[ATTENDED: September 9, 2025] Pulp
Back I was a big fan of the Britpop scene. I liked Blur, but I also liked a lot of the lesser bands. Pulp’s Common People was a favorite song for me. I also liked their This is Hardcore album. And then I lost interest. But it turns out they put out one more album and then hiatused.
Then this year they announced a new song and album. Spike Island is the most infectious song they have released and I haven’t gotten tired of it at all.
So when this (rather short) tour was announced, I was intrigued, but wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go. Tickets were fairly pricey and there weren’t any floor seats left. But because of their “dynamic pricing” bullshit there were a few seats available near the front and I saw that the price was going down as it got closer. When I felt the price was okay, I bought a ticket.
When I got to the venue, they asked me if I wanted to sit i the ADA section, which I hadn’t in this venue. The guard there said it would be nicer to sit in the comfy chair than to stand the whole time. And it was. True, I couldn’t see the whole stage (I never saw the guy in the back on the left side. And I couldn’t see all of the screen. But most of the action was up front and I could see all of that fine.
The tickets were irritating because it was unclear if the show was going on at 7:30 or 8:30. Did doors open at 6:30? Who could tell. I arrived at 7:30 and there was a massive line to get scanned. I was escorted to the front of the line, which was nice, and I got into the venue quickly with no merch line (the merch wasn’t that exciting). And then I sat and chatted with the people next to me. They were from Maryland and had seen the show a few days ago in D.C. They had driven to Atlantic City and decided to see the show again on the way home. He told me they bought tickets while waiting outside in their car (and paid less than I did!). He and his wife go to tons of shows and seem to often get comp tickets or really good prices last minute.
When the lights went down I moved to the other side of them to get a better angle (very comfy) and the massive band (eight piece, I think) started playing Sorted for E’s & Wizz. I hadn’t listened to much Pulp before the show so I didn’t really recognize some of these bigger songs.
But I was so psyched that they played Disco 2000 and followed it with Spike Island.
Jarvis Cocker is a fantastic frontman (duh). He engages the audience, he dances, he jumped on these platforms in the front of the stage and he told some amusing anecdotes.
The setlist has been mostly the same, but they did play two unique songs for us. The new song Slow Jam is great and I’m glad we got to hear it. Before Farmer’s Market, he asked if there was a farmer’s market in Philly (yes, and it is good, people said). He asked if they sold grapes. And then proceeded to pull a handful of grapes from his suit jacket pocket and tossed them to audience members (don’t catch it in your mouth, you may choke). He then threw some chocolates to the crowd (he’s not a great thrower, tbh). But he did attempt to catch a grape in his own mouth (he missed).
For Something Changed, the original band members came to the front of the stage Jarvis Cocker played guitar and sang and he said that the four of them gathered together a few years ago to see if they wanted to play together again. He said Candida Doyle sat at the old piano (she played keys); Nick Banks had a box drum then and tonight; and Mark Webber sat on the settee and played guitar.
For the rest of the set the band was fleshed out by Andrew McKinney – bass (he also played on Something Changed); Emma Smith on fantastic violin, backing vocals and guitar; Adam Betts played a to of percussion and some guitar and keyboards and Richard Jones who I did not see the whole show until the end, played keys and viola.
The four (okay five, bassist) played this delightful mellow song and then shifted gears. We sang along for many songs and then for O.U. (a very old song) he split the audience in half and one side sang O and our side sang U. Which was quite a lot of fun.
SOUNDTRACK: JARVIS COCKER-Further Complications (2009).
I really enjoyed Pulp’s Different Class album when it came out. In fact, I liked it so much I made sure to get This is Hardcore and even the one before the got big, His n Hers. I felt like the earlier stuff was just okay. So either they hit their stride or they got lucky just before they broke up.
I Just Read About That... 