Evanescence were the soundtrack to many of our angsty and emotional teenage years. We may not have completely known too much about life at the time but we felt like we did and we felt the emotion that Amy Lee and the band delivered. It has been 15 years since they released their critically acclaimed debut album “Fallen” and the musical journey they have been on since is pretty incredible. The band kicked off their massive Australian tour in Brisbane on Saturday night and it was a bit of a different affair and atmosphere than the last time they were playing this arena. This time the venue was in full seated mode and the crowd were a bit more tame but still as excited as ever. And this was all because for their fourth studio album Evanescence reconstructed some of their biggest hits and fan favourites with a symphony orchestra and for their tour they wanted to recreate that magic. Joined by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra the band walked onto the stage to massive screams and applause. They kicked off the 90 minute show with a beautiful Overture before “Never Go Back” previewed what the fans could expect from the show. They combined their hard rock roots perfectly with the score of the orchestra to enlarge their sound to the next level. “Lacrymosa” and “My Heart Is Broken” were early favourites but it was when they performed “Lithium” and “Bring Me To Life” half way through the set that the crowd lost their mind. It was so epic seeing these two massive songs reimagined and brought to life (excuse the pun) in a different way so many years later. It was quite magical. The orchestra truly emphasised on the high key drama that their songs have always contained. It was so moody and dramatic and theatrical without all the distractions of a giant visual production. They continued with fan favourites “Secret Door”, “Your Star” and “My Immortal” which Amy described was her least favourite song until recently when she fell in love with it again because of the connection she has with the fans. A little cheesy but it was a cute and honest moment. Leaving the stage briefly Amy returned by herself to perform her solo track “Speak To Me’ before the band returned to close the show with “Good Enough” and “Swimming Home”. The band had the entire crowd spellbound for the full duration of the show and whilst it was very different to anything they’ve done before it was also very special and memorable. And I don’t even know how to describe Amy Lee’s vocals any other way than INSANE because that is what they are. She can do no wrong. So it begs the question, should Evanescence only perform with an orchestra from now on?