Pulp. A band that was at the forefront of the music period known as Britpop, along with Blur and Oasis, have recently reformed after being on hiatus for the past nine years, during which time, band members pursued various solo careers and side projects. But on a wonderfully temperate Friday night, they very much picked up where they left off.
Ably supporting them was NSW outfit, Belles Will Ring. Wearing their 60’s psychedelic pop influences on their sleeves, the band played a thoroughly enjoyable half hour set. Unfortunately, at times, the sound mix had too much echo, inadvertently muffling the lead singer’s vocals, slightly hindering what was otherwise a good set.
Even before Pulp hit the stage, the crowd was definitely pumped. The excitement and anticipation of seeing Pulp live after all these years was palpable, particularly as the line up for the 2011 model of Pulp is pretty much the same line up that featured on the band’s breakthrough and benchmark album, 1995’s Different Class.
Reunions and reformations are always a tricky proposition. Sometimes, there is the greed factor on the part of bands, and the attachment that people have to both the band and their music suffers as a result. But happily, this wasn’t the case with Pulp.
What stands out when seeing Pulp in 2011, but in a good way, was that their stage show was a great deal more theatrical than it had been in the past. Previously, the band have very much relied on their strong back catalogue of songs. This time round, there were laser beams, video screens and lots of dry ice. However, all of the effects were kept in balance, and never overpowered the experience of seeing the band live. There was a very cute moment before the band even hit the stage, when the laser was putting sentences and obscure quotes from their website on a black see through curtain in front of the stage- a very charming device. Most striking of all was the backdrop with the band’s name in their signature neon styling and font.
The band came on and performed a stunning version of ‘Do You Remember The First Time?’, from the His N’ Hers album. The curtain dropped dramatically when the band hit the chorus. One got the feeling that this night was going to be special.
Tonight, Pulp were beautifully together on a musical level. It was wonderful to listen to how they stretched tracks out and expanded on them from the original recordings. The songs from the album, This Is Hardcore, particularly benefited from this, and took on a more grandiose and widescreen vibe. The band did fantastic versions of both the title track and, surprisingly, ‘The Fear’, a very dark song both lyrically and sonically about the after effects of drugs.
The set list was a fan’s dream come true, with the band performing a high number of tracks from Different Class that weren’t released as singles, such as ‘Pencil Skirt’, a great version of ‘Underwear’ and especially ‘I Spy’, where lead singer, Jarvis Cocker, jumped down just in front of the crowd barrier, brandishing a surgical camera and getting shots of the audience for the screens up above.
The singles from Different Class provoked the strongest response from the audience. ‘Disco 2000’ especially struck a chord with the crowd with the accompanying invitation to dance from Pulp’s striking and inimitable lead singer Jarvis Cocker. ‘Sorted For E’s & Wizz’ was another track that had the crowd joyously singing along.
From a fan perspective, it was a great experience to see and hear a band perform album tracks live that normally wouldn’t receive this kind of treatment.; it definitely pleased tonight’s crowd, which seemed to consist of a great number of dedicated and die hard fans of the band.
Jarvis Cocker is still one of the most beautifully unconventional front men to be seen. He is animated on stage with his combination of interpretive dance and karate moves, and has a truly compelling on stage quality and persona that is hard not to like and be quite taken with. He also has a wonderful and charming rapport with the audience, but knows and understands not to overdo it at the expense of the music. Vocally, he is in fine form at the moment; still able to exude the passion and energy that he could back in the Britpop days.
It was a smart move on the band’s part to concentrate so heavily on the Different Class material. The band definitely know and appreciate the fact that, for a lot of people in attendance, this album has quite an emotional resonance. It was also a joy to hear gems like ‘Razzamatazz’, ‘Babies’ and ‘Like A Friend’ during the set.
Of course, the track that got the biggest audience response was ‘Common People’. Like Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, this is not just a mere song for some people, it is an anthem that holds an important place in their hearts and lives.
The danger for bands that create a song that inadvertently finds its way into the fabric of the world is that it has the ability to become a millstone around their neck; both a blessing and a curse. Thankfully, this isn’t the case with Pulp, and it’s obvious that they still enjoy playing ‘Common People’ live. It was really enjoyable that they extended it to include band introductions and to generally tease the crowd, but in the nicest way possible. They were ably assisted by their wonderful violin player, Daisy.
The night ended on a heart warming and positive note with the band performing ‘Mis-Shapes’. Jarvis dedicated it to the crowd and told everyone to embrace their quirks and what makes each person different. This is what we love about Pulp so much; that sense of reassurance that it’s okay to be a “misfit”.
This was a fantastic night with moments of true beauty and magic, that will hopefully lead to Pulp recording some new material. Seeing a band performing well takes on a greater significance when the concert goer has a strong emotional attachment to the band’s material.
As evidenced tonight, Pulp are still a vital and important band. The world needs more of those.
– Neil Evans
