For one night, bright young things Evanescence bring their new-found status as rock's most talked about to life and to London only.  Not surprisingly, the excitement has caught on and tonight is sold out.  Outside touts pace up and down, desperate to buy spare tickets.  Inside the atmosphere is soaring like the temperature, pulverized further when the house lights dim to signal show time.

As the other band members take their positions, guitarist Ben Moody strides up to the edge of the stage, takes a large swig from his bottle of water before spitting it out in one huge gust on the rapturous front row.

Without a word, they collectively launch into the grinding riffs of 'Going Under', the first track off their debut album Fallen and the next single.  Raven-haired Lee emerges from the wings, looking adorably feisty in her Snow White-esque apparel.  Her porcelain white skin, ruby-red lips, dark eye make-up, chunky boots and spiky choker with a heavy leather corset customising her unevenly cut skirt, reiterate assumptions of goth but further confuse the equation when her voice swells up and dances off the walls.  Faultless and abundantly clear, you have to pinch yourself twice that you're not listening to the album in surround sound.

Lee's stage presence is amazingly focused.  Rocking her head back and forth, her thick, long, black hair blinds her face repeatedly yet she barely pauses to compose herself, at one point starting a song from the side of the stage while she's helped to tie up her corset.  (It's later discarded, reigning her free of the awkward attire.) 

Moody continues the silent treatment, leaving Lee to do all the talking.  Cheerfully chatting to the crowd, her nature is deeply vivacious and as gorgeous as her angelic vocals.  Heartedly thanking Sony and the UK for their support in pushing the group's debut single and album to the top, she just forgets to mention the added bonus of knocking R Kelly's 'Ignition Remix' out of the way.

The absence of 12 Stones' Paul McCoy on 'Bring Me To Life' is replaced by fellow guitarist John LeCompt, who is drowned out by the crowd singing "save me" ardently.  With hardly a moment for the goose-bumps to settle, 'Tourniquet' is ferociously unleashed.  Arguably the finest song on Fallen (and it should be closely guarded as one), as if on cue, the room screams "I want to die!" raucously.

Bringing the night to an end, 'Whisper' seals the show, complete with the morphed sounds of the haunting choir creeping under Lee's powerful voice.

Firmly promising to return to the UK very soon, the verdict by tonight's turn-out is of awe. Quite remarkable what wonders a soundtrack to a duff supero-hero's flick can do.  Then again, Evanescence are not your average debutants.
(4/5)

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Photos: Afsheen Shaikh