The surprise has been revealed: Evanescence are playing a ’secret’ gig at the 1,000-capacity Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom in New York City on November 4. Amy revealed the surprise on her Twitter:

THE SURPRISE- Secret Show. NYC. November 4. We want to play a little warm up show for friends before playing for 40,000 people in Brazil. :)

Tickets will be available for pre-sale for EvClub members starting today (Wednesday, October 21) at noon EDT until 9 p.m. on Thursday. They will be available to everyone starting Friday at noon. Buy tickets here.

Lucky Brazilians and now lucky New Yorkers!

P.S. Check out the awesome new promo of Amy above. It was taken a couple of weeks ago by her husband Josh.

I’ve been hoping that Amy would use Twitpic and look what she just uploaded LOL! View it full size in the gallery and read Amy’s caption below.

I know this is just opening myself up to all kinds of comments, but this is my favorite recent picture and I really wanted my first twitpic to be good. Ha.

Here’s a short little video of Amy Lee talking about the upcoming Maquinaria Festival in Brazil next month. It’s only 7 seconds but any new Evanescence stuff is GOOD stuff! And Amy looks super cute with her shorter hair!

A little earlier this month Amy posted the following message on Evthreads, answering some of the many questions asked by fans. She talks a lot about the new music and it makes me more and more excited everytime I read about it. Bring on 2010 already!

I’ve been sitting here reading through so many of these questions and comments in the “Ask me” thread… trying to find one I haven’t answered and want to… I guess I just want to say thanks for making me feel good. Ha. Its really nice to know so many of you miss the music and want to know when you’ll hear it again. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m working on it almost every day (night I should say). I’m in love with it. Enough to fight for it. Enough to reopen the door to a world of chaos even though it scares me. I don’t want to give away too much about what it will sound like, because so much will change before the end, but its… not what you would expect. Its definitely not happy married music, but its not like I’m dying the whole time either. Its dark, sarcastic, fun, strange, familiar and very different at the same time. It makes me feel alive and I wish I could show you right now. If you were here, at my house, I would pour you a drink and we would turn it up really loud and rock out to it, and I know you would love it. Thank you everyone who has said their lives were touched by the music. It touches my life too, and so do you, in many ways.

Somebody asked how it made me feel when someone tells me the music changed their life. It makes me feel like I’m not crazy. It feels wonderful.

Also somebody asked why I talk about blood so much, complete with quite a few lyric quotes. It made me laugh. I promise to offer slightly less blood on the next album. Slightly.

Last but not least, I often get asked about band members, the whole “is it a band, is it solo, etc” (understandably! There have been quite a few). Everyone who has ever been a part of Evanescence is a part of its story, a part of its soul. From day 1 it has been a collaborative effort and different people have contributed over the years. But it is more than just people. It’s something that has taken on its own life, it has grown, changed and become more interesting, more soulful, more honest than a perfect image will allow. The passion is what makes it live on, the obsessive focus on straight up, head first, love for the music. That is my band. And against all obstacles I’m sticking to it.

See you guys soon!

love,
Amy

I’m so late posting this but I’m happy to report that Amy Lee is now on Twitter! Even though she posts messages on Evthreads, it’s great to be able to follow her and often read little updates on music and whatever else. Plus she revealed the surprise!

Follow Amy at http://twitter.com/AmyLeeEV. Read 2 of her Evthreads messages and the surprise tweets below:

Hey guys!

I can’t believe I’m saying this but…..
I’ve decided to try out the twitter thing. I think it might be a fun way to stay in touch better and I know I need to announce myself on here because there are so many other ‘me’s.’ My name on twitter is AmyLeeEv. I can’t guarantee I’ll have anything interesting to say but if you’re really bored and need a distraction, why not follow me? Actually, I think I haven an idea for my first tweet. How about I spill the first little surprise I’ve been holding onto? See you there!
love,
Amy

And hey, just so you guys know, the album is the priority. Its all I’ve been doing this year and I am dying to put it out. The plan is to get it out next year, but it definitely wont be out by April, so this Muppets thing is just an appetizer till then. I know that telling you something is coming out in 6 months seems kinda lame because its far away but Im just really excited (and when I first said there was a surprise I thought it would be out within a month). I know it sounds crazy but the song is killer. That’s my opinion anyway, I had a great time making it.

Alright. Going back to work…..

love
Amy

And the big surprise…..

OK, here comes the surprise. It’s gonna take a few tweets to tell you the whole thing.

Remember the Nightmare Before Christmas covers CD last year? They are making another one, this time its Muppet songs..

When they asked me if I wanted to do a song, I thought it was a really cool idea but I didn’t think there would be anything that fit me…

but right before saying no, I went online and listened to all the songs just in case anything sparked, and I found something…

so Will Hunt (guy I did Sally’s Song with) and I went completely crazy with it and it is really different and, I think, REALLY cool…

I thought it was going to come out this year but I’ve just been told its been pushed to spring, April I think…

so well have to wait a little bit for it, but I think its worth it. ;)

I’m really excited about it! I have one more surprise and its not so far away… :D Stay tuned!

Amy Lee has confirmed in a message on Evthreads.com that Evanescence will be performing a one-off concert in Brazil later this year. The band will take to the stage at a festival in Sao Paulo in November, but Amy says there will be no new songs performed. Read what she had to say below:

Hey guys,
I know you figured it out already but I just wanted to say we are indeed headlining one of the three nights at the festival in Sao Paulo in November! We’ve had a few cool opportunities to play one-offs over the past year or so, and I usually end up saying no because I’ve been so focused on the new material and I don’t want to get sidetracked (organizing an Ev show takes some pretty serious time and preparation). BUT the writing has been going so well lately, and you Brazil fans are some of our best and craziest, we decided to just go for it! We wont be playing new material, its going to be a collection of songs you already know (new stuff will come in due time ). I also wanted you to know that this is not the surprise I was referring to- that is still coming, and it WILL be a little something new to hear. ….. I really love these little smiley guys. And what the hell is this one ? It looks like a ghost that swallowed a hanger. ANYWAY, I’m really excited and a little nervous about the show- I’ve been my anonymous alter-ego for a long time! Mostly I can’t wait to feel that feeling again- completely swallowed by the music. I love you guys and I can’t wait to see you Brazil! We’re gonna have a good time.

love,
Amy

Very exciting news – at least for the lucky fans in Brazil – According to UOL Música, Evanescence will play a one-off show at the Maquinária festival in São Paulo, Brazil in November.

Bassist Tim McCord has apparently confirmed via MySpace that the band will appear at the two-day event (Nov. 7-8).

Source: Blabbermouth

Amy wrote a new message on Evthreads.com a few days ago. She talks new music (yay!!) and reveals that there’s a surprise in store for us fans soon. I wonder what it is…

Hey everybody! Just checkin in.
There’s been a lot of writing going on this summer and I’m starting to get really excited. My good friend Will happens to also be a great producer, writer and programmer (lucky for me!) and we’ve been slaving away at some pretty interesting stuff lately… I’m not giving anything away just yet. Terry and I have been working together this week at my place just like old times and life is pretty good. I have a little surprise for you that I can’t spill just yet, but its coming soon and I can’t wait. I will let you know as soon as I’m allowed to!
Talk to you soon!

love,
Amy

p.s. My favorite music right now: CSS, Depeche Mode (sounds of the universe)(‘in chains’ especially), MGMT, MIA. -Wow. I just realized thats a lot of initials…

p.s.s. David Hodges first solo ep comes out tomorrow! Congrats

Here’s a better quality video of Amy singing Bring Me To Life on Legends and Lyrics. It hasn’t got all the other stuff in it either, just Amy and this beautiful acoustic version of BMTL. I wish I had the full version.

Amy Lee wrote the following message on Evthreads.com about Michael Jackson’s tragic and untimely death:

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

What a strange and sad day. Michael Jackson was possibly the greatest (and definitely the most influential) artist of our time. He’s one of my biggest and first musical influences, and I know that to be true for many many people. I hope he’s in a better place and can finally be at peace. I feel like he was very misunderstood. I’m taking comfort in the fact that his music will live forever…

- Amy