Download Festival 2023 – Friday. It’s possible that the Opus stage has never seen a crowd as big as the one that greeted Evanescence as thousands filled the space from the stage to the very back and far out of the sides.
Amy Lee and Company embraced the challenge, though, their wide-screen rock that perfectly blends Symphonic and Gothic elements made for sweeping vistas.
With debut Fallen reaching its 20th anniversary this year, the career-spanning set highlighted just how consistently strong their material has been, and the set was a cherry-picked selection of the highlights.
There remains a visceral thrill to the bludgeoning Going Under, its sawing riff still as sinister, and newer songs like Wasted On You are dramatic stormers.
At their best, few bands can touch them, and when Lee sits at the piano to start singing My Immortal, the noise is deafening, the band joining in for its heavy switch perfectly.
Most of all, Evanescence know how to write anthems and Use My Voice, and the inevitable Bring Me To Life sound magnificent. You get the feeling that, if they wanted to, they could knock the world off its axis. Simply magnificent.
Take Part: Are you at Download this year? Who are you looking forward to see? Want to get in touch and tell us how it’s going? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to tell us how it’s going for you. Download@MetalTalk.net.
Download Festival 2023
MetalTalk Download 2023 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2023
Download 2023 will see the festival celebrate its 20th anniversary with an additional day, meaning four days of live music in total. Download Festival 2023Â was a record breaking year.
This year’s MetalTalk team is:
Photography:
For Download 2022, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2022
