Kings Park, Perth, then touring Australia
In the British polymath’s first Australian show in eight years, she performs a haunting, theatrical tribute to Dorset, where she grew up
The ghostly trunks of eucalypts sway and rattle above the stage as PJ Harvey premieres her Australian tour at Perth’s Kings Park. It’s a fitting backdrop for a tour showcasing the British artist’s 2023 Grammy-nominated album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, which ventures deep into the woodlands and folklore of Dorset, where she grew up.
Harvey is as ethereal as the setting itself, gliding on to the stage in a flowing white dress patterned with tree trunks. She lingers in the darkness, waiting for the applause to fade before stepping into a solitary beam of light. Then she opens with the reverential Prayer at the Gate. “Look behind, look before … life knocking at death’s door,” she sings in pure, piercing vocals. Like an incantation, it’s mesmerising and almost theatrical, albeit not quite the PJ Harvey audiences are used to.
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