Live Review: Sharon Van Etten

New Jersey-born singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten emerged onto the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage dressed in a maroon velvet double-breasted suit, a picture of power and grace. Opening with Jupiter 4, she held court under red light as white strobes flickered. At quieter, poignant moments, Van Etten expressing vulnerability, curdled emotion, she was illuminated by a spotlight, which drew our attention to only to her powerful vocals, backed by haunting, pulsing synth. 

Van Etten stood centrestage, her band standing on a semi-circle of raised platforms. Sometimes she moved behind the keys or grabbed one of two guitars, but most often she was poised behind the mic, making small gestures and tapping her feet. Her set was mostly synth-heavy tracks from her latest record, January’s Remind Me Tomorrow, from the subdued No One’s Easy To Love to the infectious high energy of Comeback Kid to the ethereal register of Memorial Day, Van Etten’s bangs hanging in her face as she ran her fingers through a set of chimes. 

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A high point arrived when she strutted across the stage during wistful single Seventeen, bending over to sing an almost-duet with the most dedicated fan in the front row. She returned to him for the track ad lib, almost screaming in his face, “You’re crumbling up just to see/Afraid that you’ll be just like me...” A lone dancer in the middle of the stalls danced in time, one of the few people in the audience to try to match the intensity of Van Etten.

Vocal fans shouted “Shazza!”, an Australianism Van Etten seemed to appreciate. Then, when another cried, “We love you,” she returned the sentiment. Van Etten introduced this section of the night with the endearing, “We have a couple more songs for you, and hopefully my pants don’t split by the end.” The crowd crooned along with one of her most popular songs, Every Time The Sun Comes Up, cheering upon hearing its familiar opening chords and basking in the cheek of “People say I'm a one-hit wonder, but what happens when I have two?/I washed your dishes, but I shit in your bathroom.” 

Sharon Van Etten @ Sydney Opera House. Photo by Simone Fisher.

The encore of I Told You Everything, the snarling Serpents, and Love More ended the evening on a moment of gravity, Van Etten posed in front of the mic tapping a tambourine. Van Etten described the last track as a ”message of love”, asking the audience to send good vibes to her partner who was packing their stuff up for storage, ahead of the family's move from New York to LA. Before bringing her band forward to take a bow together, she took a moment with her head bowed, revelling in the cheers of the crowd.