Photo Gallery: PJ Harvey • The Salt Shed • Chicago

Brassneck | October 2, 2024

PJ Harvey

The Salt Shed

Chicago, IL

September 30, 2024

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Throughout her extraordinary career, Polly Jean Harvey has excelled at shape-shifting. It’s an extraordinary talent that has kept her audience guessing since her debut back in the early 90’s. What has never been in question is her galvanized status as a stellar live performer, and it was this reputation that was put on full display during her Monday night appearance at Chicago’s Salt Shed.

The evening began with her performing her latest album (I Inside The Old Year Dying) in its entirety. Cloaked in shadows and light, Harvey moved with deliberate precision, a whirling dervish one moment, statuesque still the next. The effect was simply hypnotic.

The evening’s second act was a tour through her deep, eclectic catalog. “The Desperate Kingdom Of Love, which she dedicated to the recently departed Steve Albini (who recorded her breakthrough release Rid Of Me), was lovingly interpreted on a lilting acoustic guitar with Harvey centered in a solitary spotlight.

But it was the deep dive catalog selections that elicited the evening’s biggest receptions. “Dress” dated all the way back to her debut, and sultry takes on “Send His Love To Me,” “Angelene,” and “To Bring You My Love” were reminders of how deeply Harvey inherits the characters she creates. The totality of the performance almost made a seven-year absence from the road worth the wait. Here’s hoping her next touring cycle doesn’t make audiences wait that long.