Katy Perry Takes Down Her Viral 'Left Shark' on Stage

Katy Perry threw it back to her Super Bowl XLIX halftime performance when Left Shark stole the [...]

By Libby Birk

Katy Perry threw it back to her Super Bowl XLIX halftime performance when Left Shark stole the show once again at her concert in Vancouver on Monday.

The shark that defined Perry's 2015 halftime show dragged the "Swish Swish" singer around by her leg on stage as the dynamic duo delighted the crowd with their bizarre, hilarious display.

As Perry belted out her hits into a bright pink microphone, her felt-finned frenemy clambered onstage to interrupt the pop star.

Although Left Shark may have got the first punch in, Perry ultimately showed it who's boss by wrestling the seven-foot shark to the ground and even jumping onto it WWE style, elbow-first.

Left Shark enjoyed his own moment of fame with his name up in bright lights during Perry's concert, if only for a brief moment.

The costumed shark, who in 2015 was played by Perry's backup dancer Bryan Gaw, initially rose to Super Bowl fame not by being an elite athlete or giving a mind-blowing rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner," but by dancing just out of sync from Right Shark and other background dancers during Perry's halftime show.

Speaking to NPR last week, Gaw said that the off-kilter dance moves were rehearsed — adding that he wanted to play a "character" in the large shark costume.

"There's what's called free-style choreography, or, like, you get to move around or play your character as a dancer," he said.

"I'm in a seven-foot blue shark costume. There's no cool in that. So what's the other option? Well, I'm gonna play a different character," he continued.

Gaw has since left the touring lifestyle behind him after working for Perry for five years and now is a hair stylist at Mare Salon in West Hollywood.

The initial reaction to Left Shark was that it was a botched performance; many wondered if the dancer couldn't hear the music or see his cues from inside his costume. But Gaw assures fans that the iconic mishap was purposeful.

Gaw didn't talk about Left Shark publicly at first — he said he didn't want to draw attention away from Katy Perry. But he's since found a lot of love for Left Shark.

"Actually I don't get any negative feedback from it. If anything, people are, like, 'Whoa, that's so cool!' "

Now, Gaw even lists Left Shark on his resume.

The Left Shark vs. Katy Perry rumble was the final show on Perry's North American leg of the Witness tour. Next, the 33-year-old heads to South America, Asia, Europe, South Africa and Australia where her fourth world tour will wrap up in August.

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