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Post Info TOPIC: Barbican Hall London 1997
Ian


Quantum Theorist

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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I've just found an old CDR from years ago and had a listen to discover that it is part of Pulp's performance at the Barbican Hall on 21st October 1997. Unfortunately, "Help The Aged" is missing and "This is Hardcore" is cut off before the end. Also, the quality is pretty poor (but certainly listenable). I'm not sure if this has been shared before but it's certainly an interesting performance for the following reasons:

  • It was Pulp's only live performance in 1997
  • These are the debut performances of "This is Hardcore" and "Seductive Barry" (then known as "Love Scenes"), the album was still a good few months away at the time
  • The band were joined by Antony Genn (guitar and bass), Gavin Bryars (piano) and the English Chamber Orchestra

Download



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Eamonn


The Only Way is Down

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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Nice one, is the source Sturdy's crappy dictaphone from the back of the hall? It was around this time his book was taking shape, I think he's said.

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Ian


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Barbican Hall London 1997
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I am not sure, the CDR is not labelled but I'd say it either came from Sturdy or Mike Siou

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SarahAWilson


Legendary

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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Oh my days. I didn't even know there was a live recording of this. Kind of good timing given that this was the Lamont Young concert and now Jarvis is on this minimalist programme. I would have been at this concert, but I had to go and see a play for my Theatre Studies A Level. : (

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Sturdy


The Only Way is Down

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Yep, my recording! I was so annoyed to find that I'd set the dictaphone to the wrong speed so it only caught half of the performance. Got the best bit though - I don't think there was anything particularly outstanding about the version of Help the Aged. It was interesting seeing how the line-up worked - for Seductive Barry Steve was on some kind of sampler / mixer unit while Genn played bass. Bit of chat from Jarvis before HTA - something like "it's me father's birthday today so this is for him, not that he deserves it".

This recording pointed towards This Is Hardcore being something much more interesting and scary than it actually was, in my opinion - I listened to the recording quite a bit in the months before the album came out and it seemed very edgy and mysterious.

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superchob


Street Operator

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RE: Barbican Hall London 1997
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Sturdy wrote:

This recording pointed towards This Is Hardcore being something much more interesting and scary than it actually was, in my opinion - I listened to the recording quite a bit in the months before the album came out and it seemed very edgy and mysterious.

Jumped right in on the back of this recommendation, thanks. See what you mean, more so with SB. I've always liked the production on the title track, but there are some interesting melodies in the outro that it'd be ace to hear worked-up. I wonder if that's because they have the potential to work better, or if the injection of a little otherness into something I'm so familiar with is seductive? Getting old and wanting to experience a facet of my youth again as new...



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Sturdy


The Only Way is Down

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I wasn't necessarily saying I thought those performances were better than the record. More the context - just those two tracks on a murky bootleg from a strange art house event was another world from the sometimes rather average rock music that keeps them company on the album.

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Eamonn


The Only Way is Down

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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The I'm A Man demo is going to knock the socks off the proper version when we finally hear it, shorn of all the trudgi/sludginess. Should be great.

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saw119


The Only Way is Down

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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Thanks for sharing, haven't heard these before. Seductive Barry in particular is an interesting listen. Imagine if TiH had sounded like these two all the way through. My interest tails off dramatically at the end of side one sadly.

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Sleeve


Loss Adjuster

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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That's what I'd expected the final album to sound like. I'd heard the title track and thought we'd be in for something really different. Steve had brought in some strong Portishead influences and there was all this talk of the album being 'cutting edge' and more technology oriented- more in line with Massive Attack and the other 'P' band's then recent efforts. Then I heard 'A Little Soul' and felt quite deflated. I've never been as keen on the album because of that let down. It looked really stylish, the launch party certainly was, the title track was good then we got some fairly trite MOR guitar tracks with a few interesting flourishes. The Professional should have been on there at least (at least it made it to the LP version). Very interesting to hear those recordings though, thank you.

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Fuss Free


Hardcore

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Barbican Hall London 1997
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Thanks for the links. This is interesting.

I know TIH gets a lot of stick around here but to be honest when I get the urge to listen to Pulp (which isn't very often anymore, if I am being honest), TIH is the album I most typically reach for. I still -feel- it when I listen it, whereas DC and HnH have grown so familiar that they just fade into background noise now.

Its also an album I think is ripe for re-assessment. Everybody always talks about how TIH is an album about celebrity and the death of britpop and all that, but I've never viewed it that way at all and I think that's a massive misread. For me, TIH has always been an album about toxic masculinity, and I think as such it is absolutely brilliant. The demos from the Deluxe Edition massively support my case (err... Can I have my Balls Back Please, My Erection, Modern Marriage). And what could be more appropriate to our modern times than a theme album about toxic masculinity, crunching guitar and all.

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