PJ Harvey at Zepp Haneda, March 18th 2025
In February 2011 I was in Berlin on a business trip. I remember going to a huge record shop near Checkpoint Charlie, like the ones that were fun to visit back when entertainment was still being sold in stores and picking up the latest PJ Harvey album the week of release. Because of how busy I was, I couldn’t listen to it until getting back home. On first listen it immediately became one of my favorites. I’d say it is a strong contender for album of the XXI century, at this point. Let England Shake is a concept album but not in the traditional sense of telling a story or following a character. It establishes a theme and provides eloquent commentary on each of its songs. Not to be hyperbolic, but, honestly, ‘eloquent’ is an understatement. It is poetic and extremely moving. One of my favorite lyrics in it was inspired by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land: Jagged mountains, jutting out / Cracked like teeth in a rotten mouth. / On Battleship Hill I hear the wind say / “Cruel nature has won again…”
I saw her later that same year at a music festival when she was touring this record. Even though I was pretty far from the stage I still had a great time. She came to Japan in 2017 for the tour for The Hope Six Demolition Project album. I really wanted to go, but ticket prices were kind of silly for that one and I had to skip it. Now almost 14 years after I saw her for the first time I got a chance to see her again and it was one of the best concerts I’ve seen.
Thirty minutes before the starting time a tape of ambience sounds from a rural setting was played through the venue speakers. Setting up the mood, evoking that sort of pastoral element that’s an essential part of her latest album I Inside the Old Year Dying. There were props on stage: tables, benches, chairs, like if it was a play in the middle of the instruments. The musicians came out wearing kind of matching outfits and soon after PJ Harvey walked to the stage. The Prayer at the Gate is a magnificent opening to that album and it was as well to this concert. That part when she sings two verses back to back with a key change in the middle, that starts with “So look behind, look before…” with a single spotlight basking its light over her as she gestured reaching to the sky; that part was transcendent, from a concertgoer perspective. It was the kind of moment when everything gels perfectly and makes you realize “now, THAT is music”.
The first thirty five minutes of the show showcased most of her latest album. For some reason she skipped three songs from it at the Tokyo show. Nonetheless the number of magical moments, like the one described above, were an embarrassment of riches. Props were used, choreographed moments were displayed on stage and the talent of her band of multi instrumentalists was put into evidence. It included her regular collaborator John Parrish, who on occasion sang co-lead, Jean-Marc Butty on drums, former Bad Seed James Johnston and Giovanni Ferrario.
At a pivotal moment of the show, after the songs from I Inside the Old Year Dying were performed, the aforementioned musicians stood in front of the stage and delivered a spirited rendition of The Colour of the Earth from Let England Shake. Stomping and clapping along to the beat of a drum, this performance signaled a shift that explored some of the most beloved songs from her catalog. The familiarity with this material raised the electricity in the room. The energy went up during this last hour of the show. Each one of her records were represented, with the exception of White Chalk and The Hope Six Demolition Project. She even played a song from one of her albums co-credited with John Parrish, Black Hearted Love.
Seeing her embrace the punk aesthetic of 50ft Queenie with her movements on stage was priceless. She also manned the claves and replicated the movements from the Down by the Water music video, those were definitely iconic moments. Getting to see one of my favorite of her songs played live, Man-Size and playing what I consider to be one of the best album openers of all time to close the main set -To Bring You My Love, were all exhilarating moments that made this show very special. They were also a reminder of the immense talent as a songwriter and performer that PJ Harvey has. She’s, without a doubt, one of the great ones, I’m talking Dylan, Prince, Waits tier.
The band came back for an encore in which they sat in the middle of the stage as if they were at a campfire and played a ballad from Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea. A moving rendition of Horses in My Dreams that capped what was one of the best concerts in recent memory. I went home and rectified a big mistake. I ordered Let England Shake on vinyl.
Thank you for reading. Please follow me on Twitter for updates at @ConcertTokyo. You can also click the Like button and get notifications at The Tokyo Concert Experience on Facebook.
I saw her later that same year at a music festival when she was touring this record. Even though I was pretty far from the stage I still had a great time. She came to Japan in 2017 for the tour for The Hope Six Demolition Project album. I really wanted to go, but ticket prices were kind of silly for that one and I had to skip it. Now almost 14 years after I saw her for the first time I got a chance to see her again and it was one of the best concerts I’ve seen.
Thirty minutes before the starting time a tape of ambience sounds from a rural setting was played through the venue speakers. Setting up the mood, evoking that sort of pastoral element that’s an essential part of her latest album I Inside the Old Year Dying. There were props on stage: tables, benches, chairs, like if it was a play in the middle of the instruments. The musicians came out wearing kind of matching outfits and soon after PJ Harvey walked to the stage. The Prayer at the Gate is a magnificent opening to that album and it was as well to this concert. That part when she sings two verses back to back with a key change in the middle, that starts with “So look behind, look before…” with a single spotlight basking its light over her as she gestured reaching to the sky; that part was transcendent, from a concertgoer perspective. It was the kind of moment when everything gels perfectly and makes you realize “now, THAT is music”.
The first thirty five minutes of the show showcased most of her latest album. For some reason she skipped three songs from it at the Tokyo show. Nonetheless the number of magical moments, like the one described above, were an embarrassment of riches. Props were used, choreographed moments were displayed on stage and the talent of her band of multi instrumentalists was put into evidence. It included her regular collaborator John Parrish, who on occasion sang co-lead, Jean-Marc Butty on drums, former Bad Seed James Johnston and Giovanni Ferrario.
At a pivotal moment of the show, after the songs from I Inside the Old Year Dying were performed, the aforementioned musicians stood in front of the stage and delivered a spirited rendition of The Colour of the Earth from Let England Shake. Stomping and clapping along to the beat of a drum, this performance signaled a shift that explored some of the most beloved songs from her catalog. The familiarity with this material raised the electricity in the room. The energy went up during this last hour of the show. Each one of her records were represented, with the exception of White Chalk and The Hope Six Demolition Project. She even played a song from one of her albums co-credited with John Parrish, Black Hearted Love.
Seeing her embrace the punk aesthetic of 50ft Queenie with her movements on stage was priceless. She also manned the claves and replicated the movements from the Down by the Water music video, those were definitely iconic moments. Getting to see one of my favorite of her songs played live, Man-Size and playing what I consider to be one of the best album openers of all time to close the main set -To Bring You My Love, were all exhilarating moments that made this show very special. They were also a reminder of the immense talent as a songwriter and performer that PJ Harvey has. She’s, without a doubt, one of the great ones, I’m talking Dylan, Prince, Waits tier.
The band came back for an encore in which they sat in the middle of the stage as if they were at a campfire and played a ballad from Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea. A moving rendition of Horses in My Dreams that capped what was one of the best concerts in recent memory. I went home and rectified a big mistake. I ordered Let England Shake on vinyl.
Thank you for reading. Please follow me on Twitter for updates at @ConcertTokyo. You can also click the Like button and get notifications at The Tokyo Concert Experience on Facebook.
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