The twenty second of October 2001 – in some ways it feels like it just happened, in others it was a very, very long time ago. Largely it was a completely unremarkable day in history – according to onthisday.com the biggest story was the marriage of tennis players Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf (a combination that still feels slightly bizarre), but for over two decades it looked like it would be the day on which the final ever Pulp album was released. But then in late 2024 whispers turned into rumours, which eventually became announcements, before after an almost twenty four year gap a new Pulp album, More, materialised into our record stores and various other music distribution methods unimaginable at the start of the century.
With a new album to celebrate there was of course the need for live shows to support it; having mainly focussed on festivals and large outdoor concerts during the past two years of their reunion tour this featured six dates in colossal arenas across the United Kingdom. Sadly for those in the north of England this meant a night at Manchester’s Co-op Arena, a venue whose impressive sound and light systems are let down by the desire to focus on generating the ultimate customer experience (i.e. getting as much money out of punters for overpriced food, drink and parking) at the cost of removing any semblance of soul or personality from the venue. I swore after my initial visit there last summer to see the Smashing Pumpkins / Weezer co-headline tour it would take something special to lure me back there… Pulp were one of very few acts with the appeal to do so.
Two weeks before the concert there was a further exciting development… there would be no support act but Pulp would be performing two sets. Whilst I love a good support act and generally find it the best way to discover new acts, the thought of two and a half hours of one of my favourite bands was a very enticing prospect. Which presumably also solved the conundrum for the band of how to fit in enough songs from the new album to avoid the show being yet another stage of the reunion tour, but not taking out too many hits that the casual fans would lose their interest.
Live Bed Show: Can you spot the Jarvis?
After setting a new personal record for the most I’ve ever paid for a pint (nine of the King’s pounds) it was through to the 23,500 capacity hall to wait for the curtain around the stage to open. Starting a show with three new songs may have seemed like a risky move (one has to wonder how many of the audience were unaware that fresh material had been released), but the energy of Spike Island and Grown Ups built on the classic Pulp sound, sounding familiar yet fresh, new but not alien. Jarvis Cocker’s trademark movements around stage remained undiminished by age and when viewed through squinted eyes halfway back in the venue it could easily be the performer from 1995 gracing the stage.
As good as the new songs sounded though the classics were always going to receive the warmest welcome. Sorted for Es & Wizz produced the first sing along of the evening after which Disco 2000 erupted to one of the biggest communal celebrations since the Millennium (terrifying fact: We’re now closer in time to the start of the year 2050 than we are to when the clocks ticked over to mark 2000). Almost thirty years on Help the Aged still sounds like a particular odd choice of comeback single for a band at the peak of their popularity, when at the time Oasis‘ mis-step with Be Here Now had left them an opportunity to claim the title of biggest band in Britain.
The first set then came to a close with This is Hardcore and Sunrise, showcasing musical depth and the ability to generate sprawling epics that seems incredible in retrospect that they weren’t taken to heart by the wider population upon their release. With a fifteen minute gap until the second set a realisation then set in – it was bloody hot in the venue; with temperatures outside pushing thirty degrees and a thronging mass inside, the state of the art venue simply wasn’t capable of cooling the excited crowd satisfactorily. The break was employed for an audience vote as to what song to be played in the rotating slot with Pink Glove winning out over fairly unknown B-side We Are the Boyz – whilst a great choice it was slightly disappointing to be presented with a song that had been a mainstay in the set over the past couple of years, especially with what other nights on the tour had received (yes, I am bitter that the previous date at Birmingham had got the glorious Razzmatazz).
I Spy an unmistakable silhouette
The second set then began with Jarvis, Candida, Mark and Nick – the four remaining members of nineties era-Pulp, performing a touching, stripped down rendition of Something Changed shorn of the fifteen or so additional musicians who were part of the show. The band then set out to give the hardcore fans a few treats, with The Fear, O. U. (Gone, Gone) and Acrylic Afternoons given rare live outings, although the latter of these felt slightly flat and proved to be the only mis-step of the evening.
This then left a final dash through the remaining hits, with Do You Remember the First Time, Mis-Shapes, recent single Got to Have Love and Babies blasted through in succession, the confetti fired out to the last of these hilariously sticking to the sweat covered faces at the front of the venue. This of course then left Common People to finish off the main set, its throbbing build up to its final climax sending the venue into raptures. After a few moments silence the band reappeared in front of the stage curtain to strum gently through More‘s closing track A Sunset, a strangely subdued but relaxing end to a thrilling night with the song’s hook line of “It’s just a sunset” still etched into my mind several days later.
Back in 1997 Jarvis sang “I am not Jesus but I have the same initials”, yet it’s not too much of an over exaggeration to say that Pulp‘s resurrection and subsequent success has been Bibical in nature. After their initial split in 2002 was greeted with barely a shrug from the general public, their reunions in 2011 and 2023 were received with warmth, but 2025 has seen them raised firmly to the status of national treasures. Whether this is one final hurrah, as Britpop cohorts Blur‘s 2023 return and album appear to be, or the start of a glorious end of career phase is yet to be seen, but judging from the audience make up a new generation have taken Pulp to their heart. Here’s hoping there’s still far more to come…
Want to read more live reviews of Pulp? How about Royal Albert Hall, London (31/3/12) or Way Out West 2024
Pulp performed:
Spike Island
Grown Ups
Slow Jam
Sorted for E’s & Wizz
Disco 2000
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
Help the Aged
Tina
Farmers Market
This Is Hardcore
Sunrise
***
Something Changed
The Fear
O.U. (Gone, Gone)
Pink Glove
Acrylic Afternoons
Do You Remember the First Time?
Mis-Shapes
Got to Have Love
Babies
Common People
***
A Sunset
Alex Reviews Gigs 
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