In 2004, Polly Harvey and her merry men took to the road in an unusually gargantuan tour with high-profile spots at Glastonbury and supporting good old Morrissey. Please Leave Quietly documents this massive tour of the world, shows the highs and lows of the life of a touring artist and shows just how understated the simply fantastic PJH really is.

Live DVDs can be a bit dodgy. Polly knows this too. Therefore, she set out to build what she calls a ‘patchwork’ of sights and sounds, that isn’t just simply your run of the mill live video. Set up as a gig/documentary pick and mix, Please Leave Quietly does just what PJ wanted. It is packed full of the 2004-tour live favourites such as the tribal ‘Meet Ze Monsta’, shimmering ‘A Perfect Day Elise’ and the previously unreleased ‘Uh Huh Her’ and ‘E?ol’. Each track is shot in a different location, which will often switch during a song; although this certainly adds to the texture of the patchwork, it can also be irritating at times. Between each track the documentary snippets give a genuine insight into the touring band with highlights being a ratted Polly Harvey waggling her Animal (from the Muppets fame) printed ass at the camera.

As well as the amazing docu-gig, there is also a half hour Polly interview where she talks about every aspect of the Uh Huh Her album project, ranging from her thoughts on the album recording process to selecting artwork for the latest album. The interview is enthralling and is only made slightly less than perfect by the long arty-musical interludes.

All in all, Please Leave Quietly is an accurate depiction of the 2004 ‘Uh Huh Her’ tour, which shows Polly at her best.
(4/5)

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