There are few things more appropriate for a Manchester arena than spending an evening surrounded by several thousand people screaming the lyrics to Evanescence songs. Throw Poppy and K.Flay into the mix, and you have an exciting all-star line-up of female-fronted bands, each bringing their own brand of alternative music to Co-op Live.

Having been delayed getting into the venue, K.Flay had already made her way through much of her set by the time I arrived. Upon taking my seat, “Blood in the Cut” immediately stood out thanks to its combination of distorted guitars and electronic beats, before “High Enough” brought things down a little and “Ants” closed out the set. It was enough to give me a taste of what I’d missed and leave me wishing I’d arrived earlier, but from what I caught, K.Flay was clearly having no trouble warming up the room.

By the time Poppy took to the stage, Co-op Live was already looking considerably fuller, with the floor almost packed for most of her set. Her entrance immediately set the tone, with a theatrical presentation and deliberately strange aesthetic making it clear that this was never going to be a conventional support slot. The opening run of “have you had enough?”, “the cost of giving up”, “Bruised Sky” and “Scary Mask” bounced between industrial textures, pop hooks and heavier guitars, before “crystallized”, “vital” and “Guardian” continued that unpredictable mix.

By the time “Public Domain” and “Time Will Tell” arrived, Poppy had the crowd firmly in the palm of her hand. “V.A.N.”, her collaboration with Bad Omens, sounded every bit as good live as it does on record, with the crowd’s reaction making it one of the clear highlights of the set. Poppy then pushed towards the finish with “If We’re Following the Light” and “new way out”, by which point the floor had split in two for a very small but extremely enthusiastic wall of death. It may not have been the biggest pit Co-op Live has ever witnessed, but watching an arena full of people attempt to turn a Poppy support set into a hardcore show was certainly a sight to behold.

With the floor suitably energised, the stage was quickly stripped back for the headline production. What looked like more than 15 crew members appeared almost immediately, hauling equipment around and preparing the stage. It’s easy to forget how much work happens behind the scenes at an arena show until you watch a changeover like this from the floor.

By the time everything was ready, the room had settled into that strange anticipation that only really exists before a headline band takes the stage. Then the lights dropped and Evanescence opened with “Sanctuary”, immediately making one thing very clear, holy fuck, that sound system. The bass was enormous, but even more impressive was Amy Lee’s voice. After more than two decades of Evanescence, I was genuinely awestruck by just how powerful her voice has remained over the years. She can move from delicate and haunting to completely commanding without ever sounding like she’s under any strain, and that was immediately apparent from the opening songs.

“Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough” followed with some crunchier guitars, headbanging, devil horns and the occasional roar from the crowd before Amy addressed the room for the first time. “Afterlife” then arrived beneath deep blue lighting. Written for Netflix’s Devil May Cry, the song is another example of Evanescence’s willingness to embrace collaborations and projects outside the traditional album cycle. It’s also my favourite song they’ve released, so hearing it live was always going to be a highlight, and its cinematic quality suited the arena perfectly.

After blasting through “Rapture”, it was time for the first truly big sing along of the night with “Going Under”. The azure lighting gave the whole arena an almost dreamlike appearance while thousands of people shouted back every word. It’s easy to forget just how deeply embedded songs like this are in people’s memories until you’re standing in a room with several thousand strangers all singing them simultaneously.

“Lithium” followed before the band shifted gears completely for “Like You”. Amy moved onto the catwalk, sat down at a live piano and sang the song over the keys, stripping the production back for one of the night’s most intimate moments. From there, “Self Destruct”, “Calm Down” and “Call Me When You’re Sober” gradually brought the guitars back into focus, with the latter producing another huge response from the room.

Having missed out on some of her opening set, K.Flay’s return for “Fight Like a Girl” was particularly welcome, adding her sharper, more rhythmic delivery to the track while Amy’s vocals remained at its centre. Given Evanescence’s history of experimenting with different artists and sounds, it felt like a natural crossover rather than a token guest appearance.

 “Beautiful Lie” and “Wasted on You” then offered some breathing room before “Forever Without You” filled the arena with a much more sombre atmosphere. There’s a particular kind of melancholy that Evanescence have always been exceptionally good at creating, and hearing that song in an arena this large somehow made it feel even more intimate.

Then came the song everyone had been waiting for: “Bring Me to Life”. The opening notes were met with an immediate eruption from the crowd, with the entire arena screaming along as Amy’s vocals soared above the guitars and drums. One of the defining rock songs of the 2000s somehow sounded even bigger in a room this size. As the final chorus gave way to the extended outro, purple lighting washed over the arena and confetti was fired out across the crowd, turning an already enormous sing along into a full-blown arena spectacle. For a song that has been part of so many people’s lives for more than two decades, it felt like exactly the kind of moment a headline show this size was built for.

“Imaginary” and “Better Without You” kept the momentum going, before “About Us” gave the audience another chance to settle into the newer material. “End of You” then brought Poppy back onto the stage alongside Amy Lee, with the two vocalists sharing the spotlight for an appropriately chaotic moment before the final stretch.

“Who Will You Follow”, “My Immortal” and “Wide Open Heart” brought the set towards its conclusion, with “My Immortal” prompting another huge sing along as thousands of voices joined Amy Lee on every word. “Wide Open Heart” then closed out the night on a more uplifting note, giving the evening a fitting final burst of energy.

One of the things that stood out throughout the night was the sheer scale of Evanescence’s setup. The enormous drum kit and television-style projector screens gave the show a wonderfully dated early-2000s aesthetic that suited the band perfectly. However, the production occasionally felt more like a collection of impressive individual elements than one fully cohesive visual identity.

Still, it was difficult to care too much when the sound was that fucking good. The guitars had weight without drowning anything out, the bass could be felt from the floor, and Amy Lee’s voice remained dominant throughout. With K.Flay’s genre-bending energy, Poppy’s chaos and Evanescence’s blend of nostalgia, atmosphere and pop spectacle, the evening covered a lot of ground without ever losing its sense of identity.

The tour is continuing through central and western Europe through until early October, before finishing in Morrison, Colorado, USA on 26 October

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By Josh Bicknell