Concert Preview—

Heavy, Haunting And Melancholic:

Evanescence Will Bring Its Sophomore Tour

To Town This Weekend

By Ray Huntzicker

When Amy Lee and Ben Moody were in their early teens, and met at youth camp, Evanescence was born. The melding of Lee’s classical background and Moody’s electronic and metal influences formed the beginnings of the beautiful, heavy, haunting and melancholy music that millions of people around the world now love.

At the same time, Evanescence guitar player John LeCompt was already playing metal in the Little Rock, Ark., area. LeCompt was good enough to give The Bee a call while on the road in Glenn Falls, Iowa, last week. The band — which also includes guitarist Terry Balsamo and drummer Rocky Gray — is currently working its way across the United States in support of the smash hit album The Open Door. This sophomore effort has already yielded the hits “Call Me When You’re Sober,” “Lithium,” and the new “Sweet Sacrifice.” The 14-date arena tour will bring the group into Hartford this weekend.

 “Yeah, Amy and Ben were 13 or 14 when they met. I was in my twenties and already playing in a band and taking care of a family,” said LeCompt. “The myth of their meeting was that Amy was playing Meatloaf on the piano and Ben heard her and introduced himself and that’s how they met.

“I got my start in a band called Mindrage in Little Rock,” LeCompt continued. “Our drummer, Rocky, was in another metal band at the time, as well, and we were the two biggest metal bands in Arkansas.

“I love being on the road now,” he went on. “It’s the first time in my life I’ve gotten to travel like this. I’ve gone around the world. I’ve gotten to sink my teeth into the culture of the places we’ve visited. We’ve been to Europe, Japan, Australia. And when we are on the bus going somewhere, sleeping is great. There is no light whatsoever; its like being in a coffin.”

The band seems to have found a balance between music and theater on its current tour.

“Fans will love this show. It’s pretty much all rock and lights,” said LeCompt. “Although we do have one part where snow falls. In ‘Bring Me to Life,’ I do the vocals that Paul [McCoy of the band 12 Stones] did on the single. I add more of a metal screech sound to the song. And we don’t do the bridge part, wake me up, anymore. Its kind of cheesy.”

Their first album, 2003’s Fallen, yielded huge hits for the band. “Bring Me to Life” and “My Immortal” raced up the charts. With two full albums to its credit, Evanescence is now enjoying a large enough catalog of hits to be able to put on a full length rock show, but they still manage to drop in some covers.

 “Yeah, we play things like ‘Zero’ by the Smashing Pumpkins, ‘Thoughtless’ by Korn and ‘Dolphins Cry’ by Live,” said the guitarist.

Lee also scored a hit on a duet with Seether on “Broken,” from the Punisher soundtrack.

As if Lecompt doesn’t have enough going on with Evanescence, he has a side project going with Evanescence drummer Rocky Gray and Future Leaders of the World frontman Phil Taylor. The band is called Machina (www.myspace.com/machinametal), and is rounded out by Jack Weiss and Thad Ables. Song teasers are available at the MySpace site.

“Phil moved in with me about a year and a half ago,” said LeCompt. “We play straight up rock and roll with kind of an old school grunge edge. Phil is my songwriting soulmate. Our music is reminiscent of Zeppelin ... old stuff ... and Disturbed and SevenDust. We’re talking to labels about it; we have a very marketable feel and sound to us. We want the world to hear it soon.”

Meanwhile, Evanescence headlines the Dodge Music Center this Saturday, March 31. The show starts at 7:30 pm and doors open at 6:30. Chevelle and Finger Eleven open the show. Tickets are still available.