Castlefield Bowl, Manchester
A hit-heavy set reminds us how the Sheffield masters earned their place in British pop culture – with plenty of sleaze and sonic adventure thrown in
Jarvis Cocker makes a grand entrance. The rest of Pulp have taken their place at the front of the stage, the string players are ready to the band’s right, and then their frontman emerges at the top of a Hollywood staircase, silhouetted by a massive full moon. He has a spindly, instantly recognisable silhouette, of course. There’s no mistaking; Jarv is here.
Mid-set he mentions Pulp’s first foray to Manchester; an appearance at the Boardwalk in October 1992. Subsequently, things changed for Pulp; hit albums and fame. And for Cocker, an elevated position in our country’s cultural life, including presenting radio shows, an appearance on BBC One’s Question Time and in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a recently published memoir-of-sorts (Good Pop, Bad Pop), and a fully-fledged solo career under the name Jarv Is. His idiosyncrasy remains intact; at the very least, he pronounces “party” like no one else I’ve heard (in a Yorkshire French accent).
