Evanescence Synthesizes Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect setting for Evanescence  to augment their  return from a three year hiatus than the stately Gothic architecture of the historic Kings Theatre. This performance coincided with the official release of Synthesis, their first album since Evanescence which was released  in 2011.

Amy Lee of Evanescence at the piano on the Kings Theatre stage / photo by Kyra Kverno

The word evanescence describes a state of vanishing away, and during their three year performance hiatus , co-founder and driving force Amy Lee was evolving musically from Gothic rock to a classical crossover genre. The sold out throng of followers were abuzz in the plush red seats, in anticipation of witnessing a spellbinding musical experience.

Amy Lee of Evanescence / photo by Justin Higuchi /courtesy of Wikipedia

The full symphony orchestra , led by conductor Susie Seiter, took the stage and performed a six song orchestral opening that began with Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” . Evanescence began their 90 minute, 25 song musical journey with “Never Go Back” and they also included their classics “Bring Me To Life”,  ” Your Star” and “Lost In Paradise”.  The stage lighting during the entire performance helped to create an ethereal atmosphere.

Amy Lee managed to create intimacy with some 3,000 attendees by sharing her thoughts about playing at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, saying  that it was “my favorite venue in NY” . She also described how thankful she was to her devoted fans and to her bandmates, Troy McLawhorn, Jen Majura , Tim McCord , Will Hunt and legendary composer David Campbell , who did the arrangements for Synthesis.  Ms. Lee also mentioned that it was the first time they were playing with the twenty plus orchestra members, as they use different musicians in each city on this tour.

Amy Lee with Evanescence at the Kings Theatre / photo by Kyra Kverno

Emotions ran deep throughout the theatre , most notably when the first notes of  “My Immortal” cascaded from the stage , complete with Amy Lee’s operatically powerful vocals, that had  the entire audience captivated.