Pulp: Live Review

He tossed teabags into the crowd.

He hurled a grape into the air and caught it. He climbed a speaker stack and seemed unsure how to get down.

He even told his band off a couple of times, exhorting them to stop like a petulant child.

And of course, he wiggled and gyrated in ways any quirky art student could who seemed to be ironically trying to rip off Madonna's Vogue.(Though thankfully, he didn't urge us to buy the curiously odd 3 set of women's briefs on sale at merchandise stand for $60.)

Yet, during the course of a 2 hour show, with an 15-minute intermission, Jarvis Cocker and Pulp, despite not having performed live for 5 months, showed why they're still just a blistering presence on stage and in the music world.

With no support, Auckland was thrown back into the heady Britpop era some 30 years ago when Different Class saw the group propelled into the stratosphere, thanks to the likes of Sorted for Es and Wizz, Disco 2000 and of course, Common People.

They opened with Sorted for Es and Wizz, and tossed out Disco 2000 along with Spike Island as if they were nothing and almost beneath them. But while the More track is a newer anthem, the originals still sound as fresh as they did back then, their irresistible mix of bass and synth combining with Jarvis' sexual preoccupations and ironic takes on the scene of the time still proving to be a heady concoction.

In between it all, Jarvis proved to be the drawcard, his slightly baffled, scruffy-looking English professor still cutting a commanding figure on stage and delivering sardonic wry humour and genuine curiosity about whether there's animosity between the North and South Island of New Zealand, before shelving that to launch into a song. Despite promising to return to explore that, he never did.

And while much of Pulp's appeal lies with its frontman, the entire band (totalling nine on stage at one point) showed they've lost none of their lustre for live performance in the intervening years - and the five months they've had since their last gig.

But in truth, while Common People sent Auckland into an absolute frenzy (and was seemingly close to coming victim to overrunning and someone letting off a blue flare in the middle of the general admission), it was the first song of the second half that really proved to be the coup de grace of the entire night.

Stripping back to just the four members, Cocker promised to deliver an insight into why the band reformed and decided to tour, delivering an absolutely beautiful version of Something Changed that was enough to send the stadium into hushed reverence and singalong mode.

It took a lot to top that - but the band did, performing their new song gifted to the latest War Child album, a single that had only been released two days prior and which received its live debut, despite Jarvis warning us it was noisy. Begging For Change was simply excellent, a raucous, rambunctious and rowdy number that will easily become a live favourite, with its heavy riffs and singalong elements.

Pretty much most of More got an airing, their first in 24 years - but there's showmanship here that excels in a stage show that's about the band's greatest hits, as well as theatrics. From lounging in a throne during a red-soaked This Is Hardcore to a huddled group seeing the audience off with A Sunset like a last-gasp at a late night pub hangout, the More tour is the band at their absolute strongest and most unmissable.

There's still a confidence about Pulp and an innate need to feel appreciated by the masses - underneath it all, though, there's no need for them to worry - tributes to those who helped write the songs, people he met in Auckland during the day that he "promised he'd tried and remember" and a shout-out to NZ film director Florian Habicht, as well as changing one of the lyrics within Sorted for Es and Wizz to mention Auckland, it's all a welcome home-run for Pulp.

They made us feel alive again - and without fear or exultation, let's all meet up in the years to come. We promise we'll be there by the fountain down the road, Jarvis.

Pulp Auckland 2026 setlist:

Sorted for E's & Wizz

Disco 2000

Spike Island

Razzmatazz

Slow Jam

F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.

My Sex

Underwear

Farmers Market

This Is Hardcore

Sunrise

Intermission (15 mins)

Something Changed

The Fear

The Hymn of the North

Begging for Change

(Live debut)

Acrylic Afternoons

Do You Remember the First Time?

Mis-Shapes

Got to Have Love

Babies

Common People

A Sunset