Pulp are planning a comeback: Jarvis Cocker, the band’s frontman, recently confirmed that there will be reunion shows in 2023. In addition, the group will reformat.
Cocker shared a 15-second clip on Instagram on July 20, showing the line “What exactly do you do for an encore?” from the song “This Is Hardcore.” This caused fans to speculate about a possible Pulp reunion. At a book event for his new work “Good Pop, Bad Pop” on July 25, he finally explained the post. He deliberately wrote the message in a cryptic way: “It’s a line from ‘This Is Hardcore’… Next year Pulp will be playing some concerts,” he said.
Drummer Nick Banks then shared a tweet and revealed more information about the planned concerts. He wrote: “Hey guys, unsurprisingly things have gone a little crazy here. Details of the gig will be announced in due course. Keep calm, hug your pulp records and dream of going crazy sometime in 2023.”
Next question on THAT Instagram post from last week. JC: “It was deliberately cryptic. It’s a line from This Is Hardcore… Next year Pulp are going to play some concerts!”
HUGE APPLAUSE!!!
— Acrylic Afternoons (@AcrylcAftrnoons) July 25, 2022
The last pulp reunion took place in November 2010. At the time the line-up consisted of Cocker (vocals, guitar), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Nick Banks (drums), Steve Mackey (electric bass) and Mark Webber (guitar). They played a number of shows including a now legendary surprise concert at Glastonbury and a headlining performance at Reading & Leeds in 2011.
They have not performed together since December 2012, when they played a homecoming concert in Sheffield and two shows aboard the SS Coachella Cruise. They also stopped releasing new music after their 2012 single “After You,” which was produced by James Murphy.
In 2015 Cocker likened pulp to “a dormant volcano”. He explained, “You can be like, ‘Wow, he’s sleeping,’ and then the next day your house is gone because he broke out.”