Really enjoyed tonights Manchester gig; Jarvis seemed a bit drunk on stage but I think it gave the gig a little more punch!

Loved the bit where he started tying his shoelace and the band improvised what resembled a hotel lobbey sound before Jarvis invented lyrics about tying his shoelace! Brilliant!

I also loved the way he had his cane out whilst intorudicng Running The World, it really made it feel like he was lecturing us, esp. with the beard. I stayed for a drink after and the disco went down reasonably well given that it was Sunday night.

Was really hoping to see him after to finally have my photo with him but no such luck, I think he's hiding from me!!

Top gig tho Jarv, I just wish there was a bit more energy in the crowd for Fat Children, there should be a proper dance pit for that!!

And I'm a person who despises encores too, mainly because they are intended to happen, but it did work a bit better for Jarv in that the very final song mixed well with the DJs (this song by the way was really, really good!), and also he now has more than one heavier song with which to start.

I think Jarvis was lucky to do what I would consider an average-good first album, meaning the pressures not on for this one, just room for improvement which I'm confident these songs will fill.

The support was really good too, I know I should know his name but forgot!

oh and i loved the shoe lace song: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lOGWA6JESdA


and there has to be a worthy mention to the fella who requested 'My Lighthouse' - good try!

Yeah, he played it in Sheffield - what I referred to as 'bones' - sorry for the confusion! I got confused by the way it was introduced.

Jay

Anyone bored enough / know enough Jarvis to make a full list of the news songs ?

...just realised that 'Never Said' is 'Never Told You', so 'Told You Twice' musnt have been played last night...that was confusing!

"In My Eyes" sounded fantastic, almost like something that could have been released during the Separations/His N Hers era.

Any idea who supported Jarvis last night?

Yeah it was the 1990s - I have their setlist if anyone's interested. Fairly entertaining to watch - the poor security guy couldn't get rid of the setlist though so ended up just thrusting it at me.
Played another new song last night that I hadn't heard at either Sheffield or Manchester - don't know what it was called though! It was of a fairly 'heavy' nature.
No Jarvis dj set last night - not enough people stayed around apparently :(

Jay

Thanks for your answers. Really enjoyed jarvis last night, thought it was fantastic in fact. If anyone knows of any recordings of the gig i would be grateful of a heads up.

On YouTube just enter Jarvis Cocker, and then above the serach results you can chose to order the results with the most recent first.

Angela is a really good song in my opinion, really catchy base line, but it seems quite unpopular!

That song in Manc was ace, lyrics about getting lost and you did get ost in the sound! Any idea what it's called?

Manchester was great as many have mentioned. Involved a lot of travelling, lugging bags around, getting not much sleep in hostels, but just about worth it.

I hadn't seen Jarvis in 7 years. The other night I was about a foot away from him when he was chatting with fans, while trying in vain to do some mixing on the decks. I was so tempted to start a conversation with him but I didn't want to hassle him as he was getting plenty of attention. Very strange position to be in - directly in front of someone who you've spent far too much of your life listening to, reading about etc.
And he looked fantastic, considering he'd just spent the previous 90 minutes bounding about on-stage.

Anyway, as for the gig itself, it goes without saying that it was very enjoyable but reading a couple of luke-warm press reviews got me thinking. I felt, as he played another new song, how privileged I was to see my favourite artist road-testing new material. It's not something that happens very often - you probably have to go back to the Pulp fan-club gigs in 1999/2000 for the last time Jarvis tried out a host of new songs that had yet to be recorded, never mind released. And I can see how that might become a little over-bearing for the 'neutral' who had come along just for a 'night out' as a few people I spoke to at the gig, had done. "Yeah, I know bits from his first album but he's a showman so I thought I'd just come down cos I knew he'd be entertaining" was how one such person put it. And until these new songs are released and hopefully burrow themselves into the public conscience a bit more than his first album did, I think that element of finding his between-song patter being more interesting than the songs themselves will still be evident from certain quarters. Which is a shame. Because though the night was about celebrating an independent music label and the DIY ethos of arts itself (special mention to Jeffrey Lewis whose singing-along to a slide show of cute & funny comic-strip stories of Rough Trade and The Fall were great fun), Jarvis is a born pop star albeit in the most unconventional way possible. But he needs to be shining. I think he actually craves some sort of commercial success for the first time since Different Class now and with some of these new songs, I think it might be his best chance in years to achieve it. And I can see where some accusations of "plod-rock" on his first album and even of certain parts of his show (his backing band still very much appear that way, talented as they are,) are valid. In fairness though, when you're not promoting anything, and previewing a lot of new songs mixed with some material from a 2 year-old well-received if moderately-selling album, it's a challenge to keep the average punter interested for a full hour and a half.

I don't think Tonite benefitted from the token Jarvis acoustic-guitar moment, I would have kept this out for the far more sing-along friendly Heavy Weather. And I think I Will Kill Again would be so more affecting if he performed it solely at the keyboard/piano as he does on the album. These gripes aside, I think the set-list was about as perfect as you could hope for. The start of the set was weighted with plenty of new songs to illustrate the most current material, the heavier, catchier songs from the first album (Black Magic, Fat Children), interspersed with the odd ballad (Big Julie) and the quality b-side that should have been on the album (Big Stuff), all the time with strong-sounding new material being confidently added. Still leaving time for strong encores led by the two most known songs - Cunts and Don't Let Him Waste Your Time.

So, what of the new songs?

Further Complications is strident with a catchy riff but I'm still not sure if it has enough to warrant the quality mark of approval. Ditto Caucasian Blues. Verdict retained until final, recorded versions are heard.
Girls Like It Too - possibly the single that could win him a big audience. Ironically, after over-dosing on this song, I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. It's still a great three and a half minute pop song though.
Never Told You - he's certainly gone all-out to make a statement with this one. Lyrically clever if not exactly ground-breaking stuff from JC, with the distinctive guitar licks and harmonies it sounds like a band playing - a 70's heavy rock band's "serious" love song. But that indulgence works I think, hopefully it still will once we get the proper version. Strong contender for being a single I'd imagine.
Angela - Agree with those who say it shouldn't be taken too seriously. Throw-away and short of much of a tune, but fun and short too. Little bit dirgey live, hopefully it will be glossed up a bit in the studio.
Apparently - The fact that the main guitar riff seemed a carbon-copy of that on Tonite really ruined the song for me as I couldn't concentrate on it properly. Seemed to have some clever lines, but I can't recall much more of it. Will need to hear again.
In My Eyes - Yes, yes, yes. The last song of the night. And after the huge personal disappointment of not hearing my favourite new song, Told You Twice, Jarvis finished the night with something to rival it. He prefaced the song with an introduction that immediately caught everyone's attention I think "About a guy who is at a disco, dancing, when an old partner appears and he knows if he stops dancing she'll disappear again forever". Queue a fantastically wistfully under-stated disco riff from the band, a breathy spoken-word monologue from Jarvis and a simple but brilliant groove-laden chorus. It's his most Barry White moment since Legendary Girlfriend and this song could soundtrack a hundred and one tv scenes of boy and girl reigniting their passion.

So it bodes very well indeed for the imminent new lp. I hope, as I expect, he's held back at least a clutch of songs in his locker. There seems to have been 9 or 10 newies played on the tour (the 7 I think in Manchester plus Just A Fucking Song and Told You Twice, I've possibly missed one or two out); if he's got a few more as innovative and distinctly Jarvis as In My Eyes, or as well crafted as Told You Twice, or hook-laden as Girls Like It Too, we really could be in for a treat come spring.

One last note on the gig. I thought there was a good spread of ages though it would have been nice to see a bit more head-banging during the louder numbers such as Angela and Fat Children.
Great night in all though.

-- Edited by Eamonn at 01:38, 2008-12-04

Just a thought... if the new album makes it out in Spring 2009, it'll have been about 2 and a half years between the first and second solo records - about the same as the gap between Different Class and This Is Hardcore. I don't know about anyone else, but to me this seems like quite a speedy turnaround, despite the identical gap between DC and Hardcore feeling like a small eternity at the time. Odd.