If you were anywhere near the rock or alternative scene in the early 2010s, you probably remember the buzz. It wasn't just about a lineup. It was about a feeling. The Free the Machine Tour wasn't your standard, corporate-sponsored run of shows that felt like a cash grab. No, it felt like a statement. Specifically, it was the 2011 co-headlining trek featuring Evanescence and The Pretty Reckless, though the tour name itself became a bit of a rallying cry for fans who were tired of the "manufactured" feel of the industry at the time.
Amy Lee was back. That was the headline. After years of silence, legal battles with labels, and line-up shifts that would make most bands crumble, Evanescence returned with their self-titled third album. They weren't just playing songs; they were reclaiming their identity.
Why the Free the Machine Tour Actually Mattered
Honestly, looking back at the 2011-2012 window, the music industry was in a weird spot. We were smack in the middle of the transition from physical sales to the Wild West of streaming. Rock was being pushed out of the Top 40 by neon-pop and EDM. For a tour like Free the Machine to hit the road, it had to prove that guitar-driven music with a dark, symphonic edge still had a massive, hungry audience.
It did.
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The tour kicked off in Nashville—the War Memorial Auditorium, to be exact—in October 2011. It was raw. Amy Lee sat at the piano, bathed in blue light, and essentially told the crowd that they were the reason the band still existed. You've seen concerts where the artist looks like they’re checking a clock. This wasn't that. It was catharsis. Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless provided the perfect grit to balance Amy’s ethereal vocals. Momsen, only 18 at the time, was already shedding the "Gossip Girl" image and proving she was a legitimate rock frontwoman.
The Setlist Philosophy: Old Meets New
Most people expected a greatest hits show. We got some of that, sure. You can't skip "Bring Me to Life" without a riot. But the Free the Machine Tour was designed to showcase the new material. Songs like "What You Want" and "The Change" were heavy. Like, actually heavy. They had this industrial, mechanical grind that fit the tour’s title perfectly.
The production was intentionally stripped back compared to the massive The Open Door era. It felt more like a club show expanded to a theater size. It was intimate. It was loud. It was loud enough that people were talking about their ears ringing for days after the New York show at Terminal 5.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Name
There's a common misconception that "Free the Machine" was just a cool-sounding phrase dreamt up by a marketing intern. It wasn't. It was a direct reference to the track "Never Go Back" and the general theme of the album—breaking away from the "machine" of the record industry. Amy Lee has been vocal about the friction she faced with Wind-up Records. The tour was her way of saying she was finally steering the ship.
Some fans thought it was a political tour. It really wasn't. It was personal. It was about artistic autonomy.
The Legacy of the 2011 Run
You can see the influence of this tour in how modern alternative bands package their live shows today. It broke the "pretty girl rock" stereotype that the media loved to push. It showed that women in rock didn't have to be rivals; they could co-headline a massive tour and dominate the charts simultaneously.
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The Pretty Reckless gained massive momentum from these dates. They went from being "that actress's band" to a group that could command a stage with pure swagger. Meanwhile, Evanescence solidified their status as a legacy act that wasn't content to just live in the past.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to relive this era or understand its impact better, there are a few things you should do:
- Track down the "Lost" tracks: The self-titled album had several B-sides and "lost" songs from the aborted Steve Lillywhite sessions. Finding those gives you a much better sense of what they were trying to "free" themselves from.
- Check the live footage: While there isn't a single, official "Free the Machine Tour" DVD, the 2011 Rock in Rio performance happened right in the middle of this cycle. It is arguably the best recorded evidence of the energy the band had during that specific year.
- Support independent venues: A lot of the theaters played during that run are the kind of historic venues currently struggling. If you want tours like this to keep happening, skip the stadium shows once in a while and hit the mid-sized venues.
The Free the Machine Tour was a pivot point. It proved that you could walk away from the spotlight, deal with the "machine," and come back on your own terms without losing your soul—or your fan base. It remains a blueprint for how to execute a comeback with dignity and volume.