the devotion hasn’t dimmed within followers of rock legends Evanescence. This tour marks the arrival of ‘Sanctuary’, their first album in years. The pit was filled not just with the generation who grew up on Fallen, but a noticeably wide spread of ages clad in eyeliner and fishnets, packed together as though the fashion had simply been passed down. Poppy’s backdrop already hung in place, ready for her and K.Flay. Two female, modern heavy-music acts opening the night, carrying a legacy forward.

K.Flay kicked things off, and what stood out immediately was how far she’s shifted her sound in recent years. Leaning into heavier, grunge-inspired influences, she mostly stuck to newer material, fully embracing this new era of her music. Confidence radiated off her, commanding the stage like she owned every inch of it, decked out in a jersey and jorts – the classic nu-metal uniform for a genre that’s historically been a boys’ club. She still gave the crowd her pop-rock hit “High Enough”, but closed out on new single “Ants”, all distortion and grit in comparison. The shift felt purposeful: a full circle metamorphosis into a rockstar.

As a huge Poppy fangirl, I may be biased, but even from the seats, I had the time of my life. Opening with “have you had enough?”, she paired crushing screams with her signature ethereal look of lace and ribbons, while her band appeared in terrifying masks. The contrast was quintessentially Poppy, the kind of visual that emphasises her strange, otherworldly brand of metal.

During “vital”, she picked up a guitar and looked like a haunted doll serenading the crowd – somehow both gorgeous and unsettling. It was also clear the pit wasn’t quite prepared for her. Confusion rippled throughout when she parted her hands and declared, “Manchester, you know what I want!” before playing “new way out’”, prompting a chaotic attempt at a wall of death. Still, the signature barks amongst the crowd during “V.A.N” proved the Poppy cult had its representatives.

When the lights finally went down, a glitching interlude of “Bring Me To Life” played through the speakers before the band exploded into “Sanctuary”, immediately kicking off this new era of Evanescence. It would have been easy for a band so synonymous with one of the most defining rock albums of the 2000s to simply coast on nostalgia, but there was nothing remotely museum-piece about this opening. The first four songs all came from their newest album, establishing from the outset that this was a band looking forwards.

Gothic visuals flickered across the enormous screens throughout, complimenting Amy Lee’s incomparable stage presence. “Going Under” arrived just on time after those first four new tracks, an instantly recognisable reminder of just how deeply their older material has embedded itself into the collective consciousness. That thread between generations became even more explicit during “Fight Like a Girl”, with K.Flay joining the band onstage. It was a fitting continuation of the evening’s theme: two generations of female alternative rock meeting in the same space, rather than one simply paying homage to the other. And for K.Flay, what better way to cement her status as an alt-rock star than performing alongside the Queen Amy Lee herself?

The mood shifted dramatically for “Forever Without You”, leaving Amy alone at her piano for one of the night’s most vulnerable moments. Her speech about her own journey and struggles gave the song an emotional weight that needed no embellishment. Telling the crowd they were never alone, before adding, “just look around, you’re surrounded by friends” felt particularly poignant in a venue this enormous. For all the spectacle surrounding the rest of the set, this was the moment that brought everything back to just one person and her piano, with thousands of people listening.

Of course, there was no chance Evanescence were going to let the night pass without unleashing “Bring Me To Life” in all its glory. One of the most iconic songs of the 2000s was accompanied by red confetti cannons, transforming what could have been an obligatory nostalgia hit into an enormous, celebratory moment. Later, Poppy joined the band for ‘End Of You’, once again bringing the evening’s sense of continuity full circle. Seeing two prominent female artists of modern heavy music sharing the stage with Evanescence felt like an electrifying passing of the torch.

The set built towards a triumphant conclusion with “My Immortal” and “Wide Open Heart”, bringing together the emotional core of Evanescence’s legacy with the direction they are now taking. If anything, the relative lack of crowd movement and sea of phone screens was the only slight frustration, although perhaps it was also a testament to just how deeply these songs have embedded themselves in people’s lives. When a band has soundtracked multiple generations, everyone wants a piece of that experience to take home.

Evanescence’s enduring appeal was impossible to miss: a crowd spanning generations, united by songs that have clearly become part of their lives. Their willingness to embrace a new era while bringing younger artists into the fold suggests there is plenty more life in the band yet. After more than two decades, Evanescence still have something meaningful to say, with a fanbase more than willing to listen.