Pulp
From July 2011
Oh is this the way they say the future's meant to feel?
Or is just 20,000 people standing in a field?
Sorted for E's & Wizz, Pulp (1995)
On Sunday afternoon a small part of me died. That small part of me was the desire to go to open air music festivals so no great loss. If going to these events over the last two decades has taught me anything it is the value of chairs, roofs, toilets that don't overflow & salads that consist of more than one mangy piece of lettuce - stuff that we take for granted in our daily lives.
In truth the Wireless Festival in London's Hyde Park wasn't bad as these things go. It was dry for a start so no mud baths although the arid conditions seemed to have attracted millions of greenfly. As you might expect there were plenty of opportunities to sign up for a Barclaycard, if you had forgotten your hay fever tablets there was a Superdrug tent and should your barnet need spruced up there was naturellement a Remmington hair style bar. Woodstock this wasn't.
From a musical perspective it wasn't Woodstock either. Despite there being four stages with 25 bands it was difficult to find anything worth listening too. Full marks to Sweden's Hives for trying but at 5:20pm just a bit early to get the crowd going. A tiresome afternoon.
But then surely no one in the 50,000 strong crowd was there for any reason other than to see Pulp's first London show for 15 years. Exploding on to the stage to fireworks they kicked off with Do You Remember The First Time? and since most of the audience were part of that ever increasing subsection of the population people-who-are-old-enough-to-know-better they probably did. After that we were treated to a good old Cockney knees up with, among others, Mis-Shapes, Underwear & Common People. Jarvis Cocker is a true showman and the lyrics of his songs, which were always a curious blend of Alan Bennett short stories & Carry On films, have stood the test of time.
Cocker's parting words were that he'd be back in about 15 years. By then my feet might have recovered and I might have forgotten the last time.