The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane gave a riveting performance of the JAWS score live as the movie screened at QPAC on Saturday. JAWS in Concert opened in Brisbane with a relaxed feel as the audience, many wearing JAWS T-shirts and some with shark-themed caps, took their seats in the packed Concert Hall.
The younger than usual concert audience included teenagers and family groups as well as older enthusiasts. Before taking up her baton, Sarah-Grace Williams, Chief Conductor of The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane, encouraged everyone to get involved, interact with the orchestra and “dive into the depths of JAWS.” We did.
The film opens with a beach party and a young woman taking an evening dip in the ocean. She has no idea what is coming. We watch her swim happily, hear the water splashing.
Then comes eerie, unsettling music, with the strings insinuating the two-note shark motif. The killer shark is lurking nearby unseen. Our hearts race, but it is too late. She screams. We see her struggling and being pulled under the water. The music stops. The shark has its first victim.
The actions and music interweaving together have already brought the audience to the edge of our seats.
In her opening words, Sarah-Grace Williams promised us “a unique experience.” She kept her promise. Under her accomplished leadership, The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane thrilled the audience with their dynamic and cohesive playing, keeping us at the peak of suspense and emotion.
Watching the orchestra playing live also highlighted their discipline and skill in performing the music precisely synched to the unfolding events on the big screen.
In the first half of the performance, the storyline focuses on the American beach community of Amity as they respond to lethal attacks by a white shark. There are moments with no music, where the actions and dialogue carry the story. The orchestra remain motionless.
Then, with a movement of Sarah-Grace Williams’ baton, they all seamlessly and simultaneously create the musical narrative together on cue. This is both impressive and exciting for the audience.
After the intermission, our attention is on the unfolding drama at sea aboard The Orca, where the local police chief, a marine biologist and a shark fisherman try, against the odds, to hunt down and destroy the rogue shark.
As the men and the shark battle it out, the orchestra unleash the full force of John Williams’ symphonic score. The clarity of the sound and the vitality of the musicians’ live performance take the experience to the next level.
JAWS first thrilled and terrified audiences on 20 June 1975. The blockbuster movie garnered Academy Awards for director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams.
Many of the film’s outstanding features arose in trying to overcome technical difficulties. The mechanical shark kept breaking down. Instead, Spielberg showed the shark’s power in other ways – having a landing stage ripped off and propelled through the water.
John Williams shaped his musical score to create the shark’s presence and cue the audience to expect terrifying events. When Williams first played the two-note signature theme, Spielberg thought he was joking. He asked Williams to play it again and realised its emotional force. As Williams himself has said, this simple theme “is grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable.”
Attending JAWS in Concert, I am pleased to be celebrating the 50th anniversary year of this outstanding film. I consider myself lucky to have experienced The Metropolitan Orchestra Brisbane, guided by Sarah-Grace Williams, performing this world-class movie live in Brisbane.
It was clear from the outset that we were in the hands of seasoned professionals. I look forward to my next opportunity to experience this dynamic orchestra in concert.
Jaws In Concert ran at the Concert Hall, QPAC for two shows only on 22 November 2025. The season has now ended.
Website: https://www.qpac.com.au/whats-on/2025/jaws-in-concert
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/atqpac/ and https://www.instagram.com/themetorchestra/
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One response to “Review: Jaws In Concert Thrills In A Short Season With A Big Bite”
What a brilliantly insightful review! I had forgotten about the suspense and thrill of this movie – wish i’d heard that orchestra!