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| Carly Smithson (left) and Ben Moody of We Are The Fallen |
The comparisons have been endless—an inevitability considering some of these musicians helped create Evanescence’s sound. Three members, Ben Moody, John LeCompt and Rocky Gray, were original members when Evanescence released their first album, Fallen, from which it is said the new band derived their name.
Bassist Marty O’Brien is a professional bassist who has played with many renowned artists including Kelly Clarkson and Disturbed. The dark, powerful frontwoman is Carly Smithson, a finalist in the 2008 season of American Idol.
Despite their wealth of experience, the band insists they are just like any other new band, starting from the bottom and working their way up.
Despite the small audience at the headlining concert, the guitarist LeCompt, and the drummer, Gray, looked as energetic as they did when I watched them play for tens of thousands at the Molson Amphitheatre and the Air Canada Centre.
Smithson’s voice was strong, proving her abilities that took her far in Idol. Her live performance sounded on par with the album recordings, although many of the songs used a vocal backtrack.
Although it made it seem less real, the vocal backtracks are understandable for the harmonies and the choir parts, such as in the first single, "Bury Me Alive." However, in the song "St. John" (named for an Irish asylum, not the city) Smithson seemed to simply sing over a prerecorded chorus.
The band played every song off their debut album Tear the World Down, including their hard rock cover of Madonna’s "Like a Prayer." Additionally, they covered Iron Maiden’s "Flight of Icarus" and Journey’s "Separate Ways."
It was a little disappointing to see they decided against performing Evanescence songs. Towards the start of their formation, they announced they would initially play some Evanescence songs at their shows. It would have been interesting to see what Smithson would do to differentiate her vocals from Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee.
However, this decision was presumably an attempt to distinguish Fallen from Evanescence and end the comparisons.
Another disappointment was the number of pre-recorded instruments. Most notably missing was the piano. While it would have been unnecessarily expensive to bring along a keyboard player for the few obvious parts, it would have made for a more complete live show.
However, the band put on a strong performance. Their songs are definitely geared more towards the hard rock and metal crowd than pop fans, and they seemed to captivate the entire crowd.
It was ambitious to play a first show at a venue charging over $20 for tickets considering the album had only been released a week prior. The crowd was quite small, with only about 75 people in the audience.
My guess is more people would have checked out the semi-unknown band had they played a venue that would allow them to charge somewhere closer to $10 for tickets. However, the fans made up for their numbers in their energy and their devotion to the band. Throughout the set, they cheered and sang along to the new songs.
The musicians seem authentically rock even though there were more than a few times when Smithson demonstrated her ability to sing the long vibrato-filled notes that have become something of a trademark for the Idol competition.
It was a real thrill to be able to watch these excellent performers in such a small venue. They were also a very friendly bunch, visiting the merchandise table after the show where fans waited to greet them.
Many fans held out Evanescence’s debut album, asking the former members for autographs. However, a ton of the audience also left with autographed Fallen CDs and t-shirts, as well as smiles on their faces.
The band’s performance proved the talent is clearly there, and with a bit more promotion, fans will probably not get another chance to get this close to this fantastic group ever again.
Originally published with the Charlatan, Carleton University's independent student newspaper.
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