Concert review: Even though I wasn’t a fan before, Amy Shark left an impression in Geraldton

I didn’t previously know much about Amy Shark, or play her music on Spotify, and when I heard her songs on the radio I wasn’t really moved by them.

But that’s probably because when her first hit song, Adore, charted at No.2 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2016, I was 19 years old at a party in Esperance, feeling somewhat under the weather after drinking too much. I guess I missed out on that one.

So when I was tasked with reviewing Shark’s Geraldton concert at Queens Park Theatre on Tuesday, I must admit my expectations were quite low.

But I had heard how the Aussie singer-songwriter puts her whole heart into each song to win over her live audiences, so I went into it intrigued, and with an open mind.

Shark’s cool, modern-rock vibe made her show unique, and she lightened up the mood by making some funny remarks in between songs.

The real goal, though, was to lift the crowd up with the light and fluffy lyrics and then tumble them down with tears and emotion.

Shark pumped up the stage as she sang two popular cover songs that many people know the words to by heart — The Best by Tina Turner, and Mr Brightside by The Killers — which really got the crowd moving.

She fired up the packed audience — a mixture of fans from 18-year-old partygoers to mature women with grandchildren — as she hurled a mix of emotions at them.

But she kept the audience in suspense, wondering when or if she would play her famous track I Said Hi, which was named song of the year and peaked at No.6 on the singles chart.

I can see how young women might see Shark as the Australian Lana Del Rey, but with a traumatic touch of pop — don’t diss me, fans, but that’s what I thought when I heard her live.

The 36-year-old from the Gold Coast sang an array of hits from her albums Cry Forever and Love Monster on the See U Somewhere regional tour, which includes a massive 42 dates across Australia.

The goosebumps were unstoppable when Shark finished with her pretend encore, Baby Steps, with the lights going out as she she left stage.

But the crowd chanted her back on and roared with appreciation when she spoke her next words.

“Geraldton . . . I ‘Adore’ you,” she said.

She got most of the packed QPT audience out of their seats when she finished the concert with three of her best-known tunes: Adore, Love Songs Ain’t for Us (a duet with Keith Urban) and of course, I Said Hi.

Geraldton was Shark’s seventh stop in WA, having already performed in Bunbury, Mandurah, Margaret River, Albany, Esperance and Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and she will carry on to Karratha and Broome.

Shark left an impression on her audience, delivering a concert to remember, and perhaps making some new fans in the process.