Hah, I wondered what Ian would have to say about this, had to search for the board to find out - iirc he's a huge Walker fan. I'm listening late, and just radio, but it's superb so far.

-- Edited by Ste on Wednesday 26th of July 2017 12:53:24 AM

It was a very enjoyable performance but over all too soon (an hour and and a quarter, damn curfew and tubes. Although it had been a long day, had a job interview first thing and then work).

Each of the four artists did two songs each, (Jarvis boldly opening with Boy Child), then round twice more again one song at a time each. The orchestra were arguably the real stars, incredible performances.

Little Things (That Keep Us Together) got Jarvis' biggest cheer. It helped that the orchestra capitalised on its upbeat nature with gusto. It also relied on a bit of Cocker-shimmying and some backing vocalists.

I'm relieved that the first review I've seen this morning, from the Evening Standard praise Jarvis' performance in particular. Maybe it was my vantage point (behind and up high) but I actually felt a bit sorry for Jarvis. Not only a daunting task to begin with - deciding to cover songs of his hero, a man with one of the best voices in 20th century popular music; but also doing so in the company of singing powerhouses such as Susanne Sundfor, John Grant and Hawley who all have more vocal reserves to draw upon and more range in the case of the first two (Hawley had to rely on his gravelly brute force a little bit). Not to mention competing with the vast sound of the orchestra. This all meant that he struggled a little at times in comparison, I felt.
Of course JC's creativity with phrasing and having more subtlety than just belting a tune out is appreciated by all of us on here but maybe gets lost a bit with the non-Pulp fan.

I also thought the receptions given to Grant and Hawley, when the singers re-emerged each time to do their next song, were warmer and louder than for Jarvis. I don't know if that's to do with the widespread respect Hawley and Grant both enjoy for having found solo success later in life and/or that their work is perceived as more relevant than that strange bloke who used to be a popstar.
Maybe it was due to the crowd being quite middle-aged but I just got a vibe of the irritation some people have towards Jarvis (for what? Acting silly on stage sometimes? Giving his opinion in the media when he's asked for it?) and that Hawley, who did the small amount of speaking on behalf of all the singers, is somehow more earthy and genuine. Evidenced in his thanking of the crowd on behalf of all the singers at the end with his working-men's club like-quip ''thanks to Jarvis, Susanne, John...and I've been Susan'' (admittedly a good one and I'm pretty sure I've heard him use it before).

Sat behind the stage up high, it was noticeable how Jarvis looked more self-conscious and gawky coming on and off the stage than the cool-as-fuck swagger he emanates with Pulp/solo. It was interesting to see the different dynamics at work.

I'm not sure if he was still beardless, I forgot my glasses and as mentioned, was looking at the back of the singers heads.

Anyone who went, did you manage to get that white and blue A4 fold-out booklet that had the setlist and info on Scott? I couldn't find one anywhere, (they weren't included with the other programme of events material pre-placed on the seats either, were they on sale in the foyer?) but people around me had them so I was fighting the urge to sneak a peek at what songs were coming up next. A personal disappointment was the lack of Always Coming Back To You, from Scott 1, probably my favourite song from those albums.

I was also hoping that Jarvis would get to do ''The Old Man's Back Again'' after the great live rendition he did with Air a few years ago, but Hawley nabbed that one. The bass guitar on that song is insanely good and the bassist from the little band that accompanied Hawley with the orchestra did a fine job. I felt Richard also, a couple of times, found some of the lyrics a mouthful to intone effectively, when he did they sounded like mumbles.
Grant was the most at ease vocally in all, though perhaps his songs weren't as difficult/ambitious. Also, Richard always had his guitar with him (where to put one's hands without it?!), but its presence, drowned-out in most parts by the cacophony of instruments behind him, was only fully unleashed at the end of the encore song, Get Behind Me, when he let loose with the amazing fretwork he's capable of.

Anyway, it was a great idea to put this on (at the end Richard poignantly said something like ''realistically, this probably won't happen again - to Scott!'') and they could have done another 16 songs using other Scott 1-4 material and I think most of us would have lapped it up. What a talent that man had/has. Apparently he was in attendance, according to Nick's Twitter (who was also there).

Eamonn wrote:

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I'm not sure if he was still beardless, I forgot my glasses and as mentioned, was looking at the back of the singers heads.

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 Yes, beardless.  Well mostly; looked like he has the grey five o'clock shadow.

 

Eamonn wrote:

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Anyone who went, did you manage to get that white and blue A4 fold-out booklet that had the setlist and info on Scott? I couldn't find one anywhere, (they weren't included with the other programme of events material pre-placed on the seats either, were they on sale in the foyer?) but people around me had them so I was fighting the urge to sneak a peek at what songs were coming up next. A personal disappointment was the lack of Always Coming Back To You, from Scott 1, probably my favourite song from those albums. 

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 No, but I saw a few with thick wads of them getting on the tube at South Kensington.  Probably on eBay.

One for Panther and Maidmarian here, he promises to brush his hair!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW94X-xAlA8/?taken-by=jarvisbransoncocker

I'm still only half way through listening, I keep getting interrupted when trying to hide away with the iplayer. I am looking forward to the TV version tomorrow night.

If it's going spare I'll gladly pay P&P and the price of a coffee for it.

Eamonn wrote:

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If it's going spare I'll gladly pay P&P and the price of a coffee for it.

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 I don't live in the UK so it might be a little pricey (around 5 £) but if that's alright let me know your adress and I'll send it to you :) 

Thank you Fran, you know what we like!

Loved the concert. Everyone was great. Was very elegantly done, too.