More love is due for PJ Harvey whose album, Let England Shake, continues to weave its magical spell.
I have to be patient and wait four months before she plays her one and only concert in Italy at Ferrara on July 6th.
I was keen to know how these songs sound live so I asked my friend Rachael to write a guest review of Polly’s recent gig in London .
Here’s what she wrote:
PJ Harvey @ The Troxy, London, February 28th 2011
On the darkened stage of the 1930s art-deco ex-cinema, Polly Jean Harvey stood in a white spotlight that made her look like a ghostly Victorian figure from a daguerreotype.
Wearing a long white dress and a black feather headdress, she strummed her autoharp as ‘Let England Shake’ filled the Troxy with a curiously ancient sound.
The first six songs were all from the new work, including one not featured on the album; ‘The Big Guns Called Me Back Again’. Then we heard ‘The Devil’ and ‘The Sky Lit Up’ – and I wondered why. I’ve never seen Polly live before, so perhaps it’s her wont to sprinkle in a few old numbers. Still, I couldn’t help thinking we were being compensated for the distinct change in style. I hope not, because it wasn’t necessary.
This audience seemed far more receptive to the new songs than the one at La Maroquinerie in Paris on the CD’s release date, but then we’d had a chance to listen to them. The songs are often fast-paced and end quite abruptly. There was no rock-concert ambiance at all – but the marvellous spectacle of an artist brave enough to give us what we didn’t know we wanted or needed. Continue reading
