NOTE: All photos are copyright of Dean Keim 2025
Pulp, 1990’s Britpop forefathers, played the historic Forest Hills Stadium in support of More, their first album of new material since 2001, and they came ready to rock the packed crowd to its core. Frontman Jarvis Cocker was in prime shape as he wooed the audience with his captivating weirdness and wildly insane dance moves, and the whole band was extremely precise and on point throughout. Jarvis is the only founding member left in the lineup but brought a huge crew with him including keyboardist Candida Doyle and drummer Nick Banks (who have been in the band since the 80’s), guitarist Mark Webber (a member since the mid-90’s), and Andrew McKinney on bass, Emma Smith on guitar and violin, and Adam Betts on keyboards, guitar, and percussion.
The band’s history goes back much further than their 90’s breakthrough as Pulp actually began in 1978 as a school band for a 15-year old Cocker. Their initial sound was somewhat like the bizarrely funky offspring of art rock and disco and, by the 80’s, they had become known for their lead’s intoxicating performance art persona but, even though their pop-loving singles often did very well in Europe, they never really broke through here in the States. That changed with the massive 90’s indie music explosion and the movement in England that became known as Britpop, in many ways modeling itself on mod culture and 1960’s influence mimicked by bands like Oasis, Blur, and The Stone Roses. Although they did finally get a couple big charting hits in the mid 90’s, Pulp was constantly changing members and always seemed as though they were on the verge of breaking up. In 2002, they made their breakup official after the release of a greatest hits album. Jarvis continued to have an impressive solo career but he was dogged by fans begging for a reunion. They briefly got together in 2011 with some live dates and, although he teased some new Pulp tunes, they never arrived and it was all over far too soon. It took over a full decade but the band did finally come back together with greater focus in 2023. We saw them play the Kings Theater in Brooklyn almost exactly one year ago and are now playing this other historic venue in Queens.
The Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser opened the show with his new solo band, promoting their new album This Side of the Island. Leithauser was first to mention that this show was on 9/11 and he clearly lost some people close to him on that day back in 2001. Songs like “In a Black Out” really spoke to the sense of loss the City experienced after those horrific terrorist attacks.
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Pulp opened their set with a pair of classics, “Sorted for E’s & Wizz” and “Disco 2000” from their epic 1995 album Different Class, complete with giant wacky inflatable tube men flailing about much like Jarvis’ own unpredictable dance moves. In his first stage banter of the evening, Jarvis broke into some bad tennis puns like “we’re here to serve you” in honor of the venue which used to host the US Open Tennis Championships. He also recounted having a tennis instructor that told him, “Stop thinking about it so much, If you think about it too much, you’ll miss it. He was like a real guru, because if you think about it too much you will miss it,” before dedicating a new song to his wife called “Farmer’s Market.” The title track from 1996’s This Is Hardcore sent the audience into a frenzy and the follow-up, a little acoustic circle version of “Something Changed” was chilling. They had a great stage show that kept the whole set looking as amazing as it sounded. Pulp played other classics like “Do You Remember the First Time?,” “Babies,” “Mis-Shapes,” and, of course, their biggest hit “Common People,” and they ended the night with a brilliant new song called “A Sunset.”
It was fitting to see Pulp perform at Forest Hills Stadium, an historic tennis club that famously had The Beatles play there, as well as the likes of Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Genesis, Simon & Garfunkel, and many other legends. Despite recently being named the best amphitheater on the East Coast by Billboard magazine, Forest Hills Stadium came close to closing earlier this year due to noise and disturbance complaints by local residents. However, it soldiers on just like this amazing band, and I feel fortunate to be able to see Pulp play at such an outstanding stage.
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