Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany 20th September 2026
Evanescence - “Sanctuary” European Tour - Special Guests: Poppy
“We need a bigger boat”. This timeless movie quote is applicable in a lot of situations, but it rings especially true for EVANESCENCE, as 16,000 people were descending on Dortmund’s sold-out Westfalenhalle to see their idols live.
Poppy
Moriah Rose Pereira, known professionally as POPPY, emerged in the mid-2010s as a surrealist internet art project before mutating into one of modern rock’s most unpredictable genre-fluid visionaries. Initially forging an eerie, avant-garde pop identity on her debut album ‘Poppy.Computer’, her artistic trajectory radically shifted toward heavy metal, industrial, and hyperpop fusion on critically acclaimed projects like ‘I Disagree’ and ‘Flux’. Blending saccharine pop melodies with crushing nu-metal riffs and electronic textures, her heritage is rooted in both Japanese kawaii culture and contemporary post-industrial metal. Her discography, which also includes ‘Eat (NXT Soundtrack)’ and ‘Zig’, reflects a relentless defiance of artistic categorisation. Official website: https://impoppy.com
Music & Performance
Taking the stage at 8pm, POPPY set out to establish her singular sonic landscape before a filling arena. Her set delivered an intriguing contrast of visual and musical aesthetics, most notably when she strapped on a sleek white acoustic guitar for a delicate rendition of ‘crystallized’. However, despite her undeniable charisma and artistic ambition, the opening set occasionally struggled to ignite the cavernous venue. The overall atmosphere felt a little sterile at times, as the vast space proved difficult to fully warm up.
Musically, while her clean vocal lines soared with precision, the harsh vocal transitions - particularly her screaming and growling - demonstrated that extreme vocal technique is not necessarily her strongest suit in a live arena setting. Attempting to stir up the crowd for her final song before wrapping up, POPPY boldly called for a wall of death. The crowd was eager to comply, but the front pit area was simply too densely packed for people to physically move apart, resulting in a gentle surge rather than a chaotic clash. It was an ambitious, quirky 40-minute set that showcased her unique brand of art-pop-metal, even if it met a somewhat reserved reception, which is a familiar feeling for warm-up acts.
Evanescence
Formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by vocalist / pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody, Evanescence reshaped early 2000s mainstream rock by blending symphonic gothic arrangements with modern heavy metal and cinematic orchestration. Their landmark 2003 debut ‘Fallen’ catapulted them to global superstardom, yielding timeless anthems like ‘Bring Me To Life’ and ‘My Immortal’.
Over three decades, despite numerous line-up changes around Lee’s steadfast creative core, their legacy as pioneers of female-fronted rock remains untouched. Their discography - comprising ‘The Open Door’, ‘Evanescence’, the orchestral reimagining ‘Synthesis’, and the fierce comeback ‘The Bitter Truth’ - stands as a masterclass in dramatic, emotionally raw rock song-writing. Their latest release ‘Sanctuary’ from June this year has catapulted the band’s song-writing to new heights. https://www.evanescence.com
Music & Performance
The stage break seemed to take ages, and the anticipation levels in the crowd reached sky-high levels. When EVANESCENCE took the stage at 21:20, the energy inside Westfalenhalle transformed instantly. Framed by a towering, high-definition visual projection screen in the background, the production immediately asserted its massive scale. From the opening notes, the band delivered an arena rock spectacle of cinematic proportions.
Drummer Will Hunt offered a grand, almost theatrical performance, wielding his sticks with powerhouse precision and flair that elevated every rhythm into a visual focal point. The staging was packed with unforgettable moments of arena grandeur. During ‘Lithium’, a gleaming grand piano was elegantly elevated from beneath the floor of the front stage thrust, allowing Amy Lee to command the arena from the very heart of the crowd.
Later, for ‘Calm Down’, dramatic walls of real fire erupted behind the stage while the guitarists and drummer were raised high into the air on massive, crane-like platforms. The climax of the evening proved why EVANESCENCE remain titans of the genre. When the iconic piano intro to ‘Bring Me To Life’ echoed through the arena, it had a genuinely electrifying effect on the roughly 16,000 fans in attendance, prompting even those seated high in the ranks to jump to their feet with an enormous wave of kinetic energy making its wave in the wide arena.
Songs that are already heavy on record took on a whole new dimension live; ‘About Us’ morphed into an absolute monster of a track, crushing the audience with staggering sonic heaviness and massive low-end bite. The following song ‘End of You’, where POPPY joined the band for a guest appearance, developed its own dynamic. Shortly after, the emotional core of the night arrived with ‘My Immortal’.
The rest of the stage was initially shielded by a huge white curtain, leaving Lee alone at the piano for an intensely intimate, heart-wrenching solo delivery before the curtain dropped and the full band joined in to unleash the song’s massive crescendo, proving its impact as a real tearjerker. After almost two hours of relentless energy, breath-taking visuals, and vocal perfection, the crowd spilled out into the Dortmund night with a shared, empowered conviction: rock music is alive, thriving, and still kicks serious ass.
Setlist
01. Sanctuary
02. Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough
03. Afterlife
04. Rapture
05. Going Under
06. Lithium
07. Like You
08. Self Destruct
09. Calm Down
10. Call Me When You’re Sober
11. Beautiful Lie
12. Wasted on You
13. Forever Without You
14. Bring Me to Life
15. Imaginary
16. Better Without You
17. About Us
18. End of You (Poppy, Amy Lee & Courtney LaPlante cover) (with Poppy)
19. Who Will You Follow
20. My Immortal
21. Wide Open Heart
All Pictures by André Wilms
