Live Review: Sharon Van Etten @ Northcote Theatre

Tonight’s event has drawn a sold-out crowd to catch the sideshow of the Meredith Festival headliner. 

Many seem to be visiting the 1500-capacity venue in Melbourne’s inner north for the first time and comments about the opulent roof, the curious layout, the thrill of having a new venue (even though it has been hosting events since 1912) and the cavernous sound, pepper conversations throughout the night.

By the time Sharon Van Etten arrives, the room is packed; the dialogue from a scene from Yellowjackets plays as the room darkens, the band assembles, and the bright lights from the small stage reveal her silhouette. 

Diving into the driving bass-heavy riffs that anchor Headspace, Van Etten seems to be channelling Chrissy Amphlett or Iggy Pop with her pout, her posturing and the way she moves, as if surging with power. She stalks the stage, drops to her knees, and jabs her guitarist, Charley Damski, in the chest to mark the hook of a chorus before kissing his forehead, making sure all eyes are on her. As the insistent synth and drum opening of Comeback Kid fills the room, it becomes evident that the venue’s sound troubles are, at least for tonight, over. 

Van Etten’s band, Jorge Balbi on drums, Devon Hoff on bass, Teeny Lieberson on vocals and synths and Damski on synthesizers and guitars, work astonishingly well together, each leaving space for the other, for Van Etten and the room, giving her songs a sense of maximalism and confidence. The room quietens, and Van Etten dons a Gibson Hummingbird for Anything, one of the highlights from her latest record, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong.  

Esther Linder

“It’s hard to believe it’s been three years,” she says with a nervous smile to the sound of raucous cheers. “We have so much to catch up on,” she laughs. “Honestly, I have so much more to say,” she waits for the cries of “we love you, Sharon!” to die down before continuing. “This is another song from my new record,” she says, stepping back from the microphone as the opening bars of Come Back, its anthemic chorus and her and Liberson’s harmonies melding together with an unusual vibrancy, driving home how much more these songs take on in a live setting. 

“It’s been a long time since some of us have been around other people,” she says as the applause fades. “I’ve been told that I dance like Elaine,” she tells us. “But it’s all about connecting with people and being in a safe space, and if you want to dance badly with me, you have permission to do that,” she says as the band launch into Mistakes, one of the clear highlights from the show and, if the audience at Meredith is awarding Boots this year, this feels like a prime candidate, or may have already won. 

As soon as its chorus hits, “Even when I make a mistake, mistake / Turns out it's great”, the room is filled with swaying bodies, in and out of rhythm, inhabiting exactly the feeling you want from a gig like this. Every Time The Sun Comes Up follows, and the band are cheered back out for an encore of Darkness Fades and Seventeen, the perfect closer to a stunning set. People literally seem to be glowing with joy as they surge to the exits and out into the street. 

Esther Linder