The Garden, a PJ Harvey Discussion Site

abovethemountain wrote:the river!! yesss!!

mart wrote:

halfpint_fighter wrote:I hope when you wake up and log in this brings a smile to start your day.

certainly did - nice one

Pluton wrote:Thank you very very much halfpint_fighter. But I'm very curious to read your opinion about the new songs. What do you thin of them? Did they sound like "The Last Living Rose" and "Written On the Forehead"?

Me & Olly just got back from a secret PJ Harvey gig in her home town. I did make a post about it a while ago, but Olly asked me to delete it because it could've been found out. One of the best gigs I've ever been to, 200 people in a church. I got to talk to PJ, thank her for her music, get a pic and give her a gift. It was a dream. Her mum was sat 2 seats in front of us. I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you all.

I'm still in shock. I"m uploading about 60 pics onto FB now. I'll make a proper thread because it was incredible & I've got so much to share. She's such a shy person.

She recorded 'Let England Shake' in a church in her home town, Eype, nr Bridport, Dorset, and to say thank you she did a secret gig there tonight for 200 people. £15 a ticket and all money went to the church. It was mainly family and friends, there was only me and 3 other girls who seemed like fans as far as I'm aware and 2 of those girls' mum was friends with Polly's mum. We truly are so lucky to have gone. I've been trying not to let myself get too excited in case it didn't happen and I didn't really believe it until she was right in front of us. It's just beyond a blessing. It's ridiculous.

She's a regular at the local music shop, Br*dport Music and it's one of the shops that Olly reps for. He supplies them with music books and gets on really well with _______________ who own and run it & they got us tickets. Me & Olly both picked up on how nervous she seemed whenever she wasn't singing or playing. She didn't talk in between songs other than to say 'thank you very much' after we applauded each song. You can see in one of the pics that her hands are clenched with her thumbs turned in. She also stood pigeon toed quite a lot, with her toes turned in, it was so cute. She's like a fragile, tiny bird, with the most beautiful and ethereal voice. Truly incredible.

I was desperate to tell you but Olly promised [the music shop owners] it'd be kept a secret. So I deleted my post and bit my tongue.

At the end of the gig Me & Olly stood by the front of the church and I spoke to one of the band members to get the set list and then we just waited for her to come out. Olly talked to one of the guys who was putting her guitars away and had a good nosey at the instruments. She came out and was hugging someone and chatting about her head dress and 1930s style and I waited for them to stop talking. She kept looking over and smiling a bit nervously, she knew I was waiting for her. Then I said Hi and thank you so much for the gig and that I'd brought her a small gift to say thank you and to remind her of the evening. She said that was really sweet and clutched it but didn't open it, it was a little pink angel shaped candle. She said thank you very much and then I asked if I could get a picture. She said she doesn't normally but that she would. I said thank you and that I was an art teacher and would love to show my students the pic. Olly took our photo and I introduced him and said that he worked with _______________ from the music shop and she was like "Oh!" Big smiles. And Olly said he was a music rep and supplied them with books. He said that we'd driven for 2.5hrs in the snow to get there and she said she was glad we'd made it safely and to be really careful driving home. I then said that my favorite album was White Chalk and that it had helped me through some difficult times. She said she was really happy that they'd played some songs from it then and apologised for "mucking up Silence". I said don't be ridiculous and that it was amazing, that I had to grab Olly's arm when it started because I was so excited/moved. Olly said that the whole gig was incredible and she said thank you. Then we wished her a happy Christmas and she said "you too" and we all said bye, then we went and said a huge thank you to [the music shop owners] for inviting us. ____________ asked if we wanted a signed copy of the album when it comes out and I squealed. We met their kids and wished them a Merry Christmas and then we got going. As soon as we got outside I left a fangirl message on _________ answer phone, tried to call _______ and texted ________!! I've never wished I had your number before so much __________!!

We then had to talk back to the car at a nearby lay by because she was no parKing at the church. So we held hands with our hoods up & a torch, had a look at some of the pretty gravestones in the snow and trudged down the woody lanes back to the car. It was perfect.