As Amy Shark walked onto the stage, the sold-out main room of The Gov (8 September) went mad; and it was only going to get crazier with the opening song, ‘Drive You Mad’ really living up to its name.
But it was her 2016 single ‘Golden Fleece’, which was the biggest surprise package on the night. The room went quiet for the duration, until the end when everyone managed to scoop their jaws off the floor and whistle and scream out applause.
At stages throughout the set, you could almost be forgiven for thinking you were out in the countryside, with the smell of a few frothy ones and the open beer garden lending itself to the night air.
Amy’s effortless storytelling and indie-pop style could nearly draw comparisons to the indie-electronic sounds of singer Alisa Xayalith, of New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous.
Amy's vulnerability as she sang and told personal stories of difficult times in her life were consistently heart-breaking. That’s not to say that she didn’t pull out a few Friday night dance tracks, however even when she did they would almost always be followed by a chaser of something softer.
“Now that I’ve pumped you up, I’m going to play a song that will bring you all the way back down. This is a very sad song, so if you’re going through some heartache, then this is not the one for you,” she said as a precursor to ‘Middle Of The Night’.
‘Weekend’ was accompanied by the story of calling a boy on the home phone as a young teen, and having his Mum answer (as would often be the way): “Hello is Peter there?” “Who’s speaking?” the mum responded. “It’s Amy.” “Hold on a moment… Peter, there’s an Amy on the phone," she yelled down the hall.
She ended the story by saying: “This used to really piss me off, it’s not AN Amy, it’s f@#$ing THE Amy!”
She closed the night with her dream. Triple J Hottest 100 number 2, ‘Adore’. And Amy, Adelaide ADOREs you.
