Polly and her band were in dc on 9-11. they had just played there the night before, and at the hammerstein in nyc on the 4th and 5th. on Tuesday, pj harvey won the uk’s mercury music prize for stories from the city, stories from the sea, her 2000 album that spanned new york city and her home in rural england like a compass. last night’s sold-out show at the riviera in chicago was their first gig following the terrorist attacks on the u.s., and the band had done plenty of deliberating: whether to stay in the country, whether to continue the tour, whether their set list was appropriate in light of the recent horrors.
the songs they performed were more than appropriate.
they were perfect.
they were prophetic.
the following set list appears as reported by www.pollyharvey.co.uk, with links to lyrics especially worth reading.
This Mess We're In, polly came out on stage alone with her guitar, in a black dress with a thick white border on the bottom, above the knee in the front and angling down to the floor on both sides. the stiletto black stretch boots were in attendance. a fan somewhere in front of her blew her ultra-straight, wispy black hair back from her face. she did the song solo, lending new grace to thom’s little yodely bits.
Send His Love To Me, more music from the dramatic album of loss and yearning. ‘I’m calling jesus please, send him back to me-hee-hee.’ amazing.
Hair
The Sky Lit Up, tracks from the older albums took on a new significance in last night’s context.
Somebody's Down, Somebody's Name, perhaps the most mind-blowingly accurate tune in the set, this song spoke directly to Tuesday’s disaster as it lives in my imagination.
Down By The Water, pj’s mtv masterpiece and all-time biggest crowd-pleaser, for me had a double edge. my aunt who works for united told me she got a phone call from a woman who said her 9-year-old girl was on one of the hijacked planes. she had strapped her into the seat herself. ‘gimme my daughter back.’
Beautiful Feeling, I think the crowd actually cheered when polly sang the word ‘america.’
Nina In Ecstasy, too too much. if you've ever heard this song you can begin to imagine what this moment was like.
the list differs little from previous sets on the tour, but last night resonated to the point of cosmic sonic boom. the most obvious omission was 'Kamikaze.' I guess that one was just a bit too much. also notably missed was ‘you said something,’ which she hasn’t been performing much since taking the album on tour last year. I can’t guess why.
the crowd seemed ready to let down its collective fabulous haircut and forget about death for a while. requests were hollered for old friends ‘dress’ and ‘stella.’ ‘down by the water’ elicited spontaneous dancing among members of the crowd, and semi-choreographed vogueing from the adorably mod couple in front of me. rock signs, fists, and the occasional peace sign were thrown up from the crowd where appropriate, and several lighters actually came out on ‘horses’ and ‘beautiful feeling.’ but the mood remained somber, almost reverent. black and white skull maracas shook like voodoo talismans in her left hand.
I’d been waiting for someone to articulate with feeling and clarity the pain, frustration, fear, and hope of the country I live in, and all I was getting was Fox News anchors screaming ugly things about airplane security and war on afghanistan. and then came polly jean, a prophet for these new times, these end times, these hard times, singing, ‘hold on, I’m coming,’ so beautiful I almost forgot all about the opening act, some guy making noises with a guitar that no one should have to hear, and stomping around while doing his damnedest to sound exactly like tom waits, so glorious it almost makes up for opening up for u2 (ugh).
pj harvey appeared on the tonight show with jay leno on sept. 19th. details to follow...
read the bbc blurb on pj winning the mercury prize.
by badweatherfriend, september 14, revised sept. 25. Copyright mutaGenesis 2001. All writes wreserved. top photo from nova magazine december 2000. taken from stereolight. bottom photo from jane magazine november 2000 scanned by this guy.
