Two-time Grammy Award-winning rock band Evanescence kicks off their spring headline tour at Hard Rock Event Center on Sunday, May 5. We caught up with lead vocalist of Evanescence, Amy Lee, to discuss Evanescence’s spring tour, “Bring Me To Life”, favorite song to perform and more!

The name “Evanescence” means disappearance. What was the thought process or significance of using that word as the band’s name?

More specifically, it means to “dissipate like vapor.” But, honestly, I have no deeply meaningful reason why we chose the name. We knew we wanted something unique, something mysterious. I was 14 or 15 at the time and I remember flipping through a dictionary looking for some single word to feel right.

“Bring Me To Life” was the lead single from your debut album and one of the band’s biggest hits. It has become a classic song that bring your fans all around the globe nostalgia. From the band’s perspective, is there still a nostalgia to this song when you revisit it in performances?

Absolutely. It’s the past and present all at once when performing songs from Fallen. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing people in the audience singing along with you and feeling that it means something to them. I know how passionate I am about songs I fell in love with in high school — I hear Portishead or Bjork or Tool on the radio and memories come flooding back and it makes me feel so good. It’s an incredible thing to know that I could be a part of that for someone else. ‘Bring Me To Life’ not only brings me back to when I was making the song and entering this whole crazy scene, it brings back a thousand memories we’ve made over the years performing it.

You have a loyal fan base that have followed you since your first Grammy award winning album. Is there an Evanescence project in the works that fans can look forward to?

We are plotting our next album now!

You’re kicking off your spring headline tour at Hard Rock Event Center. Is there a certain feeling to the first show that is distinct from the rest?

Always. I don’t usually get nervous when we play, but the first show back, especially when anything is different, makes me a bit hyper and anxious. We’re all acutely aware of ourselves and there is a lot more going on in my brain the first night compared to any night after. “Don’t forget to change the patch on the keyboard! Don’t sing to hard and blow your voice in the first segment! What’s the next song?! Is this dress see-through in the lights!?”

Your previous tours featured powerful live orchestras and have received rave reviews nationwide. Is going back to your traditional rock shows a smooth transition or are there aspects that take adjusting to after having performed with a live orchestra?

It feels really refreshing to have done something so different with our music and I will miss the orchestra. It was so lush and special, but I’m really excited and ready to go out there and rock now. Depriving yourself of something makes it that much sweeter when you have it back.

What is the band’s favorite song to perform?

We all have different favorites, but we all really love the third album. It’s hard not to put all of those songs into the set because they are so well suited for live. I always look forward to ‘The Change’, ‘Made of Stone’, ‘What You Want’ and I also love it when we do ‘Say You Will’ — it’s challenging, fun and when we hit it right it makes my heart pound.

What can fans expect from your show at Hard Rock Event Center?

We want this year’s shows to be a big contrast to the Synthesis tour, so we’re choosing mostly heavy, high energy songs. We just want to unleash. I’m really looking forward to it and I know the rest of the band is too so I imagine you can expect some happy misfits dressed in black, smiling through heavy lyrics and jumping around like we’re just a few years younger than we really are!

Click here to get tickets for Evanescence at Hard Rock Event Center.