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.
