Amy Lee reclaimed Evanescence with a vengeance last night during a surprisingly strong concert at Scotiabank Place in front of a smallish crowd of about 5,000 in the arena’s theatre set-up.

Although it wasn’t the same version of the band that made the hit album, Fallen, and shot to stardom a few years back, Lee has reassembled the troops and is using the tour to prove that she is the heart and soul of the band, able to function just fine without her former friend and creative partner, Ben Moody or that troubled ex-boyfriend from Seether.

Of course, Lee is tasting victory with the new Evanescence album, Open Door. It’s another monster hit, judging by the number of of times the song, Don’t Call Me Till You’re Sober (<- Haha, it's obviously 'Call Me When You're Sober' - webmaster), is spun on commercial radio stations.

The saturation is nearing the point that people threaten to throw up if they hear it one more time. Thankfully, no one lost their cookies last night when Lee sailed into the hit that fans refer to as DCMTYS. Squeezed deep into the set, the song rocked with empowerment, Lee bringing it back to the same spot where it started, as a heartbreaking wail of anguish.

Though basking in the glow of her newly announced engagement, on stage Lee was able to sing her catalogue of torment with reasonable conviction, starting with the sorrowful tones of Sweet Sacrifice, Weight of the World and Going Under. How appropriate that she has reportedly found her soul mate in a therapist named Josh.

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Evanescence singer Amy Lee told Jam! Music earlier this week that she can’t see herself touring for her entire career. Lee said that being in a rock band is “pretty weird most of the time,” adding, “I get tired of touring and want to go back and write. It’s those two extremes that I get tired of. I’m not doing this forever.” The vocalist told Launch that she has other ambitions in life, including making different types of music. “I want to move on into other fields later in life, definitely, but I’m not there yet,” she said. “I would love to do musical scores for movies. I love scoring, so I’d love to do that. That would be fun. Like, if I ever wanna, like, when I’m old, be a mom and work at home, like, it’d be so awesome to just have a studio in my house and just work on scoring stuff. Not have to tour.”

Amy got engaged to boyfriend Josh, a therapist, Monday evening (Jan. 8) while the band was in Toronto to perform at the Air Canada Centre.

The longtime friends have been dating for about a year. It will be her first marriage.

Lee, 25, said Josh, 28, got down on one knee for a traditional proposal. She broke the news by phone to mother Sara Cargill Tuesday morning.

The Evanescence hit “Call Me When You’re Sober” was written by Lee about her former boyfriend, Seether singer Shaun Morgan.

Amy Lee appeared last month at Korn’s taping of “MTV Unplugged”, which will premiere in February. Her performance of “Freak on a Leash” with the band heads to rock radio stations later this week.

From EvThreads:

Hey guys. I came on here to see how stupid i looked when the interviewer called me out on the ring after wearing it for about 16 hours (and yeah i look pretty silly ). I just wanted to let you know that its really really real- I’m engaged to josh as of last night and I’m really freaking excited. Pretty huge moment in my life. I love you guys and its really cool that you got to be a part of it. Thanks to all of the fans at Much for being so cool and supportive- its a wonder i didn’t cry… again.
love,
amy

ps- my ring RULES

Congrats Amy =)

Songwriters often turn tragedies into song, but in 2005, Evanescence’s Amy Lee had enough grief and heartache to fill a whole album.

First, guitarist and writing partner Terry Balsamo suffered a massive stroke at age 34 and wasn’t sure if he would ever play again. Then, Lee found herself going through a particularly nasty end to a relationship.

Ironically, the grief inspired Lee to write out her pain in Evanescence’s second album The Open Door.

“Making this record has been really intense,” Lee says quietly between gigs on their first tour since 2004.

Not one to take things lying down, Lee “took the phone off the hook for a year” and wrote 13 songs including Lithium, Lose Control and the first single Call Me When You’re Sober in order to purge herself of emotional scars.

“I work out my personal struggles by writing them out in my music,” she admits.

“I won’t wallow in fear or sorrow of threats. The more clearly I write about something that’s hurting me, the better I feel. It’s healing. Giving it away. I guess that’s why I’m a pretty happy, and healthy person in real life.”

Dealing with her own romantic fallout was one thing. Dealing with Balsamo’s stroke and its threat to the band was a greater challenge.

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There is a shirt signed by Evanescence currently up for auction at www.clothesoffourback.org along with other celebrity items. Proceeds benefit children’s charities. The auction ends December 30. You can go directly to the auction here.

Credit goes to TragedienneOfHeavens for capping it!

Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee isn’t interested in expensive personal gifts this Christmas - she just wants iPod speakers to help the band rehearse. The singer insists she treats herself throughout the year with any luxury items she craves. Lee says, “I’ve pretty much bought myself everything I needed. But I’d really like a good base station for my iPod. It’d be great for our warm-ups before we go onstage, so that’s what I really want.”