Amplified: The Exquisite Rock & Rage of Chrissy Amphlett (Belvoir) ★★★★½

Written by Sheridan Harbridge. Co-Created by Sheridan Harbridge, Glenn Moorhouse and Sarah Goodes. Belvoir. 29 Jan – 8 Feb, 2026.

Sheridan Harbridge is here to ensure we give Australian rock icon Chrissy Amphlett her due in tribute show, Amplified. Don’t worry if you’re not up on Amphlett’s life story or the back catalogue of The Divinyls. It’s a fine line between concert and cabaret. You’ve done it once, you can do it again.

My first thought was: this feels like a festival show, not a main stage show. But then I jumped on the Belvoir website and saw the entire run is already sold out — so the appetite is definitely there. And this review is probably totally redundant because you can’t get a ticket now anyway… but for what it’s worth, here we go.

Harbridge lets her fangirl self run amok in these 80 minutes of rock and revelry, channelling Amphlett’s ethos, if not her actual stage acts (pissing on the Belvoir stage would be frowned upon). The result is a loving, soulful remembrance of a different era of Aussie rock.

Harbridge’s vocals offer a convincing likeness of Amphlett’s tone, and her attempts at crowd provocation elicit amusingly middle-aged results. And yes, Harbridge goes clawing her way through the aisles and seats — this is an immersive event. You’ve been warned.

But Amplified is not just a mid-life crisis of rock memories. Harbridge’s genuine love for Amphlett’s impact is clear in the compassionate telling of her later years, including her battles with MS and the breast cancer that would eventually take her.

It’s clear the show has already struck the right chord with Sydney audiences. The finale was less a standing ovation and more a sense that we’d been given permission to treat the Belvoir like a rock gig. And on that note, you might want to bring earplugs — it does get suitably loud.