Secret Meeting score: 88
by Philip Moss
On 31st December 2017, Jarvis Cocker hosted his final Sunday Service show on BBC 6 Music – a slot he has held for the last eight years – and stated, ‘It’s not goodbye… just farewell’. Three months later, with just half an hour’s notice, but after a teeny bit of teasing through his personal Instagram account a couple of days earlier, seven tiny UK shows were put on sale, titled ‘JARV IS…’
According to the minimal press release, ‘JARV is a work in progress. JARV is an experiment. JARV is a live experience with no barriers’.
Just three weeks later, Jarv is on the tiny stage at Manchester’s Deaf Institute. And those who were fans of his weekly radio slot, as well as those that have loved his musical outputs over the years, were in for a treat. The gig could very easily have been billed as Mr Cocker’s Radio Roadshow- as the performance carried bucket loads of the usual wit, humour, discussion points and eclectic music that he’s been known to serve up over the last decade of broadcasting.
Opening his show with the densely macabre, Sometimes, Jarv – with his back to the audience, but holding a shaving mirror aloft – ploughed through a new cut that was very much reminiscent of a period of his life that I’m sure he would not want to revisit. Its krautrock strut and distorted spoken vocals meaning it would fit perfectly onto This Is Hardcore. His voice every bit as downright lusty as on the title track from the aforementioned 1996 record. His demeanour every bit the gangly, mesmeric caricature you’d expect.
The Steve Albini produced, “Further Complications” (taken from the album of the same name), rocked even harder than it does on record – providing even more opportunity for Jarv to gyrate his way through his famed daddy long legs impression.
Of the new songs, the undisputed highlight was Must I Evolve? A six minute slab of Velvet Underground evoking art rock – complete with Emma Smith’s raging violin part that’s every bit as angry as John Cale’s performance on Heroin – and a vocal melody that could easily be taken Scott Walker’s mesmeric fourth album. Cocker’s songbook is littered with magnificently poetic pieces of writing but, even on first listen, it felt like it could be placed up there with the very best works from his illustrious 35 year career.
In between each of the eleven songs, Jarv offered up various facts related to the show’s date (3rd April), recalling events from the past, quotes from famous people who’d celebrated birthdays on this day (including Jane Goodall, Marlon Brando and Eddie Murphy), before drawing a gasp by mentioning that not only was it former UKIP leader, Nigel Farage’s birthday, but that he had been shocked to find out that he is six months younger than him! And, after a discussion on the evolution of man, and him questioning what’s next for the human race, the bubblegum pop of Fat Children (from 2002’s The Jarvis Cocker Record) offered an ironic sing-a-long moment.
Closing the main set with Running The World, he stated it was ‘now twelve years old, and it shouldn’t still be so relevant, but it is and more so than ever!’ Then, after a brief interlude, he returned for the encore and brought the evening to a close with a hidden gem from Pulp’s back catalogue – the wonderful b-side, His N Hers, taken from The Sisters EP.
The easy option – which I’m sure would please his accountant – would be to reform Pulp, not play new material at tiny shows. But, at 54, Jarvis has clearly still got a lot to say, plus the drive and ambition to bring it to fruition, and the desire to do things his way on his terms. And the decision to ask the audience to ‘be in the moment’ and keep their phones in the pocket was also an inspired one. The performance may have been an ‘experiment’ and a ‘work in progress’, but why would you want to watch it through your camera phone when you’ve got one of alternative music’s most interesting, enigmatic and intellectual characters right in front of you?
Want to give us some feedback? Come say hi on social media…
