PJ Harvey concert review

October 2, 2004, at Chicago's Riviera Theater

By Charlotte Robinson
Published: October 4th, 2004 | 2:45pm

The last time PJ'PJ Harvey breezed through Chicago, she was promoting 2000's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, an immaculately produced collection of mature, personal, and often tender songs that still packed a wallop due to Harvey's guitar prowess, gut-wrenching emotion, and trademark roar of a voice.

Unfortunately, this year's Uh Huh Her finds the English singer-songwriter pitted in a tug-of-war between the raw sound of early work like Dry and Rid of Me and the quieter, more contemplative turn of her more recent work. Although the album suffers from weak songwriting and half-baked production, its lo-fi, no-frills sound makes clear Harvey's admirable desire to get back to basics.

This intent was apparent in her latest live show, too. While her last touring band sometimes weighed the songs down with needless keyboards, cello, and percussion, the three male musicians accompanying Harvey this time out stuck mostly to the tried and true guitar-bass-drums model. Donning a chin-length shag hairdo, go-go boots, and a white skirt with Animal from The Muppets on it, Harvey commanded the stage with the authority that someone with a whopping voice like hers should, and seemed far more comfortable strutting before a packed house than she did four years ago.

Although her set was predictably heavy on songs from the new album — including "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth," "The Letter," "Cat on a Wall," and "It's You" — Harvey culled songs from each of her studio albums, including the maniacal "Taut" from her 1996 collaboration with John Parish, Dance Hall at Louse Point. Harvey focused on the more rocking songs from her catalog, like "Dress," "50Ft Queenie," and "Big Exit," although some of her dirge-like numbers made the cut. Still, the set list was far from a diehard's dream come true, since Harvey made some strange choices, like including the ho-hum "My Beautiful Leah" and "Victory" while ignoring better tracks from her B-sides and four-track recordings.

After bringing down the house with an encore of "To Bring You My Love," "Meet Ze Monsta," "A Perfect Day Elise," and "Me-Jane," Harvey came back a second time with "You Come Through" and "Is This Desire?," leaving the stage on an oddly downbeat note. Despite these missteps, Harvey pleased her fans for the same reason she always does: the voice. There are few artists today who can compare to Harvey as a songwriter or musician, but even fewer who can belt it out like that. And sometimes that's enough.