Evanescence was bloody brilliant!

Over the weekend, dear Dan took me to Sydney. We arrived Friday afternoon and were met at the train by Dan's good friend Luke, who told us he knew exactly where the backpacker's we were staying at was. So we walked all the way up Pitt Street before realising it was only about a block away from Central Station. He he he, that was fun.

Once we were all settled in, we decided to go for a walk, grab some food and suss out where the Entertainment Centre was. Turns out it was only a very short walk through Chinatown and we were there! We walked around Darling Harbour for a bit too, it was quite beautiful (I'm not a Sydney person, so this stuff is all amazing to me), before going to bed.

Saturday: 8.30am Macca's breakfast next to the Entertainment Centre. People were already lined up, and when we talked to them, we discovered they'd camped overnight. We decided we weren't quite that eager to get on the barrier that night, so we went for a walk around Paddy's markets before getting ready, having lunch in Chinatown and then lining up.

The people you meet when lining up for an Evanescence concert are amazing! Dan and I were told by one guy that we were such fun people that we could cut in at the front of the line with him if we liked! We didn't though, still plenty more people to meet. There were about 20 people ahead of us at our gate. The couple directly in front of us were from New Zealand and were the friendliest people we'd met up to this point. Goodtimes, chatting for hours, unfortunately we didn't get contact details from them. There was a girl there too, who got to see the secret show in Sydney. She told us all about it (I did ask) and she was surprised at how many people at that show didn't really get into it much. That surprised me too. I would've killed for tickets to that show, Well maybe not killed, just maimed slightly.

With 2 hours till the doors open and 4 hours till Evanesence hit the stage, the lines suddenly shifted and we were all rushing for places near the doors. Madness I tell you, standing in the sun for two hours in the most impractical boots I could've possibly worn!

At 6.30pm the doors opened and the lines starting moving. You could feel the excitement building. Dan and I decided that merchandise and stowing my bag away was the first thing to do, so I grabbed two tour shirts, one for me and one as a present for my sister, and Dan got a sticker pack, so he could put one on his guitar and give me the left overs. Nice of him, wasn't it?
7.00pm: we've been sitting in front of our door for awhile now, waiting to get in to the floor area. The tension is electrifying, everytime a door opened so security could talk to each other you could hear screaming fans thinking we were about to go in.

7.15pm: Doors open, and the mad rush to get a good spot was on! Dan and I were so lucky we have long legs. We had somehow managed to get fairly close to the front barrier. Dan left me to go have a smoke, so I started chatting to the people near me. Turns out I was talking to a girl who's name was also Skye. Coincidence or what. Dan managed to make his way back to me through the tightly packed crowd just in time. The lights went out and Shihad started playing. I'll admit, my expectations of these guys weren't very high, but they were fun to watch.
Then they were finished. It seemed so quick, but there was the agonising wait while the stage was set up and the lights fixed up. Mexican waves all around the arena, chants of "Amy Lee" and filled the mosh. I would've preferred "Evanescence", but there you go.

The the lights went out. The stage lit up, the curtain dropped, and there they were: Evanescence. It was so surreal to finally see my favourite band perfom live rather than hear a recorded performance of them.

Amy's voice soared, literally. She sounded incredible. And when she sat at the piano to play Lithium, and the snow started falling, she looked like something out of a dream. And when she played Good Enough (mine and Dan's song), I got shivers, she really nailed it.

John was rocking out like a maniac, he was so fun to watch! And everytime I looked at Rocky up the back, he was grinning from ear to ear. Tim is a God on the bass. And Terry, I couldn't get over how he was rocking out like that! I love Terry now, especially with those dramatic dark-eyed stares he was giving the crowd. I swear, at times it felt like he was looking staright at me. Wishful thinking I guess.

I'm a quiet shy person, but I couldn't help but get caught up in the atmosphere and the music and just absolutely rock out and lose myself. It was the most amazing feeling! I didn't think it possib;e, but I love these guys even more now!

The night started with everyone on the floor rocking along to Sweet Sacrifice and Weight of the World. Then when Going Under started, the roar from the crowd was deafening!

Then they played The Only One and Could Nine, two of my faves from the new album. I was really lost in the music by this stage. It was at this point that the guys started up the intro to Blind (Korn) while the piano was being brought out on stage, and as Amy settled herslef at the piano, she said she can't sing that one, sorry.

That's when she started to play Lithium, and the crowd REALLY started going nuts. As the band came in, the fake snow started falling, it looked amazing. I just wished it fell on the crown as well, that would've been fun. Good Enough followed, and I swear my skin was covered in goosebumps the entire time. That song was even more beautiful live.

This was followed by a couple of golden oldies - Haunted and Tourniquet. I tell you now, my feet and arms were tired by the end of that! So much energy to be spent on good music. :P
When they played CMWYS, they did a little extended ending which was awesome, seeing as the song usually just ends abruptly.

Imaginary and BMTL were next. The people in front of me were going at it harder than ever, but the people behind me seemed to be losing momentum. It was at this stage that I was so hot and dehydrated that Dan and I moved out of the mosh and towards the back of the floor area. The view from back there was still pretty amazing, the stage all lit up the way it was.

The next three songs, for me, were the best of the evening. Whisper went off, and All That I'm Living For sounded simply stunning, and Lacrymosa was brilliant, the layers in that song were more evident live.

The lights went out, and we took up the chant to get them back out for encore. Amy came back out, told us we HAD to sing along to this one, sat at the piano and played My Immortal. The screams, my God, the screams. When you looked all around, people had out their lighters and phones. Pretty. And finally, Your Star. The concert was one I wish I could've relived, but I didn't have the money to go to the second show, and Dan had to work. Damn work, so over rated.

And it is official - The Sydney crowd were that loud we deafened Amy.