Live Review: Amy Lee's soaring vocals captivate crowds at Evanescence's Utilita Arena gig

You’d be hard pushed to find another singer who – more than three decades on – sounds quite as good as Evanescence’s Amy Lee.

Rock is littered with frontmen and women who have been forced to either adapt how they sing or mask deteriorating vocals via a small army of backing singers and over enthusiastic fans. (It’d be crass to name names, but we know who they are).

Evanescence on stage at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Friday, September 11, 2026. Photo by David Jackson.

placeholder image — Evanescence on stage at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Friday, September 11, 2026. Photo by David Jackson.

And, while it’s true, you’re usually always on safe ground at your own headline show – it’s unlikely anyone inside Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on Friday night left not a little bit in awe of Lee’s abilities as both singer and goth-rock frontwoman.

While Evanescence’s origin dates back to the mid-1990s, their debut didn’t arrive until 2003 at the tail end of nu-metal. Fallen sold a staggering 17 million copies and contained some of the band’s biggest hits.

The record paved the way for a career which has seen a further five albums, the most recent of which Sanctuary arrived in June.

Sanctuary saw Evanescence continue their brand of melodic, gothic hard rock with former Bring Me The Horizon man Jordan Fish at the helm as producer.

Following opening sets by K Flay and Poppy, Evanescence returned to the Birmingham stage (their first gig in the city for four years) where they played their new album in almost its entirety – intersected with a smattering of hits from across their back catalogue.

As a rock show – it was a pretty straightforward affair. A large LED screen to the rear of the band projected a mixture of live and gothy visuals all night.

Evanescence's Amy Lee on stage with Poppy at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Friday, September 11, 2026. Photo by David Jackson.

On a few occasions, the band’s drummer and guitarists were lifted high above the stage on separate hydraulic lifts to perform and there were also mid-set pyrotechnics and explosions of tickertape fired out across fans. (Although rock bands take note – even Mumford & Sons have fire now-a-days…).

Lee is the sole original member of Evanescence and it’s no surprise she’s the focal point all night.

While the rest of the band get a bit of time to shine with the lifts, they’re largely relegated to the shadows, with only bassist Emma Anzai really afforded more time in the limelight.

Much like the sonic shifts in Evanescence’s music, Lee spent the band’s 22 songs set either stomping around the stage and along its catwalk extension to the bands riff-heavy rock, stationary effortlessly belting out astonishing vocals, or sat behind a piano for their slower ballads.

After kicking off with three songs from their new album, the first of the ‘big hitters’ was Going Under which sent the thousands of fans inside the Utilita wild with its chugging guitars and soaring vocals. While, Call Me When You’re Sober from their 2006 album The Open Door was another early highlight.

It can be a ballsy move playing so much new material – but to Evanescence’s credit it sat excellently alongside other material.

And, it’s no surprise Bring Me To Life (two billion Spotify streams and counting) went down a storm, with the aforementioned red tickertape exploding into the air mid song.

Both K.Flay and Poppy returned for duets on Fight Like a Girl and End Of You respectively, while the end of Evanescence’s set saw ballad My Immortal sandwiched between new tracks Who Will You Follow and Wide Open Heart.

Amy Lee has publicly said she could still be making music into her 60s. It’d normally be a bold claim for someone to make – but on the evidence on Evanescence’s gig at the Utilita, you’d be a fool to bet against her.

Evanescence played:

Sanctuary

Tell Me When You've Had Enough

Afterlife

Rapture