Amy Shark ’Night At The Barracks’ at The Barracks Precinct Manley 21/09/2025
Attention! Shark has been sighted on the North headlands of Sydney’s iconic Manly, heading straight for the barracks precinct! The Shark in question, Amy, is armed with 29 cutting-edge singles across four studio albums and five EP’s, that’ve sunk their potent teeth into fans far and wide. Now, tonight, Amy brings stripped-back acoustic renditions to regional Australia, plus A Night At The Barracks in Sydney’s iconic Manly North headlands.
A brisk cold afternoon night carrying the coastal winds upon it, an attention-demanding retired army barracks, set on Manly’s picturesque surroundings and a much-loved Aussie indie-pop sensation in a festival-like outdoor setup. I suspect this will be one for the memories long to come…
A piano melody brings forth the initiation of the opening song, to my delighted surprise, my personal favourite, ‘C’Mon’, traditionally featuring Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker. I’m a long-time pianist myself, so hearing this song stripped back and vulnerable, with only the driving piano melody, Amy’s heart-felt desperate and emotive vocals which glide through the surroundings, putting Amy’s voice on a glorious pedestal un-mard by a full production, and Amy’s delicate accompanying acoustic guitar is auditory bliss!
Amy talks to us in such a way that is both natural and unrehearsed, yet practised, yet exudes experience and what I interpret as vulnerable confidence.
Instead of perfectly flowing one song into the next, barely giving the fans’ excited cheers to ebb like a well rehearsed standard format show, Amy shares almost intimate stories of songs’ origins and makings, amidst every couple of songs, to keep our attention firmly fixed on her every sung and spoken word. Similarly to Pete Murray’s acoustic performance in July, the way Amy regales us with both emotional and funny stories strategically spotted throughout the set, doesn’t leave any space for our minds to wonder and lose interest, despite the lack of typical musical layers, on the contrary, for me at least, it draws my focus on the musical details as they’re so raw and powerful.
Early on in the set, we’re treated to songs I would’ve expected to be featured later in the set, not in the first five songs, such as ‘Everybody Rise’ and ‘Adore’, raising the hype in the audience to a palpable pitch.
Some examples of Amy’s storytelling include telling us about how she came to be able to not just meet the iconic Ed Sheeran, but write and release a song with him, with the story both captivating us and making us burst out laughing. This story is of course preceded by the song itself ‘Love Songs Ain’t For Us’, featuring Keith Urban despite being co-written by Ed. Another highlight story from Amy displaying candid vulnerability, is how the song ‘Mess Her Up’ came to be, and the regrets in its story.
Amy also connects with the audience early on, as she proceeds to warn us that the next song has coarse language, “I’m telling you this as I noticed that there are some young people in the audience”. She then points out one particular young patron, asks his name and proceeds to tell him that he’s going to learn a few new words in this song, and when everyone hears you went to an Amy Shark show, you’ll be the coolest kid in school, and if your not the coolest kid after that, you can use the words you learn tonight. At a burst of laughter from the audience, Amy tells us that the next song is called ’Two Friends’.
I’m amazed at the exquisite musicality of the set, predominately driven by the piano, but not over shadowing Amy’s rich voice, which I can hear every single well-practiced note perfectly, not just the hook melodies or chorus, it’s a real delight!
When the show draws to a close with stand-out hit ‘I Said Hi’, and no cliche encore after 90 minutes I’m thoroughly satisfied from the musical meal, not over-full and certainly could’ve fit in a bit more, maybe ‘Psycho’, or the cover she does of The Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside’, but the lack of those tracks isn’t important. What was important, apart from escaping the cold winds, was the incredible concert unlike any Amy Shark concert I’ve experienced, nor any pop artist concert either, and I’m loving reliving the details on my recordings and while I write about it all now. If you have the chance to witness one of these concerts on her regional tour, I strongly encourage it! Whether you like pop music or acoustic music, this is an experience for music lovers who truly appreciate and enjoy music!