When your ticket stub reads clearly in bold ‘No Support’ you know it’s for a reason. It says something. After watching this show tonight it makes perfect sense - I could not think of a single act that would have been suitable to open this performance. Not one. Not only that, even though they would have been completely separate, it would have some how deviated from the atmosphere created - which tonight belonged exclusively to Polly & co.
Fresh off the back of her greatly deserved Mercury Music Prize the night before, PJ Harvey slowly steps out onto the stage sultry black clad - the antithesis of the previous evening's glistening white dress - but no less angelic. Opening with ‘Let England Shake’, there is a meticulous degree of execution from Polly and her band (which also include long time collaborator John Parish and Ex-Bad Seed Mick Harvey). As they continue to conquer the most recent LP - Polly’s voice simply soars – seamlessly floating through the venue with a pitch and emotive tone that is quite frankly, astonishing. The band swaps instruments with a quiet yet impressive degree of professionalism - collectively exuding an intoxicating sense of expertise.
The performance from Polly is as structured, delicate and thought out as the songs themselves. She hangs, lingering in the darkness of the depths of the stage often with a solitary strum of guitar or auto-harp - faintly taking one step at a time into the spotlight - finally reaching the microphone in perfectly choreographed timing to open those expansive lungs of hers. They stay deadly silent for the entire performance, often to the dismay of a few misguided fools who can be heard shouting, “say something”, “acknowledge your audience”, it seems they were completely unaware that this was indeed a performance – would they shout such a thing at a ballet or theatre production? Polly and the band completely absorbed themselves into their art and it was utterly beguiling as a result. During the rousing ‘England’ I was not alone in being emotionally overcome by the sheer majestic power of the performance.
The often-devastating emotive power captured on White Chalk flawlessly lends itself to the bands current incarnation - ‘Dear Darkness’ and closer ‘Silence’ are simultaneously stirring and heartbreaking. The set is perfectly structured to allow the evening to have a cohesive sense of emotion and atmosphere even when delving into older material - displayed in such numbers as ‘C’mon Billy’ and the divine ‘Angelene’. There are very few artists that can radiate such a degree of professionalism in their music whilst losing none of its original power and sincerity – PJ Harvey is quite simply untouchable right now.