It’s been a while since I last saw PJ Harvey perform live and a lot has changed since that day at a Rockwave Festival in Athens of Greece. Both her music and her stage appearance seem to have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Her albums are now big productions with more musicians in her band than ever before and her live concerts have become much more theatrical. Compared to the past, PJ Harvey has changed the nature of her movements and the way she responds to her songs and this has added more layers to the lyrics. I couldn’t help but notice that her gigs lately give out the impression that one listens to a whole orchestra especially because all the musicians are multi-instrumentalists. Come to think of it, the whole world has changed since the early 2000 and PJ Harvey has proven that she has very strong social reflexes and always finds clever ways of incorporating social critique in her work (i.e. lyrics, videos).
A few days before the gig I received an email from the venue, informing me that there will be no support band(s) for this gig, yet when I arrived at O2 Brixton Academy, I realized that there was also no dedicated DJ for the evening. Doors had opened on time, at 19.00 that was, but until 21.00 when PJ Harvey appeared on stage, everyone was waiting in complete silence…I am sure something better could have been done there.
The time was now 20.40 and the crowd that had completely filled the venue had started to become impatient (especially because the announced stage time was 20.30) so there was a little bit of shouting, persistent clapping and a shared feeling of excitement. I was kind of worried because PJ Harvey, in my experience at least, has been famous for being punctual and it was now 20.55 and there was no sign of her. By the time I had finished that thought, the lights turned off completely and the deep sound of drums presaged the procession of the band on stage.