Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker confirms a 2023 tour
Britpop icons Pulp are slated to make a second comeback in 2023 after an almost ten-year hiatus.
Photo: Press
The Sheffield legends have their sights set on a 2023 comeback after almost ten years since their first reunion. Lead singer Jarvis Cocker confirmed the band’s regrouping in a Q&A session for his recently released memoir Good Pop, Bad Pop.
Hailing from the Steel City, Pulp formed back in 1978 during the members’ teenage years, kickstarted by Cocker and friend Peter Dalton. The band has seen many changes in members during their beginning; however, their most notable figures include Russel Senior (guitar), Candida Doyle (keyboard), Nick Banks (drums), Steve Mackey (bass) and Mark Webber (guitar). While there is no confirmation thus far if any of them, or any of the other members, will be in the touring lineup, things look optimistic as Cocker continues to tease fans with cryptic posts and nonchalant info-dropping.
Following an oddly cryptic post by Cocker on his Instagram account, fans and media outlets alike began to suspect that Cocker was hinting at a reunion for Pulp. In the Q&A session, hosted by The Guardian and live-tweeted by Twitter user Acrylic Afternoons, the musician and author explained that the post was “...deliberately cryptic” and that Pulp are to perform together again in 2023. He also noted that the phrase featured in the video was a line from Pulp’s 1998 single This is Hardcore, one of the band’s hit songs. This possibly indicates an album-specific reunion tour, as 2023 is the twenty-fifth anniversary of their acclaimed sixth studio album of the same name.
The last time the band performed together was in early 2013, on The Jonathan Ross Show for their one-off single After You. This was the last performance following their first reunion era in 2011 through to 2013. With reunion and anniverary tours abound, it makes sense that the acclaimed English rockers would make a secondary comeback around one of their most successful albums.
Previously known in the late 1990s for their commercial and critically successful albums Different Class and its aforementioned successor, the band has still remained an influence for the generations of rockers that have followed.
The return of one of Sheffield’s finest will be massive, and perhaps an experience that may only come around once in a blue moon.
The reunion tour might be a spark for something new from Pulp; however, it has not been confirmed if the tour announcement could signify new music in the works. Jarvis revealed back in 2012 that new ideas for the band in regards to music had been thrown around; although nothing had come to fruition beyond After You.
The band has not released an album since 2001’s We Love Life. If there is a chance for new material over twenty years later, only time (or the frontman
himself) will tell.
During Cocker’s Q&A session, a twelve-year-old fan asked him for advice on how to make “good” music, to which he responded, “You have do something that makes you feel good and gives you a ‘tingle’ feeling”. Perhaps the “tingle feeling” has returned for the members of Pulp; nevertheless, fans can sit back knowing that 2023 will bring Pulp to the stage once more (while also awaiting tour dates).
