We Went There: Pulp at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
Can you write an objective review of a show you’ve waited decades for? It’s hard. I’ve been waiting decades for Pulp to come anywhere near Minnesota. After a decade-plus ago quick New York/LA run, Pulp announced their “This Is What We Do For An Encore” tour of North America, covering a few extra cities this time. There wasn’t any chance I’d be missing this possible last chance at a bucket list band.
Despite being a huge Nation Of Ulysses fan and a casual fan of more of Ian Svenonius’ bands over the years, I’ve never seen him live before. Escape-ism is the pair of Svenonius with Sandi Denton on bass and keyboard (and a handheld cassette recorder at one point). Know as a frontman for the longest time, Svenonius also played guitar throughout the set to varying degrees even if he had a mic in the hand at all times looking to break free. Escape-ism played a somewhat quick set, focused heavily on drum machine beats and came off with a strong Suicide vibe.
After a quick changeover, the lights dimmed and a series of projections informed us this is the 552nd Pulp show. As the band made some noise to open in the darkness, Jarvis Cocker worked his way to the dark platform in the back as the band started into “I Spy” from Pulp’s biggest album Different Class. At 60, Cockers still commands an audience and has all the moves he’s famous for. Between the platform towards the back and the two spaced risers up front he danced, pointed and lept his way through the 19 song set. Things leaned heavily on Different Class, but covered many songs from their run from His N Hers through their final album We Love Life with a few others sprinkled in. Following a great “Disco 2000” right away, Cocker stepped back and played some acoustic guitar in the early set. “Something Changed” was dedicated to both the late Pulp bassist Steve Mackey and hometown Chicago hero Steve Albini, who Cocker had worked with in his solo albums.
As mentioned, the set leaned pretty heavy on Different Class which had Pulp’s biggest hits over here in the US. From a triumphant “F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.” to a grooving “Monday Morning”. After a great pair of His ‘n’ Hers classics, the band quietly after playing We Love Life’s “Sunrise”. If you weren’t paying attention for a minute like myself, you wouldn’t have noticed that the band left and returned for the first encore. The three-song encore closed with Pulp’s biggest hit, “Common People,” which they extended for Cocker to go around and introduce the band. After the death of Mackey, the band consists of longtime members Candida Doyle on keyboards, Nick Banks on drums and Mark Webber on guitar. Current touring members Andrew McKinney, Emma Smith, and Adam Betts all joined last year and did a great job of filling in the songs and doing justice to them.
After another break and a chunk of the audience thought the show was over, Pulp returned. In a surprise move, they made the live debut of a brand new song called Spike Island. Whether or not this means we’ll see more new Pulp material in the future, it was great to hear something new that fit right into the catalog. After an energetic “Razzmatazz” they closed with a great version and perfect closer of This Is Hardcore‘s “Glory Days” before leaving the stage.
It’s probably safe to assume this could be the last time Pulp tours the US. If that’s true, they went out on an incredibly high note showing they can put on a commanding performance after being a band for over 40 years at this point. Well worth the journey wherever you’re coming from.
