15. Evanescence

THE O2 ARENA

5 NOVEMBER 2011

I found myself not far from the stage but made a point of standing strategically off to the side, away from the mosh pit, until it hit me: this was Evanescence, fairy godmother of goth and emo. A mosh pit? With this crowd? This sea of black-eyelinered souls had a combined energy that could barely get through a Sylvia Plath poem, let alone throw any elbows. But we stayed in my mosh-free zone just in case it morphed into some sort of synchronised weeping, mostly to avoid any hint of the oily slip hazard that would be created by all that running eyeliner.

I have a soft spot for Fallen, all that deliciously gloomy gothic pop. With their new album, they’ve taken the gothic gloom and cranked on pop vibes. Or at least, that’s what I think was happening under the sound guy’s “let’s blow out everyone’s eardrums” settings. The volume was so wild that even the ballads sounded like Amy Lee was summoning banshees. We left with nothing but early-onset tinnitus and the faint memory of a melody somewhere beneath the roar.