PJ Harvey Live At The Perth Concert Hall February 22nd 2008
By Brett Murray Usually things that are achieved with fewer players have the ability to impress me easily; I like things that are self-sufficient and also people who choose not to embellish unnecessarily. One of my favourite examples of such an achievement was PJ Harvey’s 2003 performance at the Perth Concert Hall where, as a three piece, Harvey and her band captured all the raw and ballsy, but also the detailed and dynamic sounds in her recordings. It was the type of performance that left you in no doubt that you had just heard exactly what you had come to love about PJ Harvey. On February 22nd 2008 Harvey was in an even greater position to impress me, returning to the Perth Concert Hall, this time without her band. As an artist who has always been more a product of style and attitude than technical ability I was interested to see how well Harvey could perform songs alone that on her recordings involve other more proficient instrumentalists. What she achieved with fewer hands was by no means unimpressive, but also surprising and at times awkward. Surprising for me were the arrangements made for auto-harp on the songs “Grow, Grow, Grow” and “Down By The Water”, for not only is the instrument foreign to the original recordings, but in this case the chords and melodies had changed too. “Grow, Grow, Grow” on the album, for example, utilizes dissonant harmony and several key changes, but on this night was sung in one mode over only two repeated chords. Sure it was a unique variation, but the song now interested me less. Awkward were the moments between songs where Harvey would clumsily prepare her guitar, piano or drum machine (the drum machine was an embellishment,) seeming put-off by the packed hall’s obsessive attention to it. Compared to her late performance with her band, Harvey alone is less confident and composed; one sneeze from an audience member caused Harvey to stop a song and return to it later. She has loving fans though, and what felt awkward for me must have seemed adorable to them as they applauded and laughed at things as relevant as sitting down, adjusting a microphone, or stopping a song because of the said sneeze. What Harvey did well was sing. The songs that featured more athletic and dynamic singing were the best on the night. Her tone, expression, range and volume were marvelous, and at times, like when Harvey yells “you snake” or cries out “silence”, her voice is terrifying and haunting. If only she were able to maintain the intensity she creates with her voice in other ways, when she is not singing. Overall, it was an impressive performance, but one that also proved that less is literally not more.
