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Gloomy shades of blue illuminated the Amy Shark banner on stage at Amplifier Capitol last Saturday night. Thin smoke was slowly being released to add to the affect and compliment the theme of the Night Thinker EP and tour. A wide range of instruments including acoustic, bass and electric guitars, a drum kit, and a synthesiser were carefully set up by a stagehand, all in view of the crowd. It looked like a funky little display in a musical instrument store. De La Soul’s 1991 album De La Soul Is Dead played in the interval, featuring tracks like Pease Porridge and Bitties in the BK Lounge, giving off a real throwback RNB vibe to introduce the Unearthed star. One might mistake Shark for a bit of a diva, given that she had left her very mixed crowd of fans feeling antsy, having waited a good half an hour longer than expected for her appearance. As soon as she took the stage though, laid back in an Adidas jumper, accompanied by some wine in a plastic cup, all seemed to be forgiven.

Shark opened with Drive You Mad and looked elated to see audience members recognising it straight off the bat. The singer had a very warm and relatable “girl next door” presence. She couldn’t help but smile to the crowd’s cheers and knowledge of the lyrics. For emotional tracks like this one, she became very immersed. She felt every word she belted out, clearly indicating that her songs originate from real life people and experiences.

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Spit On Girls was next to play. Studio recordings do not do Amy justice. Her powerful vocals, straight from the very pit of her stomach, resonated through the room and gave me goosebumps on multiple occasions. Her voice paired with her clever and hard-hitting, emotional lyrics could give just about anyone happy shivers, hence the wide range of people who bought a ticket to see her.

In her first address to Perth, Shark explained that when she spoke to her manager about her upcoming tour, her only requests were that her last show is in Perth and that it be on “a fucking Saturday night”. Judging by that and the flood of posts on the Facebook event of locals searching for tickets to the sold out gig, her Perth following must be quite large. The songstress then announced her next song Home.

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Golden Fleece followed and in pinnacle moments, it put a hold on all other music and had a spotlight shining down on only her. Now it was just Amy and her guitar. Acoustic. So much emotion. There was a pattern in the way Amy performed, which she herself touched on. She described the show as an emotional rollercoaster, repeatedly taking you to the highest highs, followed by the lowest lows, and so on. It was effective in maintaining audience energy and devotion, and breaking up a series of raw, touching pieces with more lively, upbeat numbers.

Amy was sad to announce the absence of her usual special guest in her song Worst Girl. No Allday, no surprises. Perth seems to be just that little bit too far for people. She recovered by slowing the song down and taking Allday’s lyrics on, on top of her own. It was a very gentle and sweet rendition. Blood Brothers was the track to follow.

Before starting a song, Amy would often give a back story to the reason it was written. She was very engaging with the audience and spoke to them as if she was their best mate. She gave the following description to explain Deleted. “This song’s about a guy I used to date. He was really smart. He was getting ready to go to uni and travel, while I was just getting ready to go the park and get drunk with my mates. We obviously weren’t meant to be, but I just didn’t want him to forget me and the memories we shared”.

Amy has found her perfect sound, something that is fiercely unique to her. She has remarkable control over her voice and a lovely vibrato to it. Drums were the perfect instrument of choice to compliment her vocals, and the carefully picked synths tie the whole thing together with a big, pretty ribbon. The beginning of her performance was an indication that she is still relatively new to the game, and still overwhelmed by stardom, but the second half saw her settling quite nicely into the rock star she truly is.

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A cover of Superman by Eminem was a surprising and impressive way to shake things back up. She played the electric guitar for this one. Her synth player joined her on bass. If this were a Like A Version on triple j, I’d vote it into the Hottest 100. Weekends was her next track, and with that wrapping up, Amy spoke of how this was the biggest and best show of the entire tour. On ya, Perth. 

Fittingly, Adore finished the performance off. Intense lighting of a more purple colour and a lot of smoke filled the stage. Amy gave her absolute all for her most well known, beloved Australian tune, and finished the powerful show with an even more powerful BANG.

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AMNPLIFY – NS