On Thursday 10th September, Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester hosted three incredible female-fronted bands as part of Evanescence’s Sanctuary Tour across North America, the UK and Europe.
The night kicked off with K.Flay, an American singer and rapper who throws hip hop, alt rock, electronic and indie together like it’s the most natural thing in the world. She hit the stage running, tearing through a short but relentless setlist that swung from new cut ‘Ants’ to fan favourites ‘High Enough’ and ‘Blood In The Cut’ without ever letting the energy dip. Within minutes the room was moving with her, hands up, bodies bouncing, the whole arena getting its first taste of just how loud 20,000 people were about to get. It was the perfect warm-up: short, sharp and impossible to sit still through.
Next to take Co-Op Live’s stage was Poppy, an American artist whose music sits somewhere between heavy metal, electronic, pop and industrial, and somehow makes all four feel inevitable together. Imagine Dove Cameron fronting Bring Me the Horizon and you’re close, but Poppy twists it into something entirely her own.
One moment she was growling into the mic, the next she’d flipped into something achingly beautiful, and it was that whiplash between the two that made the room properly lose it, opening up some of the only mosh pits of the night. Songs like ‘Bruised Sky’, ‘Crystallized’ and ‘Public Domain’ kept the momentum climbing, and when she tore into a cover of Bad Omens’ ‘V.A.N.’ towards the end of her set, it felt like the biggest moment of the night so far, not just a support slot. In under an hour, Poppy had completely enchanted Manchester, and the arena was buzzing before Evanescence had even taken the stage.
Finally, the star of the show: Evanescence, promoting their new album, ‘Sanctuary’. To say they exploded onto the stage would be a criminal understatement — the sloped stage lit up, and Amy Lee was mid-note before the crowd had even finished screaming. They opened with the album’s title track, ‘Sanctuary’, before flowing into classics such as ‘Lithium’, ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, ‘Wasted On You’ and, of course, ‘Bring Me To Life’, the arena erupting the second those opening piano notes landed. Amy Lee’s iconic, breathtaking voice carried every inch of the room, especially during the surprise appearances from support acts Poppy and K.Flay, who returned to the stage to a fresh wave of screams.
Then came the fire: curtains burning behind the band, rising platforms lifting the drummer and guitarists above the stage, the whole set feeling less like a gig and more like a spectacle built to be remembered.
The night ended with a tear-jerking rendition of ‘My Immortal’, the entire arena lighting up as 20,000 fans sang along in unison, sending everyone home misty-eyed and buzzing on adrenaline.
0 Comments