So, went to the Lindsey Stirling/Evanescence concert yesterday at the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine. I had a good time overall. Despite being a little confused on where to park, I manage to get a good parking spot early and it was free so that was an additional bonus. Had a good view in Section 305, 12th row and given that I paid $40.00 for the ticket, it was pretty much a steal and I knew waiting for the Groupon deal will be worth it.
Lindsey Stirling was amazing during her set. It was everything I hoped for and more. Great production values, beautiful visuals on the screen, great choreography, sound was good, some good humor and banter in-between songs. One minor gripe though was that she had an orchestra backing her and I don't think I could have heard it that much and I think that's due to the fact that the main instrument of the set is the violin so it was going to be harder for me to piece it all together. On another note, she had a good intro video, before playing her opener The Arena, displaying about overcoming obstacles and heartbreaks and how it relates to her going back to her days when she was on America's Got Talent where Sharon Osborne thought Lindsey would go nowhere with her act. Well, whose laughing now, you old crone? Another positive is that Lindsey played a song called Shatter Me, where the lead vocals were sung by Halestorm's Lzzy Hale, and playing the role of Lzzy Hale on vocals was Evanescence's Amy Lee and it sounded great. I didn't think this was ever going to be a thing that was going to happen during this tour, but I'm glad they did it, because it was a good highlight of the show.
The Evanescence's set though was while well-performed and had good orchestration elements (both sets were backed with an orchestra) and Amy Lee sounded great, I felt it was very lacking in other areas for me to deem this an amazing set. One thing, the guitarists and bassist were sitting down throughout the entire set with the exception of the encore of them doing a cover of No More Tears and they were moving around. I understand shows with an orchestra there's got to be a certain level of sophistication, but dang it, I thought this would still be a rock concert. Another thing, I couldn't really piece together the guitars and bass that much during the set and I rather, and this is how I feel, if rock bands are going to do a show with an orchestra, I would prefer the guitars to be more front than the orchestra, while the orchestra still making their presence felt, rather than the other way around (which I think Alter Bridge will accomplish that with their Royal Albert Hall DVD, on a side note). Otherwise, to me, the set mainly comes down to Amy Lee singing Evanescence songs with an orchestra backing her (which the concept is still solid though, don't get me wrong) without an actual rock band backing. Another depressing flaw was that they played Bring me to Life pretty early (I think it was around the 5th song of the set) and after that was over, some people left and after My Immortal was played (which was not the closing song), more people left. There were still a lot of people though throughout the show, just not around the 10,000 or so people that was there when the show started. On a brighter note, Lindsey Stirling did come out during a song called Hi-Lo (which she did violins on) and during the cover of No More Tears and I felt that her presence really energized the room.
Overall, I had a good night. I paid $40.00 for the ticket (could have costed me $65 if I bought it through Live Nation). Had free parking, had a great view, and I enjoyed the atmosphere of being in the FivePoint Amphitheater and I wouldn't mind seeing more shows there now that I understand everything is sorted when it comes to parking and lining up. Lindsey Stirling delivered an amazing 75 minute set and I would put this set on par with when I saw Foo Fighters (in 2015) and Alter Bridge (2014), but I would not put this on par when I saw Breaking Benjamin (2017), Halestorm (2017), and Myles Kennedy (a more active crowd during Lindsey Stirling may have a chance to get there as my most enjoyable concerts ever). The Evanescence set, despite my gripes it was still a good set, I would put this set above me seeing Big Wreck (had horrible sound flaws where I couldn't hear Ian Thornley that much on vocals or guitars) and me seeing Slash/Myles/Conspirators (worst crowd ever, I would guaran-damn-tee about 95% of the crowd has no idea on whose in the band other than Slash or knows the non-GNR songs).
Next concert for me is Owl City on October 2nd at the Anaheim House of Blues. Probably will binge on listening to everything Owl City and Adam Young-related throughout the month to get me ready (I do that anyway, nowadays).