Pulp Live At The Royal Festival Hall review by Ryan Beardsley
It’s not every day Rough Trade Records turns fifty, and it’s not every day you get to watch Pulp in a concert hall with less than 3000 people; they’re more accustomed to 20,000 in The o2 or 100,000 in a muddy field, so seeing the band in such an intimate atmosphere was a real treat. For those lucky souls in the front row, less than a foot away from JC himself, it must have felt like having Pulp perform in your front room.
The set-up is delightful: a concert orchestra, two laptops and a big screen for what Cocker described as part concert, part PowerPoint presentation, but when you’ve got the wit and comic timing of the great man, it’s nearly as enjoyable listening to him speak as it is listening to him sing. As well as celebrating the legendary record label’s anniversary, we’re also here to celebrate their Mercury Prize-nominated comeback record More, which will be performed in full.
Kicking off with lead single Spike Island, it’s an absolute joy and astonishing how Jarvis can flick the switch from college lecturer to swinging-hips frontman without missing a beat. The track itself made you forget the band had ever been away with a thumping chorus that harks back to their biggest hits.
I’d forgotten how good More is; it’s all killer, no filler, demonstrated by Tina and Grown Ups, both of which would have been hits back in the glory days of singles meaning something. Tina, with its wistful ode to lost love, and Grown Ups carrying on the tradition of Pulp’s best work, telling a story through music, with characters we can all relate to.
It takes Got To Have Love, and its chorus aching to be sung along to that gets the people off their seats for the first time and turns the evening from a concert to a gig, even with the interludes where Jarvis switches from sharing charming tales of the album’s genesis to lobbing individual grapes into the flailing audience.
Then for the Hardcore we get some real treats, Open Strings is a bonus track from the record dedicated to late bassist Steve Mackey, which is introduced by a tale of a tribute to him in the Andes mountains that’s genuinely moving. Next is Wickerman for the first time in 15 years, and as it’s introduced, there are shrieks of disbelief from the superfans for this deepcut, before they take full advantage of the assembled orchestra for a monumental This Is Hardcore.
Then, in a moment summing up the vibes of the evening, Jarvis gets his phone out to sing along to the lyrics of a recent Abba cover version; it shouldn’t work, but of course it does. Their spin on The Day Before You Came lends an additional air of melancholy despite him looking at his phone every thirty seconds, before a triumphant Something Changed sends the crowd into a frenzy.
An incredible, intimate night of music, laughs and fan favourites. I heard a couple of gripes about not getting Common People/Disco 2000, but on an evening like this, who needs the hits? Magic.
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