Credit: The Piece Hall / Cuffe & Taylor
In recent months the Yorkshire town of Halifax has welcomed live shows from Idles, Korn, Blondie and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Hosting these names is The Piece Hall, an open-air court at the town’s historic centre. The marquee site opened in 1779 as a cloth market and is now among the UK’s most pristine live music venues.
PJ Harvey’s sold-out performance on 20 August is a perfect match. The open sky is sporadically lit up throughout; sometimes with rain, sometimes a rainbow, before giving way to a cool blanket of darkness. All of these factors contribute to the notion that Harvey herself has perhaps made a deal with the natural elements.
Preceding her performance is a support act made to challenge. Equipped with nothing more than their electric guitar and a snarling voice, Mica Levi’s set is a stark contrast to the soundtracks of Under The Skin (2013) and Zone of Interest (2023). Over the last decade, the BAFTA and Oscar nominee has mastered a style of composition that imbues the film orchestra with an atonal, experimental edge. Tonight, Levi’s focus is firmly on the latter.
Without context, the figure on stage could be an upcoming bedroom artist whose scrappy guitar ballads belong to Soundcloud. Likewise, from a distance, Levi can be mistaken for a fresh-faced teenager, despite their output spanning two decades. They are neither of these things, of course, and yet the dissonance between lo-fi guitar balladry and the rather formal venue is one to behold. For anyone familiar with NEU!’s ‘Lieber Honig’, this is the modern equivalent; a challenging, often uncomfortable performance that blurs the line between provocation and authenticity.
Credit: The Piece Hall / Cuffe & Taylor
While Levi divided the Halifax crowd, their performance laid the foundation for a defiant headliner. Harvey’s set is purposefully split into two halves; the first comprises nine-out-of-twelve songs from 2023’s I Inside the Old Year Dying. Afterwards, Harvey launches into a selection of hits and fan-favourites, bringing one of the UK’s finest rock discographies to the forefront.
As Harvey and her band enter the stage, ambient sounds of birdsong and children’s laughter segue into an hypnotic opener, ‘Prayer at the Gate’. Visually, everything from the band’s cohesive wardrobe to the Kate Bush-like hand movements emanate a mystical quality matching the ethereal sounds.
‘Lwonesome Tonight’ follows with a quiet vocal invocation built upon a minimal folk riff. Harvey’s tentative falsettos crescendo before giving way to a final instrumental section. Here commences a sequence of movements in which Harvey greets the audience before her, weightlessly dancing across the stage. Intensifying the spectacle are the unpredictable weather conditions. For standout song ‘A Child’s Question, August’, Harvey’s bewitching vocals coincide with a downpour of rain, the perfect time to drop a tear or two without anyone knowing.
‘Noiseless Noise’ dramatically concludes the opening half. Screeching violins, pounding percussion, and a punchy guitar riff provide the perfect point-of-contact between old and new. Harvey discreetly exits the stage upon finishing, leaving her bandmates to perform the ever playful ‘Colour of the Earth’.
The short interlude is welcome, while introducing the talented support cast of John Parish, Jean-Marc Butty, James Johnston and Giovanni Ferrario. Their experience and versatility is soon highlighted in the transition to a rawer instrumental palette. ‘The Glorious Land’ and ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ follow in quick succession to deliver a one-two punch that bridges Harvey’s modern chamber-pop direction and her guitar-based early work.
Credit: The Piece Hall / Cuffe & Taylor
With Halifax well and truly shaking, ‘50ft Queenie’ delivers a punk-studded coup de grâce. Soaring guitar riffs, eccentric vocals, and lyrical braggadocio combine to form a perfect snapshot of the Rid of Me (1993) era. In the process, Harvey transitions from a still spectre to a shape-shifting marauder, flailing across the stage while her band lets rip.
‘The Garden’ cools things down again with its soft, trip-hop percussion and noir-like vocal dynamics. Heightening the song’s storytelling is a subtle hint of incense found within a passing breeze. The final third sees the crowd hanging on Harvey’s every word with sight, sound, and everything in between combining to sublime effect.
The remainder of the set is equally hypnotic; ‘The Desperate Kingdom of Love’ touches the crowd in its acoustic simplicity, while rewarding the rest of the band with a well-deserved breather. Before concluding, Harvey offers a formal introduction, thanking her bandmates, the audience, venue, and even the sign language translator who did a fantastic job throughout.
The consequent finale provides a definitive trip down memory lane. First came the solitary throwback to her debut album, Dry (1992). Playful and direct, ‘Dress’ remains the ultimate crowd-pleaser that works across all settings; from a sticky-floored underground venue, to the surrounding Georgian buildings. Similarly, ‘Down by the Water’ highlights Harvey’s natural command over an audience; the blue-bathed spectacle ends just as soon as it begins, leaving the crowd in suspense.
Delivering upon this lack, ‘To Bring You My Love’ is allowed to breathe. Harvey’s powerful and sensual performance speaks to her three-decade stranglehold over listeners, making for the perfect set-closer with its smoky guitar-lines, ominous synths, and passionate vocals hitting without fail.
Suffice to say, the sold-out performance is a match for The Piece Hall. Over the course of 22 songs, Harvey marries the old and new in perfect harmony, spotlighting her artistic evolution over the past thirty years. Likewise, I Inside the Old Year Dying feels at home in the Georgian venue, with the often unpredictable weather conditions making for a bewitching spectacle.
