http://www.skiddle.com/news/all/InMusic ... ew-/29261/The evening's headliner is PJ Harvey. Full disclosure; I have seen PJ Harvey more times than I can remember. She is a wonderful artist consistently capable of outstanding showmanship. Truly, when it comes to recounting to future generations who were the premier British rock performers of the era, PJ Harvey would be among the highest.
Always different, always entertaining, on this tour we see PJ Harvey at perhaps her most gothic yet. The band, which features Bad Seeds's Mick Harvey and long term collaborator John Parish, are presented on an impressive designed stage set and are uniform in their smart, black outfits and similarly dark stage presences.
Their controlled emotions suit the presentation of the at times bleak material Harvey has chosen to perform, drawing heavily on most recent albums The Hope Six Demolition Project and Let England Shake. Older material such as '50ft Queenie', To Bring You My Love' and 'Down By The Water' make very welcome returns to the set, which obviously has been constructed to suit this formation of her band which relies on two percussionists and three saxophones including Harvey's.
Sadly this means we don't get any guitar playing from the front woman so there's no 'Dress', no 'Send His Love To Me' and no songs from 'Stories from the City', 'Stories from the Sea'. As a performance of the chosen songs this is as deft and as well judged a show as rock music gets, elevating such to a position of high art.
But while respecting one of my favourite artist's choices, it's perhaps a shame that on her first visit to Croatia PJ Harvey doesn't give any of her long term Croatian fans, who are ecstatic at her visit, anything to really dance around to.
Her voice is as startling, unique and affecting as ever, the effects that are at times placed over them adding a frightening aspect to the delivery, but this is definitely something you could appreciate in an impressive outdoor or gallery setting, but nothing you would want to pogo to after a couple of litres of lager.