Agreed about the O2 Ian and I thought it had just the right amount of people there, to get to and from the bar without any hassle and still get a decent view of the stage.  I'm in two minds about having a massive venue that's not filled with enough people to detract from the vibe.  O2 was a good atmosphere because people were clearly there to watch Pulp and thankfully not too many people looking at their phones instead of the band, or at least not where I was.  The lighting was good too, so that the main focal point was the stage.  It was the same for when I saw Pulp in Amsterdam, albeit with a slightly smaller venue than the O2 (or it seemed the case).  It helped that Pulp had loads of energy for both and the gigs were fantastic.  In comparison when I saw the Manics in the Brighton Centre a few years ago, the lighting was too bright and really showed how empty the standing area was and reflecting on that now, I think to an embarrassing level.  There weren't too many people singing along to their then new songs either, which really put a dampener on the gig.  I went to the Birmingham NEC earlier for another this year too and although the standing area wasn't packed, the lighting made all the difference to the atmosphere.  Not knowing any of the US venues, I'm sure Pulp will smash it anyway - of course they will.  For 2026, I'd be happy with a few other locations across the UK - but frankly, I'd see them again anywhere as long as they continue with the same energy!

Yeah, I can see how the tickets were the price they were given the numbers of people on stage and all of the props and screens.
Were the tickets pricier in the US and Canada maybe with having to ship a lot of gear etc. Isn't travel to the US down in general this year? Perhaps that's a bit of it. 

Last year they left the string section at home (Emma was the string section!), as well as most of the multimedia. I expect they'll do something similar this year, especially in light of the weak sales.

And while they did sell 5,000 tickets in Toronto, I suspect they sold them to around 3,500 people, many of whom attended both shows (that's a wild guess based on no actual information).

If it's practical to change venues, it could happen. It probably isn't, so deep discounts on tickets are almost certain. They'll want as many people as possible inside buying merch and creating a fun atmosphere. A 2/3 empty venue is not fun. And I'm sure venues and promoters want a full house buying the $20 beers.

Pulp Friction wrote:

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Last year they left the string section at home (Emma was the string section!), as well as most of the multimedia. I expect they'll do something similar this year, especially in light of the weak sales.

And while they did sell 5,000 tickets in Toronto, I suspect they sold them to around 3,500 people, many of whom attended both shows (that's a wild guess based on no actual information).

If it's practical to change venues, it could happen. It probably isn't, so deep discounts on tickets are almost certain. They'll want as many people as possible inside buying merch and creating a fun atmosphere. A 2/3 empty venue is not fun. And I'm sure venues and promoters want a full house buying the $20 beers.

-- Edited by Pulp Friction on Wednesday 27th of August 2025 10:12:50 PM

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Your wild guess has some merit. 5 of us attended both nights and I did see others both nights. 
Know the next Toronto show will be empty is heart breaking. 

Oof, what a fantastic opening setlist for the US tour!

My Sex finally gets its post-album debut. Weirdly, it's only ever been performed live in North America?!

Lipgloss, Help The Aged in the same set for the first time since....ever?!

www.setlist.fm/setlist/pulp/2025/tabernacle-atlanta-ga-4346a337.html

OU, Lippy and Aged in the one go are the holy trinity for me - key singles from their respective eras but criminally under-represented by that bad man C0cker's usual choices.

Eamonn wrote:

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Tiny Desks session incoming, apparently.

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 That'll be ace.

Being in North America hasnt provided me many chances to see PULP, so I dont have much to compare to but tonights Toronto show was the best PULP Ive seen (seen them 6 times), if not one of the best concerts overall.

They seemed genuinely happy, they sounded fantastic, the setlist was amazing, the crowd was fully into it, and the little variations in the instrumentals were great plus I finally got to hear Seconds live!

Hopefully they'll be this good for the rest of the U.S. tour so others get to experience it too.

Amazing!!!

They've never, ever, flaunted His 'N' Hers enough. Their best album, and they treat it a bit like it's minor Pulp pop juvenilia and that everything started with Different Class. So I'm delighted to see Lipgloss, Joyriders, Acrylic Afternoons, and Seconds all being played in North America.

I think there should always be 4-6 songs from His 'N' Hers and Intro, taken together, played every night. Babies & DYRTFT? will always be played, but there should be more too. Otherwise you aren't getting the full Pulp experience. Different Class is the 'iconic pop breakthrough', This Is Hardcore is the 'artistic masterpiece', etc, and they're both great records, but His 'N' Hers is even better, so, erm, yah booh sucks with a raspberry on top, I suppose. But they should be prouder of it!

Nick said they'd rehearsed both Have You Seen Her Lately? and She's A Lady all the way back in 2023! So, erm, can we have those, please? Also My Legendary Girlfriend, which we know for a fact they've also rehearsed. His 'n' Hers would give Jarvis some fun, too...

Not my first time but the first time in 13 years! Show was a blast, too tired to say much more. Bob Dylan is in town with Farm Aid and Jarvis regaled us with things he was going to say to Bob Dylan if he ran into him, including a story about falling on his his ass in a Trader Joes because his shoes were wet. I wasnt expected the pics of them when they were younger playing in the background and Ill admit I cried lol. Perfect band as always

Cool. How did you manage to rip the other one with the live session?

@Tricia - glad you had a great time. Looking at the setlist, Grown-Ups made its US debut (i guess the radio session was a hint) as a sub for Slow Jam and Partial Eclipse came in for Farmers Market. In the encore, Joyriders was played.

Weird that the first two songs of More to be performed Iive and make us think a new album could possibly, incredibly, (surely not?) be on the cards - Hymn Of The North and Background Noise, have barely been heard live since their initial debuts in 2023.

I kind of understand it with Hymn, it's quite an ambitious ballad and probably needs more rehearsal time than most songs (and the string section) but it is a shame.

While I think Background Noise has the most immediate chorus on the record and might have been a single. Really surprised that's been dropped.

Maybe they're holding one of these back for the Mercury's ceremony...

Of course Tina has been a single and that's not been played at all in the US. I guess Pulp just have too many goddamn songs and choices to make. Swapping three or so in and out is probably fair enough - they're a 9-piece so it's more to coordinate. And back in the day, they werent any less conservative with setlist changes mid-tour, were they? One or two on rotation more or less.

A positive review and photos from Minneapolis here 

Violin Thing wrote:

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Man Comes Around - listed on setlist from last night but not played. New song perhaps?

-- Edited by Violin Thing on Tuesday 23rd of September 2025 12:55:54 PM

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 You meant Dyrtft? It is "Do You Remember The First Time." They always use DYRTFT on their setlist. I wish they have new songs too.

lucyduck wrote:

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Violin Thing wrote:

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Man Comes Around - listed on setlist from last night but not played. New song perhaps?

-- Edited by Violin Thing on Tuesday 23rd of September 2025 12:55:54 PM

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 You meant Dyrtft? It is "Do You Remember The First Time." They always use DYRTFT on their setlist. I wish they have new songs too.

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 Nah, setlist said

Lipgloss/Man Comes Around

Mysterious 

The wiki says "'Man Comes Around' appeared on the printed setlist as an alternative to Lipgloss. It is uncertain whether this is a new song or a Johnny Cash cover."

Can you really see them playing a Johnny Cash cover between "The Fear" and "Help the Aged"? Me neither.

One possible explanation is that they have finished the untitled instrumental that was recorded during the "More" sessions and this is the title.

Ian wrote:

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The wiki says "'Man Comes Around' appeared on the printed setlist as an alternative to Lipgloss. It is uncertain whether this is a new song or a Johnny Cash cover."

Can you really see them playing a Johnny Cash cover between "The Fear" and "Help the Aged"? Me neither.

One possible explanation is that they have finished the untitled instrumental that was recorded during the "More" sessions and this is the title.

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They've been touring for 9 months now since More was in the can. Plenty of time to have written 3 or 4 new ones in rehearsals and sound checks, especially the rich creative vein they appear to be at the moment (Jarvis pre-reformation too)

Eamonn wrote:

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Fingers crossed. Writing on-tour and road-testing seems to be an environment that Jarvis has learned to thrive-on.

Maybe taking a break from the band and reconvening "cold" a year or so later puts too much pressure on new material.

Whereas we've already heard that the first spark for More came from Jarvis introducing Hymn To The North at a soundcheck/rehearsal ahead of the Sheff '23 show.

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The best way to avoid writers' block is to never break at an end, but at a middle.

In the past, they have written and performed songs on tour that would eventually appear on the next album. They were performing songs from "Separations" in 1987 before "Freaks" was even released then a couple of songs from "His 'n' Hers" in 1992. "Common People" made its live debut around a year before release along with "Underwear". "Help the Aged" was performed in 1996 and I think that "Cocaine Socialism" was written around this time too.

The only possible exception is "We Love Life" where the songs they performed seem to have been written in advance.

Eamonn wrote:

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Another Jarv US radio interview, here with KCRW:
https://tinyurl.com/htm32pze

Another hint of new material at the end!

 

Couldn't find a way to fast forward but it starts at 23 mins and runs for approx 20 minutes. Nice producing from the radio engineer. As the host discusses lyrics off More with Jarvis, they play the snippets in question from the tracks.

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I love that.  "Oh and what if a new song happens to slip out"!

ole47 wrote:

 Love the interview, I stripped and cut the audio to only Jarv part : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pua_eKKGLgF4eqvbsJEMmTuDaYg2p-Y0/view?usp=drive_link

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 Thanks! Would you mind doing similar for the radio session and interview on the other thread? If you could boost Jarvis' vox on the live songs, even better!

Here you go:

Pulp on World Cafe

Both versions are now on my website. 

Ian wrote:

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I have also been able to rip the Colorado sound interview from YouTube and upload it. 

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 Why part of the link is "****er"? Any reason? 

LCD only played one more song than Pulp, so presumably it's an equal split.

Brit Award nominations in February or whenever it is nowadays? I know that I'm not comparing like for like but The Cure were nominated last year with their first album in many years so I would say it's possible. Is Jarvis still banned from the ceremony?