This was my second gig with PJ Harvey. The first was a festival gig many years ago, and I don't remember much of it. I had sort of given up on PJ Harvey after the "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea" [2000] album, which is no favorite of mine. My concert-buddy, C, kick-started my Polly interest again when she force-fed me the outstanding "Let England Shake" [2011] album. After repeatedly listening to that album for a long time, I had no other option but jump the Polly train again.
Her newest output "I Inside The Old Year Dying" [2023] is rather quiet, but also really great. It was an easy choice to secure a ticket for one of the 2 Copenhagen gigs on her current tour. Falkoner Salen is a nice smaller sized venue with great acoustics. To make the evening even better, there were no shitty support bands to suffer first. Perfection indeed. PJ Harvey sticks to her setlist. The only time she hasn't done so on this tour, was due to technical difficulties. You know exactly what you'll get and boy does she deliver. It is really bold to play the entire new album from beginning to end. It is demanding for an audience to keep their mouths shut and believe me, they did. I was impressed.
I was even more impressed by Polly. The new album must be really demanding to sing live. It is mostly "falsetto" vocals - for a lack of a better word. She did it to perfection. PJ danced around on stage and seemed to be in "character" for the songs. PJ didn't speak a word to the crowd until rather late in the gig. There was no doubt she was in full control and she was charismatic even for her quiet attitude. If you looked closely you could see that she and her band were actually having fun too. Polly played a selection of string instruments during the gig. Her band of "older" men backed her up perfectly. The new album is not a hit album in any sense of the word, but I really like it and damn, they did it full justice live. Respect!
Next were a couple of songs from the "Let England Shake" album to much applause. I guess we're not the only ones who love that album because the crowd clearly loved it too. "Angelene" is a favorite of mine. Excellent performance of that one. I loved every second. There were several songs from the "To Bring You My Love" [1995] album. It's not the greatest favorite of mine, but the songs worked really great live. "Man-Size" was a total crowd favorite and my concert buddy got her "Dress" favorite in full effect. I think the encore with "C'mon Billy" and closer "White Chalk" was a brilliant ending to an excellent evening.
Do I regret not buying a ticket for PJ's second Copenhagen gig tomorrow? Yes and no. It was a brilliant show and I loved every second of it. On the other hand the setlist will be identical tomorrow. Those going tomorrow are in for a fantastic concert with a very unique artist!
Rating: 
Band: PJ Harvey
Venue: Falconersalen, Copenhagen, DK
Concert Date: 2023-10-27
Setlist:
Set 1: "I Inside the Old Year Dying"
- Prayer at the Gate
- Autumn Term
- Lwonesome Tonight
- Seem an I
- The Nether‐edge
- I Inside the Old Year Dying
- All Souls
- A Child's Question, August
- I Inside the Old I Dying
- August
- A Child's Question, July
- A Noiseless Noise
Interlude
- The Colour of the Earth [band only]
Set 2
- The Glorious Land
- The Words That Maketh Murder
- Angelene
- Send His Love to Me
- The Garden
- The Desperate Kingdom of Love
- Man-Size
- Dress
- Down by the Water [followed by band introduction]
- To Bring You My Love
Encore:
Ticket Price (DKK): 620
Ticket Provider: Ticketmaster
Content Type: Concert Review
Language: 
Updated: 2023-10-28 00:33
Created: 2023-06-15 12:01
