Expectations were high for Polly Harvey’s only London gig this year. Her ninth album, ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’, carrying on the political direction the Dorset songwriter took with ‘Let England Shake’, moved its focus to international conflict zones such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and a housing project in Washington DC, becoming her first number one. Its ambitions are bigger in geographical as well as artistic scope. Recorded at Somerset House, it was conceived as an art project fans were allowed to witness. The travels through those troubled zones have also produced a poetry and photography book, ‘The Hollow Of The Hand’, in collaboration with Seamus Murphy.
After a weekend plagued by heavy showers Victoria Park was a giant mud field, but not even the gloomy day deterred her eager fans from enduring the downpours up to Field Day festival’s final hours to watch her headlining performance. Right before her appearance the stormy weather stopped and the audience was rewarded with a remarkable live show in mercifully dry conditions.
Opening with ‘Chain Of Keys’, a band comprised bof nine musicians, among them long time collaborators John Parish and bad seed Mick Harvey, slowly marched in line onto the stage, smartly dressed in black, forming a solemn parade of brass and drums. Never shy of iconic outfits, the ‘west country girl’ appeared last, saxophone in hand, wearing a black feather top evoking some sort of mythological bird. The band sounded flawless, as vibrant and compact as they do in the record. The jaunty choruses of recent singles ‘The Community of Hope’ and ‘Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln’ broke the sober tone and proved to be surprisingly anthemic. ‘The Ministry of Social Affairs’ raucous blues and glam collision was an audience winner too.
They were followed by three rapturously received songs from ‘Let England Shake’. The combined vocals of all musicians formed a powerful male choir for ‘‘The Words that Maketh Murder’, a moment particularly celebrated and replicated at the closing of the set with the excerpt of ‘Wade in The Water’ classic spiritual featured in ‘River Anaconda’.
Breaking traditional festival rules, they played the new album almost entirely, a testament to the strength of a work that somehow recalls the combative spirit of 70s protest songs and the pre-punk energy of Patti Smith. Some critics may have deemed the lyrics too simplistic for the situations they try to portrait, but musically the combination of traditional rock instrumentation enhanced with strings, brass and percussion arrangements brings to life a rich and absorbing mix of influences, blending elements of blues, gospel, folk, and garage rock with a strong emphasis in melodies that multiplies its crowd-pleasing live appeal.
Hits from the past were scattered through the set, carefully chosen to remind us the evolution of an artist who has constantly pushed her sonic boundaries. The raw emotions of ’To Bring You My Love’ and ‘Down By The Water’ took PJ’s performance to her most expressive and theatrical. The frail falsetto in a very stripped down version of ‘When Under Ether’ felt eerily evocative; whereas the stomping power of ‘50ft Queenie’ brought back all the grunge fury of her early records and reaffirmed what a strong stage presence she is. ‘A Perfect Day Elise’ was the closing number on a night that delivered a perfect showcase of everything that, after 25 years of career, has made of PJ Harvey the most essential female artist in today’s British popular music.