PJ Harvey @ Plenary Theatre

After an eight-year break, PJ Harvey’s glorious return to Melbourne is a strong contender for my favourite live show of hers that I’ve been to.

This is even more impressive considering that Plenary Theatre inside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is a strong contender for Melbourne’s least inspiring live music venue. It helped massively that friend and I got the general admission tickets, and could just pretend that the puke green ugliness behind us didn’t exist.

We met inside early enough to catch up on personal and world events, browse the merch stand without queues, get some overpriced food and take a good spot on the floor just before the opening act. I didn’t know who Mick Turner was, but I correctly guessed him to be a member of Dirty Three from his distinctive guitar playing. As a solo act, his musical style is a tad too abstract for me, but I did find myself getting pulled more into his atmospheric tones the longer he played.

I deliberately avoided all reviews and videos of the latest tour, preferring to be surprised on the night. There were small hints that we weren’t in for an ordinary concert well before PJ Harvey and her four-piece band (including longtime collaborator John Parish) took to the stage. The set design included bits of rustic furniture, and my friend spotted a glass bottle with a twig sticking out. When a familiar, instantly captivating petite figure finally appeared to a thunderous cheer from the audience, PJ wore a flowing white dress with images of bare trees. Together with the soft neutral colours worn by the band and the minimalist nature-themed visuals, there was a sense of a show designed precisely with attention to every detail.

I looked forward to hearing the new material the most, and I certainly got my wish as the first half of the concert was dedicated to I Inside the Old Year Dying, played in order in its entirety. I really grew to love this enigmatic, dreamlike album, and it was beautifully brought to life in a way that blended live music with theatre.

I felt extra thankful to be on the floor, where I could watch PJ disappear into a character, swaying, twirling, at times contorting her entire body and reaching out towards the audience. It simply wouldn’t have been the same if you couldn’t see all the tiniest gestures and facial expressions. In between the songs, there were sounds of the rural Dorset that inspired the album: singing birds, laughing children and cows in the field. Other PJ concerts I’ve been to had otherworldly moments, but this trip into a pastoral fever dream was truly something special.

The second, loose part of the set was dedicated to PJ’s spectacular back catalogue. While she left the stage for a quick costume change, the band stepped forward for a heartfelt rendition of The Colour of the Earth, a bittersweet folk tribute to the ANZAC soldiers from Let England Shake. They stuck to the 2011 album once PJ was back in a sleek white dress, ripping through The Glorious Land and The Words That Maketh Murder.

I was half-expecting the rest of the show to match the songs of the latest album in mood and feel, but it ran the full gamut, showing some love to most of PJ’s other nine studio albums save a couple (to my friend’s great sadness, she shuns Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, his personal favourite). It was a thrill to experience some raw, blistering old-school PJ Harvey with 50ft Queenie, Man-Size and Dress – the woman can still rock out! I was also stoked to get Black Hearted Love from her last album with John Parish, which never made it down under for a tour. Gorgeous, stripped-back The Desperate Kingdom of Love, with PJ alone under a spotlight, was simply spellbinding. Uh Huh Her is one of her lesser albums, but it does have some fantastic tracks.

Before the sinister, dramatic To Bring You My Love closed the main set, PJ finally broke her vow of silence and addressed the audience for the first time, thanking the Melbourne crowd for the support and introducing her incredible band. Very soon, they were back onstage to perform C’mon Billy and bring back some more evocative English countryside vibes with White Chalk. We were teased with a possibility of a second encore for a good five minutes, before the house lights went up after all. Though I would have loved more, I felt like I got a little bit of everything from my all-time favourite artist.