PJ Harvey and John Parish at Shepherd's Bush Empire
Howe Gelb
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 20 April 2009
The second of my awesome girl-singer trilogy of nights came from a woman who I believe is one of the most important artists Britain has produced in the last 20 years: Polly Jean Harvey. I've actually seen her play several times before, the first time on her To Bring You My Love tour, where she was glammed up in red satin and high heels, then in support of her most successful album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, which saw her return a little to the Polly of old, sometimes playing guitar and dressed down, and finally in 2007 at a unique show at the Royal Festival Hall where she performed alone switching from guitar to piano dressed in a flowing Victorian-style gown. Each show was memermising and utterly different, so I knew I was in for a treat when she announced shows with collaborator John Parish for the second album they've made together, A Woman A Man Walked By.
The first surprise of the night came in the form of the support act, a surprisingly high calibre choice, Mr Howe Gelb. His band Giant Sand have supported Polly in the past so she must be a fan or a friend of this unique, deep voiced singer-songwriter, and what a fine match he is to her music. Arriving on stage in grey suit and hat, looking a little like a silver devil with his white hair, pointy eyebrows and beard, Gelb quiped that it would all be over in just five or six songs, not to worry, in his unique bluesy, husky voice. He has the blues guitar to match and seems almost like an old time preacher with his soulful acoustic tales of his desert home. He's pretty true to his word and keeps the set short and sweet although I would have liked to have heard more but sadly the unappreciative crowd talk throughout his songs. I see Parish and Harvey lurking by the side of the stage though checking out his set.
Half an hour later they very punctually walk onto the stage themselves at 9pm, Parish and the rest of the band following Gelb's example of the stylish bluesman/20s gangster look but of course all eyes immediately are drawn to Ms Polly, and not just because she's now a bona fide British music legend but also because of the eye-catching outfit she's wearing. Still skinny as a rake, she's dressed all in white with a pearl encrusted lace top, a bondage style long skirt and silver jewelry dangling from her swept up hair, she looks almost like a futuristic geisha girl or a sci-fi Victorian lady: pretty amazing.
With Parish on guitar and her more than capable band handling the rest of the instruments, Polly this time concentrated on her singing using only a range of effect pedals at her feet. The first choice of song was an obvious one but an effective opener: new single Black Hearted Love, easily one of the best songs of the year. Live it doesn't sound quite so raw but it's still filled with intensity and fuzzed guitar. Despite plenty of smiles from Ms Harvey, the rest of the set remains just as tense, moving effortlessly through the dark and edgy Sixteen Fifteen Fourteen, the spookily Gothic Leaving California, the taut and moving Civil War Correspondent and the crazed rage-filled shouts of the stomping Pig Will Not.
Most of the songs come from the new album but there's a fair helping from their first record together, Dance Hall At Louse Point, although disappointingly a couple of its best tracks are missing, namely City Of No Sun and That Was My Veil but in fairness I barely notice their absence during the gig, with the show brimming with atmosphere, particularly during the strangely hypnotic, child-like lullaby Cracks In The Canvas where a softly-spoken Polly asks "how do we cope in the days after a death?" to a awed silence from the crowd.
The encore finally sees Mr Parish take the microphone for a fine, Polly-accompanied version of his song False Fire and the shows ends with the delicately weird yet graceful character piece April. A strange and bewitching night: I wouldn't expect anything less from Polly.
Below is a cool high quality clip I found on YouTube from the show.
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 20 April 2009
The second of my awesome girl-singer trilogy of nights came from a woman who I believe is one of the most important artists Britain has produced in the last 20 years: Polly Jean Harvey. I've actually seen her play several times before, the first time on her To Bring You My Love tour, where she was glammed up in red satin and high heels, then in support of her most successful album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, which saw her return a little to the Polly of old, sometimes playing guitar and dressed down, and finally in 2007 at a unique show at the Royal Festival Hall where she performed alone switching from guitar to piano dressed in a flowing Victorian-style gown. Each show was memermising and utterly different, so I knew I was in for a treat when she announced shows with collaborator John Parish for the second album they've made together, A Woman A Man Walked By.
The first surprise of the night came in the form of the support act, a surprisingly high calibre choice, Mr Howe Gelb. His band Giant Sand have supported Polly in the past so she must be a fan or a friend of this unique, deep voiced singer-songwriter, and what a fine match he is to her music. Arriving on stage in grey suit and hat, looking a little like a silver devil with his white hair, pointy eyebrows and beard, Gelb quiped that it would all be over in just five or six songs, not to worry, in his unique bluesy, husky voice. He has the blues guitar to match and seems almost like an old time preacher with his soulful acoustic tales of his desert home. He's pretty true to his word and keeps the set short and sweet although I would have liked to have heard more but sadly the unappreciative crowd talk throughout his songs. I see Parish and Harvey lurking by the side of the stage though checking out his set.
Half an hour later they very punctually walk onto the stage themselves at 9pm, Parish and the rest of the band following Gelb's example of the stylish bluesman/20s gangster look but of course all eyes immediately are drawn to Ms Polly, and not just because she's now a bona fide British music legend but also because of the eye-catching outfit she's wearing. Still skinny as a rake, she's dressed all in white with a pearl encrusted lace top, a bondage style long skirt and silver jewelry dangling from her swept up hair, she looks almost like a futuristic geisha girl or a sci-fi Victorian lady: pretty amazing.
With Parish on guitar and her more than capable band handling the rest of the instruments, Polly this time concentrated on her singing using only a range of effect pedals at her feet. The first choice of song was an obvious one but an effective opener: new single Black Hearted Love, easily one of the best songs of the year. Live it doesn't sound quite so raw but it's still filled with intensity and fuzzed guitar. Despite plenty of smiles from Ms Harvey, the rest of the set remains just as tense, moving effortlessly through the dark and edgy Sixteen Fifteen Fourteen, the spookily Gothic Leaving California, the taut and moving Civil War Correspondent and the crazed rage-filled shouts of the stomping Pig Will Not.
Most of the songs come from the new album but there's a fair helping from their first record together, Dance Hall At Louse Point, although disappointingly a couple of its best tracks are missing, namely City Of No Sun and That Was My Veil but in fairness I barely notice their absence during the gig, with the show brimming with atmosphere, particularly during the strangely hypnotic, child-like lullaby Cracks In The Canvas where a softly-spoken Polly asks "how do we cope in the days after a death?" to a awed silence from the crowd.
The encore finally sees Mr Parish take the microphone for a fine, Polly-accompanied version of his song False Fire and the shows ends with the delicately weird yet graceful character piece April. A strange and bewitching night: I wouldn't expect anything less from Polly.
Below is a cool high quality clip I found on YouTube from the show.
My god. I love her so much. But the concert was too expensive for me and I gave up :(
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