Artists do funny things when their previous album is critically acclaimed. Some try to continue mining the same vein, others shoot off in an entirely different direction, testing the mettle of their muse. With Is This Desire, the follow-up to her notable 1995 album To Bring You My Love, Polly Jean Harvey has taken a cautious side step and kept her options open.

The results intrigue on disc, but the real challenge for Harvey is carrying off this balance in a live setting, as she proved Thursday night at San Francisco's Warfield Theater. She had to stake new ground to fans familiar with her more tangible personas -- the rubbed-raw singer of the early Dry era and the garish diva of To Bring You My Love. The current incarnation finds her as an amalgam of these characters, with no single aspect claiming the fore.

Harvey's trepidation was evident as her five-piece band started the show with the sinewy "I Think I'm a Mother" from To Bring You My Love. On the album, the song comes alive thanks to the heaving, pulsing rhythms and Harvey's forceful lyrical delivery. Live, however, the band struggled to fill the sonic gaps and keep the rhythm fluid. Harvey, stripped of the ornate chanteuse trappings that characterized her '95 tour, also seemed without a rudder, standing immobile at the mic in a simple red sleeveless shirt and knee-length silver skirt.

Things didn't get any easier for Harvey with the second song, "Joy," from Desire. Part of the problem is that many of the songs from her most recent album aren't like the crafted, precise works from her previous efforts, but more sonically experimental. San Francisco was the second stop on the U.S. Desire tour, and it became obvious that Harvey herself hadn't yet figured the role she'd be playing on this go-round.

Fortunately, she found her answer soon enough. Fans let out familiar cries of joy as Harvey picked up her Telecaster for the third song, the incendiary timeworn track "Joe." And there she was, the early Harvey, standing defiantly, legs splayed, toting a guitar that has to weigh more than she does and inviting the audience into her world not through gentle coaxing, but sudden, violent riptides.

Harvey continued playing guitar for the next several songs, and she seemed to find her footing accordingly. Her T-shirt and jeans-adorned band picked it up as well, not only keeping up with the dervish, but also egging her on. Emboldened by this musical support and the increased volume of the audience's applause, Harvey finally assumed command halfway through the show with "A Perfect Day Elise," the new record's first single. Though she returned her guitar to its stand for the number, Harvey took advantage of the freedom and roamed about the stage, head lolling and arms snapping up like a Flamenco dancer. On a roll at last, she led the band on a blitzkrieg run through some of Desire's strongest material -- "Catherine," "The River," and "Angelene" -- as well as more familiar "Meet Ze Monster," "To Bring You My Love" and "Dress."

The evening had finally become effortless for Harvey. She even stooped down to pick up the flowers and cards the front-row fans were placing at the foot of the stage. Though she kept the stage banter to a minimum throughout the show, she thanked the crowd profusely at the close of "Down By the Water," the second encore. Perhaps she realized her rough start and wanted to thank everyone for bearing with her. But judging from the crowd's response, any travails were quickly forgotten.

ERIC HELLWEG
(October 23, 1998)