As the lights dimmed, lasers projected green words onto a black curtain hanging over the stage. “Do you think this is funny?” We laughed. “Do you want to see a dolphin?” We sniggered. And then: “Do you remember the first time?” We screeched!
Behind the curtain Jarvis Cocker sang the first words: “You say you wanna go home? Cause he’s sitting on his own again this evening…” His voice was crisp and unencumbered by age. We held our breath for the first siting of the spindly God of Britpop who ran to the front of the stage as the curtain exploded and sung the chorus, “Do you remember the first time?”
We remembered. And we kept remembering as the band largely consisting of the original members (Mark Webber on guitar, Candida Doyle on keyboards, Steve Mackey on bass and Nick Banks on the drums ) took us down memory lane: Joyriders, Pencil Skirt, Something Changed, The Fear, Underwear, I spy, Sorted for E’s And Whizz…
Cocker’s 46-year-old energy was magnificent and there was no need to use his age as justification for an anticipated mellow performance. He wiggled hips, ran around with heels on (which he changed after the third song because of “the danger”), and jumped atop speakers.
1995’s album Different Class provided much of the repertoire but songs from His ‘n’Hers and This is Hardcore were given a run as well.
The most spine tingling moment of the night was when Cocker sprang on a speaker: “Let’s blow the roof off.” Common People had us punching the air and shouting “You will never understand” to the daddy’s princess with so much conviction you would think roaches climbed over all our walls. Like A Friend and Party Hard followed the encore and the evening was finished off by Misshapes.
The set list was perfect, the nostalgia intoxicating and the band, exactly the same as in their prime – fucking sensational.
LOVED: The x-rated thoughts in my head whenever Jarvis did, well, anything
HATED: The fact that i wasn’t the speaker Jarvis humped.
DRANK: Beer.
