This was the third time I'd seen PJ Harvey but the first time I'd seen her in a very small place under cramped conditions.
Got inside the Palladium about 70-80 minutes before the gig started and there was already a big build up of people jockeying for a decent position for the (obviously) sold out show:
I ended up somewhere just to the right of and behind the mixing desk.
Once the concert started after a small technical problem, I started getting increasingly pushed into a pillar and kind of remained in a semi-crushed position for the first half of the gig.
From the first half of the set, showcasing the recent album I Inside the Old Year Dying, my favourite tune was always going to be A Child's Question, August (think that this is the best song that PJ Harvey has done for some years).
Found it interesting to read that PJ Harvey comes from Dorset, my favourite county in England, still largely rural and culturally English thanks to the abiding presence of Thomas Hardy (my favourite novelist).
Think that PJ Harvey kind of shares a profound sentience, a deep understanding of the human condition, like Thomas Hardy (of course, this could just be my imagination).
For the second half of the set (the older songs), I tried finding a better spot further back, but just ended up completely behind a pillar.
But at least, I now had some space.
From this position, I could see some of the band members:
But not PJ Harvey herself.
This position became interesting as a lack of the visual lead to an intensification of the audio.
And especially during The Garden, I could kind of feel the full subtlety and quality of PJ Harvey's (narrative) voice.
Plus just before the encore, when many people headed for their coats, I managed to get a central position where I stood on a lone chair and watched/listened to White Chalk in comfort.
After the show, it was noticeable that not everybody moved away from the stage, as quite a lot of people just stayed rooted to the spot, trying to fully take in the musical sublimity they'd just experienced:
Me, myself, I was happy to get an ice cold beer before collecting my coat and catching the metro home.
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