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“You deserve more,” the posters promoting tonight’s concert at the O2 Arena read. It’s pretty fortunate, then, that Pulp are giving us plenty of that. Last week, Jarvis Cocker’s Britpop-era misfits released their first album in 24 years, aptly entitled More, and now London is getting a pair of back-to-back concerts, each one offering two sets of gloriously awkward anthems.
All those things together would be enough to satisfy any fan, but when the velvet curtain inside the venue peels back, it reveals just how extra Sheffield’s finest are being. In front of a mammoth video screen is a four-tiered staircase of a stage, plus an expanded lineup with a string section. Then, Cocker rises out of the floor during opener and recent comeback single Spike Island, one verse of which sees him sing, “I was born to perform.”
For 135 minutes (interval not included), that showmanship never dips, with classics, deep cuts and new tracks getting showcased with equal pomp. Of course, the crowd is nowhere near as electric for the likes of Tina as it is for Disco 2000, but everything is presented as a spectacle. This Is Hardcore finds Cocker lounging on a throne-like armchair, Sunrise sees a ‘sun’ made out of lightbulbs ascend, and Got To Have Love uses the backdrop to hammer home its spell-along refrain.
Through it all, Cocker treads the line between magnetic rock star and affable everyman. He bounds around the stage and flails his seemingly elastic limbs, while sporting his now-signature charity shop chic. At intermittent points, he tosses fudge and grapes to people near the front.
Before Help The Aged, the singer admits he’s muddled the setlist. But, he turns it around, blaming the mix-up on getting older to connect with the song’s themes and encourage some ‘help’ singing. It’s that ability to blend honesty with crowd-pleasing pop chops that’s made Pulp so special for so long, and it continues through Farmers Market (dedicated to Cocker’s wife on their anniversary) and an all-acoustic Something Changed.
After a fan vote adds Party Hard to the running order for the first time since 2012, the latter half of the second set is a conveyor belt of hits. Do You Remember The First Time?, Babies and, naturally, Common People prove to be tonight’s peaks, as it sounds like everyone in attendance knows every line to each number. Pulp pledged to give people “more” – but, after such a maximalist extravaganza, it feels like we’ve received “the most”.
Pulp setlist: O2 Arena, London – June 13, 2025
Set 1:
Spike Island
Grown Ups
Slow Jam
Sorted For E’s And Wizz
Disco 2000
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
Tina
Help The Aged
Farmers Market
This Is Hardcore
Sunrise
Set 2:
Something Changed
The Fear
O.U. (Gone, Gone)
Party Hard
Acrylic Afternoons
Do You Remember The First Time?
Mis-Shapes
Got To Have Love
Babies
Common People
Encore:
A Sunset
