It seems only appropriate that, when two bands that gave life to two distinctive rock and metal sub-genres unite, the world undergoes a shift, a movement, a collision. And I was lucky enough to be a part of this experience: FemMetal was present at the Italian date of the tour that brings together Within Temptation and Evanescence.
Like most of you reading, I, too, have a day occupation, so that I couldn’t reach the venue (the massive Mediolanum Forum) too early, but I was there just in time for the doors to open. Or at least they were supposed to open at 18:30, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Doors opened at 19:10, and I had to queue in three different lines because of unclear indications on where to find my entrance. But this is Italy, so nothing new.
VERIDIA
Due to this delay in entering, when I found my seat the opening act, Veridia was already performing for quite a while, so I couldn’t enjoy their full set. In anyway, Deena Jakoub and mates were smashing the walls of the Forum! Their energy and passion on stage were tangible, and even though not all the ticket holders were already inside to see them perform, they gave their best. Deena was very good at engaging the crowd and making us feel part of the show with them.
WITHIN TEMPTATION
The clock soon strikes 20:00, and it’s time for Veridia to leave the stage to the first headliner of the night. Since I had no clue which of the two bands was going to start their set, I was curious if I could understand it before they could hit the stage. And when the unmistakable voice of Sharon den Adel started singing, I had no more doubts. Opening with “See Who I Am” from their album “The Silent Force“, I was absolutely thrilled to listen to the rest of the show.
Within Temptation had an impressive scenography, with a huge globe in the middle of the stage that changed shape and colours multiple times while leaving on the stage some sort of stand so everyone could see Sharon clearly. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm was short-lived because afterwards, their setlist was basically the same when I saw them in Milan in 2018 for their Resist tour, only adding a couple of new songs. Sharon, at the beginning, was killing the vocals, but towards the end, she seemed to make quite a lot of mistakes. Still, it was nice to see them again after so many cancellations and delays of this tour!
EVANESCENCE
To end this night and make the worlds properly collide, we need another band. And who here says that they don’t know at least one song from them is clearly lying or wasn’t a teenager. At 22:20, Evanescence takes the stage, with a triangular screen behind them and white drapes as scenography. The first thing I noticed was the power of the drummer, Will Hunt. It seemed like he had some weapons hitting the percussions rather than drumsticks! That was impressive. And quite too much, frankly, in fact, I hoped that after the first songs, the drilling would lower, but I was mistaken. Too bad.
Amy Lee, though, was in excellent shape, and the people online that used to write that she couldn’t sing in concerts were probably deaf or jealous. She was remarkable, which compensated for the bad audio mixing of her band. She also said she was happy to tour after so many restrictions and that it was great to see so many people in the audience.
In conclusion, I think it was worth going and seeing these talented bands in such a unique event because it is not often that worlds crash and collide together. We at FemMetal are very glad to see these powerful women filling up stadiums and forums with their incredible music. Keep it coming!
