It has been revealed that PJ Harvey played a secret surprise gig for her hometown ahead of her performance at Glastonbury 2024.
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On Thursday (June 27), the musician surprised the residents of Bridport, Dorset â the town where she grew up near and is a resident in â to a show at the Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens on the Jurassic Coast.
The gig served as a warm-up for her Glastonbury set and was kept under wraps with the exception of notices posted in Bridport town centre. The only way to purchase a ticket was by showing up in person and buying one from the Bridport Arts Centre or Bridport Tourist Information Centre.
The following day (June 28) Harvey took over the Pyramid Stage at the annual Worthy Farm music bash and opened her set by enlisting artist Marina AbramoviÄ to deliver a speech to the crowd before encouraging them to participate in a seven-minute silence.
Youâre in for a treat if youâre watching the awesome PJ Harvey at #Glastonbury today.
She played a secret warm up gig in a Dorset garden last night. #iphone pic.twitter.com/QP23Q5yAEA— Len Copland (@Snapperlen) June 28, 2024
Polly @ Abbotsbury, Dorset
#PJHarvey pic.twitter.com/TQ5gSlgavh
— Angharad
(@DorsetAng) June 28, 2024
Wow.. PJ Harvey performing a special gig for her fellow locals here in Dorset before heading to #glastonbury2024. Was amazing evening⊠in the fab setting of our Abbotsbury Sub-tropical Gardens. #Bridport #Dorset pic.twitter.com/3FICI7OiEt
— Dr Louise Matthews
+ (@Loumat33) June 27, 2024
The artist asked the crowd to put a hand on their neighbour and participate in the silence â which was brought in by Emily Eavis ringing a gong. AbramoviÄ then opened her arms to reveal a dress in the shape of a giant peace sign.
Writing about Harvey’s performance for NME‘s Glastonbury 2024 liveblog, journalist Jordan Bassett wrote: “The show started with an arty video that featured, as well as other outrĂ© images, a clip of a man pointing a bow and arrow at a woman who was complicit in the act â and things were about to get even artier. With the Pyramid Stage crowd expecting PJ Harvey to appear for her early evening set, conceptual and performance artist Marina AbramoviÄ instead arrived to lead a seven-minute silence, a moment of peace amid the ‘violence’ and ‘killing’ in the world.
He continued: “It was a truly moving occasion (not least due to the number of Palestinian flags clustered near the front of the crowd) and the sense of hushed reverence carried over to Harveyâs set. The ghostly keys on âLet England Shakeâ and the experimental cacophony of âThe Glorious Landâ seemed to take on a new delicacy in this context. Ever-mercurial, though, Harvey soon swerved into the grindhouse grunge of â50ft Queenieâ and the insidious squall of âBlack Hearted Loveâ.
“If the set petered out a little after that with the understated âTo Bring You My Loveâ, it was like a return to the eerie quietude from which it came. This was a meditative show in an era thatâs often anything but.”
Earlier this summer, Harvey used her performance at Primavera Sound 2024 to pay tribute to the late record producer Steve Albini, who produced her second studio LP, 1993âs âRid Of Meâ.
While performing in Barcelona, she said: âI would like to sing this next song in memory of Steve Albini. Steve should have been here for this festival, and it would be nice if you all think of him.â Harvey then performed âThe Desperate Kingdom Of Loveâ from 2004âs âUh Huh Herâ.
The post PJ Harvey played surprise hometown gig ahead of Glastonbury 2024 set appeared first on NME.
