One of the seminal Britpop bands, Pulp have retained their charm and influence nearly fifty years later. Their influence is undeniable, as seen with their latest album More, and shown on stage with raucous theatrical flair and stunning visual arrangements. Pulp’s show at the Utilita Arena was split up by an interval, and featured no supporting acts.

As the show began, a large curtain unveiled not only the core members of Pulp, but a small string section accompaniment. Rising up at the top of the stage, surrounded by life-size cutouts of younger versions of the band members, frontman Jarvis Cocker unfroze as the fourth cutout, then jumped into the opening track of More, ‘Spike Island’. The band quickly followed through with ‘Grown Ups’, and ‘Slow Jam’.

Being an album tour, the set expectedly featured a fair amount of songs from More. There had been some grumbling about the exclusion of some of Pulp’s older classics in favour of songs from More, but not only was this expected, it actually didn’t affect the quantity of older songs played. The tracks from More only took up around a quarter of the set, leaving the rest of the setlist open.

The middle of the first set was a triple threat of songs from Different Class: ‘Sorted For E’s & Wizz’, the jovial ‘Disco 2000’, and ‘F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E’; ‘Disco 2000’ was definitely where the crowd finally united in comfortable familiarity. Cocker sprinkled in anecdotes between songs, remembering The Limit – a Sheffield club – as a place which had a hand in moulding Pulp, alongside other big British bands such as Def Leppard and U2.

‘Help The Aged’ and ‘This Is Hardcore’ from the album of the same name came next. The visuals throughout the entire show were incredible, but special mention goes to ‘This Is Hardcore’. The song began with Cocker ascending the stage to sit in a leather armchair whilst the song picked up. Littered throughout were references to the song’s fantastic music video, coalescing in a kaleidoscopic visual of flapper-style women, complete with massive feather fans.

The end of the first half was ‘Sunrise’ from the album We Love Life. The instrumental build-up of ‘Sunrise’ was incredible; the addition of the string section, alongside Emma Smith’s lead violin/guitar, was a masterclass in textured instrumentation, and really showcased the value of their addition to the live performance. Once again, the visuals were incredible, with a beaming sun-light emerging at the back of the stage and silhouetting the entire band. Cocker still brings a physicality to his performance nearly five decades later, and the staging of ‘Sunrise’ really exaggerated his movements.

The interval featured a noise-based voting system for a song to be played in the second half; the choice was between ‘Like A Friend’, and the landslide victor ‘Razzamatazz’. The beginning of the second half was perfect: the core four members of Pulp emerged in front of the drawn stage curtains with a very stripped back set of instruments. They softly began the second set with ‘Something Changed’, with Cocker playing a beautiful 12-string acoustic guitar; it was the perfect way to unite the audience after the break, minimising any discord created by the interval.

The second set continued with ‘The Fear’ – complete with several tube guys – and back-to-back bangers from His N Hers, ‘Acrylic Afternoons’, and ‘Do You Remember The First Time?’ Rounding the night off was an insane run of hits: ‘Mis-Shapes’, ‘Got To Have Love’, ‘Babies’, and, of course, ‘Common People’ – complete with fireworks and was the perfect finale. As the crowd filtered out after the show, we were serenaded by the final track of More, ‘A Sunset’ – a fitting end to the night.

Seeing Pulp live was not something I expected in my lifetime; frankly, I’m still shocked. The concert demonstrated the difference between performing music and performing a show, and Pulp excelled in delivering a stellar performance with memorable theatrics and tight musicianship.

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