The Evanescence Tour was the third worldwide concert tour by American rock band Evanescence. Staged in support of their eponymous third studio album and comprising a set list of songs from that and their two previous albums, Fallen and The Open Door, the tour began in August 2011 and ended in November 2012. It received mixed reviews by music critics who generally praised Lee's vocals and the performance of the other members of the band, but criticized their lack of interaction with the audience.
Background
During an interview with MTV News in July, Lee revealed the tour in support of their third studio album will start in August, 2011 with a concert in Nashville, Tennessee. She announced, "It's not all , but it's going to happen." In an interview in August, she spoke about the tour saying, "We haven't started rehearsing yet, actually.... It's just been a crazy run-around. We did a big photo shoot in L.A. for a couple days and I've been running around doing a lot of press." She added, "I wish I had more time to prepare... We're excited to get back out there. All we can do is just run as fast as we can. Everything's just crammed really tight, from the video to the promo to the rehearsal... I'm ready to get to rehearsal, because I'm starting to feel like, 'OK, we've got dates booked, we haven't practiced yet.' Starting to get a little nervous, but in a good way.... be back in front of the fans, and feeling that energy again. That's going to be good for my brain." She also revealed the nature of the tour, stating, "It's just going to be straight-up rock. Big energy, this album is just a fast-paced rock ride... We've got three albums now to pull from so, of course, we want to play the new ones but, of course, we're going to play the old ones too. It's going to be a lot." Lee further revealed that the band will play songs from all three albums and stated, "We're definitely focusing mainly on the new material. We're really excited about that music the most — obviously it's the newest — but of course we'll be playing some from both of our other albums too. I guess I'd say in general, our show's on the heavy-energy side, so we'll be running around singing a lot of fast songs." Their performances were supported by The Pretty Reckless, Fair to Midland and Rival Sons. Lead singer Taylor Momsen of the band The Pretty Reckless stated she was a "big fan of Evanescence, so it's really exciting to be opening for them". On January 10, 2012, Lee asked her fans through Twitter to choose songs that would be performed during the set list of the Evanescence Tour.
Sophie A. Schillaci of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of the band and Lee's live vocals saying that, "Lee delivered with high energy and an undeniably fierce vocal style". However, she noted, "But at times throughout the band's set, the at attention audience seemed only partly engaged. With several cell phones and even some actual lighters in the air, about half of the crowd obliged to the singer's requests for sing-a-longs. To their credit, that half gave it their all." Jon Pareles of The New York Times gave a positive review while reviewing one of the band's concerts during the tour. Pareles felt that when Lee was singing on the piano, she was similar to Tori Amos. He also praised the fact that the band uses "bottom-scraping bass, blasting guitars and double-bass-drum fibrillation to put hard-rock brawn behind what are actually tidy pop-song structures. The music makes sure to delineate verse, chorus and bridge, and to repeat them in the name of catchiness." He finished his review by saying,
"The band's most distinctive element is Ms. Lee's voice: high, strong and perpetually sustained, holding out every note of her long melody lines. It's the opposite of guttural hard rock, and the epitome of breath control. Onstage, pumping her fist and flipping her long dark hair, she veered in and out of tune, but her lung power never wavered. It was a virtuosic concert, exulting in sorrow, determination and thunderous impact. It was also a wearying one, as each song quickly hit its peak and just kept clobbering away. The production style for radio-ready rock and pop is now an unwavering, maxed-out, louder-than-loud onslaught. Evanescence carried that onto the stage, where there can be far more leeway with dynamics."
St. Louis Post-Dispatchs Kevin C. Johnson, reviewed a show by the band saying, " quick run-through of material old and new. Not much of its sound has changed — good news for Evanescence's fans and bad news for its detractors." Joel Francis of The Kansas City Star said, "A convincing performance... by the band left little doubt that it was still not only a force to be reckoned with, but very much here to stay. As the four-piece band relentlessly hammered heavy riffs, singer Amy Lee glided across the stage and sashayed over the cacophony, her voice simultaneously tempering and reinforcing the ferocity below."
