Evanescence, it could be argued, kicked off the current goth revival. Before Bring me Back to Life, their entertainingly overblown debut single, topped the UK charts for a month in 2003, pale-faced, black-clad, religious rockers had lost all hope of being hip. The band from Little Rock, Arkansas, went on to sell ten million copies of their album Fallen, turning the singer Amy Lee into a shopping mall pin-up for intense teens.

Goth-rock has since turned a more credible corner and Evanescence lost its founding member and guitarist Ben Moody, author of Fallen’s most commercial moments. Lee, however, has soldiered on as only a woman who holds a high note longer than Celine knows how. Moody now has a faceless replacement, while on The Open Door, their second album released last month, the singer had songwriting duties.

What sounded like a recipe for a flop has proved a surprising success. The Open Door topped the Billboard chart and reached No 2 over here. Judging by the crowd at a crammed London show, it was everyone but teenagers who bought it, though. Cuddling couples, tattooed bikers, under-10s with their ageing goth parents and suit-clad accountant types made the audience. Improbably, what all had in common was a love of almost operatic vocals, ludicrous choral arrangements and nu-metal so docile that even the drummer had turned his kit mikes down. That didn’t stop the trio of guitarists from pulling punk-rock poses or Lee from flailing her arms, spinning in circles and sweeping the floor with her waist-length locks.

The Evanescence formula is a soft-loud lurch between juddering guitars and Lee’s crystal-clear vocals, plus dark lyrics. But what set out to be sinister came across as silly. The slow-building ballad The Only One broke the rules and was rewarded with an unusually soulful performance from Lee. Good Enough was a pleasant Tori Amos-gone-rock type track, and Whisper conjured up atmosphere from sampled strings and techno squiggles.

The rest was so tired and tame that by the time the band played their trump card, Bring Me Back to Life, Lee’s wailing had lost all impact and the guitars could have been played by the Tweenies. The real goths were smart to stay away.

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