

This isn't my first time seeing Evanescence and it won't be my last. If this show is going to be in your city, and you don't have tickets yet, go get them. Oh yeah, and check out the pictures from this show in the pictures section.

Review by: Ben