PJ Harvey played Terminal 5 (night 1 pics & setlist)

Did she pick up an electric guitar at all last night?

how long was the set?

845pm....????

I get to bitch first on Brooklyn Vegan? What an honor!
The sound sucked and the performance was uninspired and rushed. Her standing off to the side of the stage, apart from the band, only magnified the lack of rapport with the audience and with the band.

Terminal 5 may be the worst major venue in NYC. If you don't snatch a spot on the front or along one of the balcony's rails you're screwed and you have to watch the show on a monitor. Never again.

Oh, she definitely picked up an electric guitar as well.

Mick Harvey...worth mentioning.

1) How packed was T5 last night?

2) Were they selling tickets at the box office or any people selling them outside the venue?

I love PJ and her new album but I was disappointed by the show. It kind of rushed by at a distance. Maybe if I was right up front I would've felt more engaged but standing in the back near soundboard I just felt kind of not there. Even my favorite song off the new record "In the Dark Places," which has all the makings of being an epic live moment, kind of fell flat. I'd like to see her again at a smaller venue. I saw Sharon Van Etten play on Saturday and the contrast with this show couldn't be greater--so intimate and engaging. It's ok, though. I still love you PJ.

Pics are great, review sounds like it was written by a 15-year-old.

knowing t5 i got there when the doors opened, bought my shirt and stood my ground in front of the stage for an hour and forty five minutes... fending off last minute folks trying to push their way to the front, no way, we stood shoulder to shoulder... it was well worth the effort, for about an hour and a half PJ delivered the goods, great band... and she is just glorious... happy to have seen her...

Really? We're leading with pot smoke?

The woman who yelled "I'll give you my firstborn child" said she'd do so "if you play "Rid of Me." Which PJ didn't, of course. There was a huge collective Phew! around me when she hit "Down by the Water" -- finally some music with something below the neck, you know? I expected it would be mostly new material, and the new material is very good! But not the most exciting stuff. Was anyone hoping for an 85-minute set that included every song from the new record and not a single one from 'Rid of Me?'

Man, Terminal 5. I was all of twelve feet from the stage and things were muddy. I think things got better as the show went along, or I adjusted, but still -- that band was doing very subtle things, and they might as well have been playing the Holland Tunnel.

The crowd applauded for a second encore for at least five solid minutes, and I'm not sure whether that's because they were so in love with her (and they WERE so in love with her) or whether they just felt they didn't get a solid show, yet. (For $40, LCDSS gave their fans 3 1/2 hours of music PLUS Liquid Liquid. PJ didn't go on until 8:50 after 7PM doors.) But for me, this was definitely a case where I learned that if I wanted to hear her '90s material I should have seen her in the '90s.

Last time I saw Mick Harvey was with Grinderman at MSG and he looked like he'd escaped from an asylum. He was rather studly, last night.

wow, Rachel, this is even worse than usual. "bouts of turrets" ?? did you mean Tourette's?

As someone who suffers from Tourette's (and an Editor by profession) I am offended by this on at least two levels.

But seriously, go back to school.

she's been wearing that same outfit for the last week straight...

Thank god I'm not the only one who walked away a little disappointed last night. I mean I'll go through a great many lengths to see PJ perform but I think I draw the line at Terminal 5.

For anyone who's ever asked for an example of bad sound at T5, last night was it.

It was a fine show, but something was just off.

LOVED the show. I was upfront, though. Terminal 5 sounded great last night.

Where have I been? Is she relevant? I think I remember people talking about her?.... I'm so confused!

Are YOU relevant?

I love how people act like pot is only smoked on 4/20...

This show should have been at Beacon or United Palace.

"Where have I been? Is she relevant? I think I remember people talking about her?.... I'm so confused!"

I don't know... maybe with your head up your own ass? Not knowing anything about music?

T5 can have terrible sound depending on where you are standing. Last night front row sounded awesome, by far the best mix i have experienced at that venue. PJ was great, she was playful and lots of eye contact. Here's angelene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBYQZ4dpuNM

I saw her at Beacon in 1995... killer.

"knowing t5 i got there when the doors opened, bought my shirt and stood my ground in front of the stage for an hour and forty five minutes... fending off last minute folks trying to push their way to the front, no way, we stood shoulder to shoulder."

Yeah cause I am sure it was a bunch of pussies you dealt with. I would have thrown you the fuck out of the way which I will do tonight to anyone blocking my way to get upfront when I show up right before she goes on. Just watch!

Hey BV, I took a copyediting class in college, and I will give you the honor of hiring me. You really need someone to proofread this shit before you post it.

"T5 can have terrible sound depending on where you are standing. Last night front row sounded awesome, by far the best mix i have experienced at that venue"

T5 always has bad sound wherever you stand. It is playing in a tin can. There are no dynamics in that entire place no matter where you are. The idiot making the comment above probably listens to all music only on mp3's I love those "T5 great sound" comments though. You can just dismiss it quick and move on to one that maybe has a clue as to what they are talking about.

T5 has great sound if you are standing directly in the line of fire of the PA speakers. It does... because they have a fantastic, super-expensive, bad-ass system. However, the acoustics of the room are as bad as you can get, so anywhere not directly in the line of fire of the PA sounds terrible. I know what I'm talking about by the way.

Yeah, BV, if you want to post more than info and continue to expand this as a review site you need to step up your editing game. I'm sure the writer is a nice person, but there's several mistakes here, in terms of grammer, spelling, facts, lack of clarity (so was the headress "a morbid" or not?), and some bizarre asides ("at least she's not singing about America"?).

Saw PJ back in the day, RADIOHEAD opened for her. Back when she, you know, actually rocked. New stuff is terrible. So glad I saw her when she was good!

"Hey BV, I took a copyediting class in college, and I will give you the honor of hiring me. You really need someone to proofread this shit before you post it."

Generally a requirment of getting hired is to not be an anonymous little prick

I don't think singing about your country in the context of the generally horrifying/elegiac tone of Let England Shake qualifies as 'brzaen patriotism'.

12:56 - Brooklyn Bowl Tom, didn't figure you for a PJ Harvey fan...

I think you mean 'Tourette's'

Amen 1:09. That remark about America seemed especially obtuse in light of the fact that Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea was one of PJ's standout albums. "On a rooftop in Brooklyn, at One in the morning ...."

i need to lend someone my copy of in utero

"T5 has great sound if you are standing directly in the line of fire of the PA speakers. It does... because they have a fantastic, super-expensive, bad-ass system. However, the acoustics of the room are as bad as you can get, so anywhere not directly in the line of fire of the PA sounds terrible. I know what I'm talking about by the way."

You really don't have any idea what you are talking about. You have about as much knowledge about sound engineering as the writer of this review has about english. But i would bet the house that you are either someone who works for Bowery or just a loser troll

i HOPE he meant 'Tourette's' and not turrets (unless castles were exploding at T5).

12:56 clever...

please stop showing your ignorance by comparing music and performances by pj harvey to lcdss

lcd are justified has-beens

1:24, that is a ridiculously safe bet because everyone here is just a loser troll, yourself and myself included.

she has been playing the same setlist all tour what are you surprised at. I like she is playing the whole new album, I've seen her last tours so don't need to hear all old songs.

T5-yeah that place sounds awful especially for something like PJ Harvey. Really wish promoters would match performer with performance space.

12:56 will be the next Meredith Hunter one day.

I wonder how many know who Meredith Hunter was. Without Interwebbin' for the answer first, natch.

Polly Jane HarvMEH

All My Friends Are Junkies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrpdPRkUA5Y&feature=player_embedded

Frohawk and Nancy Whang were seeing getting romantic during the Arcade Fire set at Coachella. Could this mean a full scale LCD reunion is not far behind?

""T5 has great sound if you are standing directly in the line of fire of the PA speakers. It does... because they have a fantastic, super-expensive, bad-ass system. However, the acoustics of the room are as bad as you can get, so anywhere not directly in the line of fire of the PA sounds terrible. I know what I'm talking about by the way."

You really don't have any idea what you are talking about. You have about as much knowledge about sound engineering as the writer of this review has about english. But i would bet the house that you are either someone who works for Bowery or just a loser troll"

Perhaps you could enlighten me? Where am I incorrect? Please share your wisdom... you are obviously brilliant.

Saw her at Hammerstein a few days before September 11. "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" became a warm but eerie record for me.

I went; first time seeing PJ. Could have used a better mix of the old with the new...

While I'm not sure 'disappointed' is the best word to describe the night, I share the sentiment above that I wish I'd seen her 10-15yrs ago instead.

Oh - and since someone asked - she went on at 845pm sharp, was done at 10:15pm.

I never saw a bad show at T5.
I didn't see PJ last night.
I will see Dino Jr in a couple five weeks.
You need to stop bashing T5. Either go or don't go. But for the sake of hummus, leave it alone already. OK, you hate T5. Move on.

I've seen her play in knitting factory, hammerstein and msg. No need to go to T5.

Fuck PJ Harvey and her completely incompetent band for suckering me into missing Big Audio Dynamite!

it was weird that Frohawk was at both BAD and PJ. Could there be 2 of them in New York? Did either one pay for a ticket?

frohawk is akin ra's al ghul... eternal.

if she moved the harpsichord we might be able to see some nips

she's been wearing that same outfit for the last week straight

T5's sound last night didn't seem bad, I was standing stage right not too far back and I sincerely think it sounded fine, my bigger concern with Terminal 5 is that it's just a huge flat room, unless you're standing in a 20 foot radius of the center you're kind of in no-man's land and it can feel very disconnected. And her choice to stand allll the way left was confusing to me, not only because if you were on the right side of the room it was very difficult to see her, but it also did a disservice to the band, who I don't believe anyone even acknowledged because the entire room was staring left.

I will say that PJ was really amazing, stark and haunting. She had an eerie, withcy presence last night, especially in the blinding white dress and black head dress. She didn't speak a word the entire set until the encore to introduce her band. It felt other-worldly.

That was horrible, boring, uninspired, and definitely off.
Terminal 5 is the worst venue and was the iggest waste if hard earned money this week

"That was horrible, boring, uninspired, and definitely off.
Terminal 5 is the worst venue and was the iggest waste if hard earned money this week"

to my eyes and ears in the 2nd row, that was a jaw dropping, incredible, inspired performance. love the new record and was thrilled to hear every track off it. sound was muddy for a few songs i think but overall was really good. well worth my hard earned money! :)

The setlist shows The River at the end - shame they didn't play it because along with the girl yelling for Rid of Me there was a guy trying(almost) as hard for that. And for the record, the cheering at the end lasted until 10:37 - And the sound was OK from where I was at(second row) - not great, but I wasn't complaining

Happy I got to see The River tonight. I would have loved to see the new material performed in a more intimate space... like a church or something. I don't think the cavern that is T5 did her band justice. I, for one, think the new album is great. Really memorable. There seems to be a consistent complaint with every new album/tour that it's not "rock" enough. I don't know if any of y'all saw the 2007 tour, but she busted out a lot of old classics on her guitar and slayed. All those Boss distortion and overdrive pedals. It's silly to expect that she's going to be the same artist she was 15 years ago.

Man, tough crowd. She blew me away tonight, and I saw her in both 1995 and 2001. What exactly were you whiners expecting?

2:22 - I saw her in 2001 as well, at the Bowery Ballroom. One of the best live shows I've ever seen. I understand that as 2:04 points out, it's unrealistic to expect the same of her today as in the past. I'm one of the whiners. What I was expecting was a compelling show from an artist that has set the bar fairly high. What I got was the unfortunate mix of fragile songs played indifferently in a vertical cavern at a drowsy pace.

I'm glad you enjoyed the show. Sounds like you're one of the lucky 5% or so in the crowd.

Get real u winners! It was PJ, an artist of intense integrity, go see Brittney next time, show was brilliant!