Bottles, Planes and Fired Guitarists
By the time Evanescence have taken to the stage an impressive crowd has gathered steadily throughout the day in preparation for Iron Maiden's much-discussed set later on. However, there are a sprinkling of Evanescence fans scattered around the slopes of the main stage and a further concentration nearer the front who cheer wildly when Amy Lee, queen of drama, appears.
The recent turbulence to affect Evanescence's lineup is noticeable and understandably so, with guitarist John LeCompt having been fired in the run up to Download and drummer Rocky Gray quitting. However, the "amazing new musicians" promised by Amy Lee last month appeared not to turn up, since Evanescence's set was littered with timing disagreements and reworked guitar solos to make things easier.
"Sweet Sacrifice" has a little more bite when performed live, but it is still one of the weaker tracks from The Open Door, the 2007 release from Evanescence. "Going Under" is an altogether different matter that gets even those further away from the stage singing along. "Weight Of The World" is performed well, but like most of the tracks played, suffers from being glammed up by unnecessary samples. Perhaps this is a cunning plan to make people enjoy their live shows slightly more, but it does little to enhance the band's live performance and instead feels slightly intrusive.
By the time the band comes to play "Lithium", Amy Lee is somewhat apologetic for the piano on stage due to the reaction from people simply waiting for Iron Maiden whilst killing their boredom with throwing bottles. For many of the crowd though, it is impossible not to laugh when the drama queen of rock begins to play the haunting introduction before a plane flies overhead and temporarily drowns out everything.
Along with the avid fans who do not care about any of the problems Evanescence are facing, there is a large amount of people watching who look utterly confused as to why Evanescence have been selected to play before Iron Maiden. With Megadeth playing so low on the bill and both Korn and Mötley Crüe completely filling the second stage tent it really is no wonder. When compared to the great heroes of metal, Evanescence have a hard time standing up against them due to their comparatively tender years in the music world.
So long as you take Evanescence with a pinch of salt and don't allow yourself to get too caught up about their technical ability, they are an enjoyable band to watch live. They might not be amazing but their set is full of some of the best pop-metal songs to be heard at Donnington this year- "Tourniquet" and the highly successful single "Call Me When You're Sober" both get the crowds singing along, as does "Haunted" and the highlight of their career so far, "Bring Me To Life".
Overall, a very mixed set- enjoyable and frustrating at the same time for many people. The songs were spot on but the changes to the Evanescence lineup took their toll upon the set. Here's hoping the next set of band members stick around longer for Evanescence to iron out the problems in their live shows!