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AAP
AAP
Lifestyle
Liz Hobday

Britpop still reigns supreme with free Pulp concert

A rousing concert by Britpop legends Pulp has helped launch Adelaide's annual arts festival. (HANDOUT/AAP)

Britpop legends Pulp have continued their triumphant return to Australia with a free concert for more than 10,000 people.

Following the band's Brisbane show, the concert in Adelaide's Elder Park on Friday night marked the start of the city's annual arts festival.

The last time Pulp played in Adelaide was October 1998 - at the 2000-capacity Thebarton Theatre.

British band Pulp with frontman Jarvis Cocker
It was a long time between drinks, with Pulp's last Adelaide gig almost 28 years ago. (HANDOUT/AAP)

"I'm looking out into the audience and you all look very young, so obviously none of you were there ... was anybody there?" frontman Jarvis Cocker asked the crowd before launching into 1994's Do You Remember the First Time?

Memories might be hazy but Cocker showed how, even in his 60s, he's still one of the most charismatic frontmen going.

The show opened with hits from the peak Britpop era, Sorted for E's & Wizz and Disco 2000, which got the crowd jumping early.

Then followed an extended frolic through some of their best-loved tunes, such as Feeling Called Love, Underwear and This is Hardcore. 

British band Pulp with frontman Jarvis Cocker
He might be 62 but Jarvis Cocker showed his audience he still has what it takes. (HANDOUT/AAP)

Tunes from their latest album, 2025's Mercury-nominated More, included Spike Island and Got to have Love.

There were nine musicians onstage and occasionally even some inflatable tube men flailing about - Cocker, too, had limbs going in all directions, using the microphone as a prop and even lying down onstage.

Towards the end of the set he read a note to the crowd - a pointed reminder that for a moment in January, this concert wasn't going to happen.

After Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was dropped from the lineup of Adelaide Writers' Week, Pulp withdrew to support a mass boycott of the event.

British band Pulp with frontman Jarvis Cocker
There seemed to be limbs going in all directions, including from inflatable tube men. (HANDOUT/AAP)

Board resignations followed and the cancellation of the 2026 event - and eventually, Pulp was back on board.

"Things are better when everyone is involved in them," said Cocker onstage, with the crowd hanging on every word.

"This song was inspired by a conversation with someone I disagreed with. So all voices are important. All voices should be heard."

The band launched into the Britpop classic Common People, with the crowd singing along and dancing ecstatically.

British band Pulp with frontman Jarvis Cocker
Friday's event was free to more than 10,000 people in Adelaide. (HANDOUT/AAP)

A free opening night concert to open the Adelaide Festival is a big and inclusive gesture, said festival director Matthew Lutton.

"We really want to start the festival every year with something that's completely accessible, multi generational and just full of adrenaline and joy," he said.

Pulp heads to Sydney and Melbourne next, where tickets start around $150.

AAP travelled to Adelaide with the assistance of event organisers.

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