Pulp Live Show Review: 9/8, Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
Pulp has never been in a rush. Their most recent album came out 23 years ago. The last time they toured the US was 2012, the year they played Coachella, and even that "tour" was a couple dates on each coast. Jarvis Cocker performed at Pitchfork Music Festival way back in 2008, but the band hadn't played a proper show in Chicago since the 90s. Safe to say, last Sunday, a sold out Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom was eagerly anticipating the quartet's emergence on a stage at an ancient venue whose age is only about three times the number of years since the last Pulp show in Chicago.
Of course, in true sardonic fashion, as the lights dimmed, we were greeted with a screen with hilarious words that alternated between straightforward and facetious: "Good evening...This is a night you will remember for the rest of your life...This is the 552nd concert by Pulp," and so on. Yes, even their idea of entertainment is buried within the glory of the mundane. The band (keyboardist Candida Doyle, drummer Nick Banks, guitarist Mark Webber, and touring musicians Andrew McKinney, Emma Smith, and Adam Betts) finally walked on the stage sans Cocker, though you could hear his unmistakable deadpan launch into "I Spy" coming from behind the stage setup. From the moment he graced the crowd with his presence--as gangly and expressive as ever--Cocker was in show mode, both actively and passively. He vogued along to every song, almost in time with the guitar riffs on "Sunrise". He sang while lying down during "Weeds", but stood and gained more energy as it built up and slowed down into "Weeds II (The Origin of the Species)" and an unexpected segue into a song from a different album, "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." As if to recall the dour noir of its iconic video, he performed the beginning of "This Is Hardcore" from a lounge chair. And he was genuine, too, dedicating "Something Changed" to late bassist Steve Mackey and the late, great Steve Albini, who produced Cocker's 2009 solo album Further Complications.
What really struck me, though, was how dynamic the band was. Beyond standout instrumental moments--the plinking keyboard line of "Pink Glove", the intertwining guitar and bass melodies of "Babies"--I've never thought of Pulp as a live band that would be particularly instrumentally exciting. I was wrong. Their use of effects on songs like "Sorted for E's & Wizz" was so all-encompassing it sounded like the noises were coming from the crowd itself, as if you were on the very drugs whose culture the song lambasts. "Babies" changed tempo seamlessly, emphasizing the twangy guitars during verses and rocketing into a gallop during the chorus. "Common People", of course, sped up and slowed down as Cocker introduced the band during a long interlude, the announcement of every name accompanied by brief rousing power chords and drums that, each time, toyed you into thinking the band was going to launch back into the song.
"Common People" finally ended, the third song played during the encore. It's the band's best known and arguably best song. Show over, right? Well, Pulp came back out for what was the most unexpectedly exciting part of the night: the potential for new music. They debuted "Spike Island", a new disco-indebted song with slide guitar, before ending the night with the one-two punch of "Razzmatazz" and "Glory Days". Looking at their more recent setlists, Pulp has debuted at least two new songs during their second encore. Maybe--hopefully--their current tour is more like an intermission.
