PJ Harvey celebrates her past and present at the Palace Theatre
by Joel Swenson
October 03, 2024
It has been seven years since PJ Harvey last toured the U.S., but the wait has been even longer for her legion of loyal Twin Cities fans. The last time the enigmatic singer, musician, poet, and artist performed in Minnesota was way back on October 1, 2004, at First Avenue. At the time, Harvey was on the road in support of her 2004 album, Uh Huh Her. It’s safe to say that no one in the crowd that night thought they’d need to patiently wait two decades for her return to Minnesota. Almost exactly 20 years to the day later, Harvey rewarded that patience during a stunning sold-out Palace Theatre show Wednesday night.
Harvey is currently touring on her 2023 release, I Inside the Old Year Dying, easily her most mellow and subdued release to date. The album was inspired by Harvey’s own epic poem “Orlam” and utilizes folk instruments, field recordings, and light electronics throughout. It also shows the singer pushing her already expansive contralto vocal range further than ever before. For this tour, Harvey dedicated the first half of her set to playing the album in its entirety with no breaks.
It’s easy to lose yourself in I Inside the Old Year Dying. It meanders through Harvey’s dream world with no real clear path but never loses its momentum. It has a prophesied spirituality that only Harvey herself can truly interpret and distill down to listeners. Listening to the album is almost hallucinatory, but seeing it played live is downright hypnotic.
As the band (guitarist and long-time collaborator John Parish, drummer Jean-Marc Butty, keyboard/violinist James Johnston, and guitarist/bassist Giovanni Ferrario) masterfully worked their way through I Inside the Old Year Dying, Harvey’s voice took center stage. Actually, it took the entire stage as she utilized every square inch of it throughout the show. Scattered around the stage were various chairs, benches, and, falling in line with the spirituality of the evening, a church pew. Harvey rarely stayed in one place for long, flitting between the seats like a game of actual musical chairs. At other times, she knelt or lay on the stage. Through it all, her big, sweeping arm movements directed both the band and the reverent crowd, casting large, deep shadows against the backdrop of a grey, peeling painted wall.
As the I Inside the Old Year Dying set wrapped up, Harvey briefly exited, leaving the band to work through “The Color of the Earth” on their own. She returned for “The Glorious Land,” and it was immediately apparent that this was a different set from the first half of the show. While the show was billed as “An Evening with PJ Harvey” with no opening act, the two distinctly different sets made it feel as though Harvey was her own opener. As she continued the show’s second act, the crowd’s reverence quickly turned to raucousness.
The crowd-pleasing set included songs from Harvey’s entire catalog, including her 1991 debut single, “Dress,” and spectacular performances of “50ft Queenie” and “Man Size” off of 1993’s Rid of Me. “The Garden” and “Black Hearted Love” kept the energy high and the crowd wanting more. During a beautiful rendition of “The Desperate Kingdom of Love,” it was just Harvey’s voice and acoustic guitar in the spotlight. Before “The Words That Maketh Murder,” a tech joined Harvey onstage to strap a cumbersome autoharp across her body. The crowd went wild as Harvey belted out the opening line of the main set’s penultimate song, “Down By The Water.”
While Harvey’s voice was working overtime throughout the show, she rarely addressed the crowd save a “thank you” or two and a brief introduction of the band before the set’s closer, “To Bring You My Love.” Hearing those final two songs was surreal. Harvey’s voice was as perfect as it had been all night, but it took on a slight edge during the show closers. That edge stayed present during the two-song encore of “The Community of Hope” and “Dollar, Dollar.”
Wednesday’s show was a masterclass in artistry. Throughout her entire career, Harvey has always been unapologetically her unique, weird self. She does what she wants, and the result is a catalog of songs that will never be mistaken for another artist. Listening to her records is one thing. But experiencing her art live takes it to a whole new, mystical level. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 20 years to experience it again.
Setlist
Prayer at the Gate
Autumn Term
Lwonesome Tonight
Seem an I
The Nether-Edge
I Inside the Old Year Dying
All Souls
A Child's Question, August
I Inside the Old I Dying
August
A Child's Question, July
A Noiseless Noise
The Colour of the Earth (Band only)
The Glorious Land
The Words That Maketh Murder
50ft Queenie
Black Hearted Love (PJ Harvey & John Parish cover)
The Garden
The Desperate Kingdom of Love (Acoustic)
Man-Size
Dress
Down by the Water
To Bring You My Love
Encore:
The Community of Hope
Dollar, Dollar