Pulp brought in the New Year in Edinburgh last night with a live show in front of thousands of revellers at the Princes Street Hogmanay concert.
The Britpop legends played their first show in the Scottish capital in 20 years in a show that was organised by the City of Edinburgh Council, alongside UniqueAssembly.
The band played two sets, one each side of midnight, separated by the traditional fireworks show at the stroke of 12. It was the 30th anniversary of the Princes Garden Street Party.
An unashamed joy to see Common People performed for the first ever time with a bagpipe accompaniment. And hearing Lipgloss, for the first time live this millennium, and Monday Morning. And all power to Jarvis for powering through at what must be a horrendous time for him ❤️ #Pulp https://t.co/S1bbK5fQ4D pic.twitter.com/uMjTHactqs
— Ross Maclean (@ross_maclean) January 1, 2024
Well that was different seeing in New Year’s day watching peerless Pulp in Edinburgh, alongside spectacular firework displays. pic.twitter.com/f35baXxiSX
— Mike Hunter (@MikeeDeedee) January 1, 2024
Writing about the show on their Instagram page, Pulp said: “Is this the light of a new age dawning? Let’s hope so.”
“Thank you, people of Edinburgh, for celebrating Hogmanay with us. 2023 was amazing. When Pulp decided to play some concerts again, we could’ve never imagined that it would be like this. And now there’s a whole new year ahead of us. Looking forward to seeing you next summer in Europe, and hopefully beyond. Let’s all meet up in the year 2024. Live on & look after each other.”
The band played songs from across their career, including the tour debuts of their 1993 single ‘Lipgloss’ and ‘Monday Morning’, the penultimate song on their classic 1995 album ‘Different Class’.
They rounded out their second set with a special version of ‘Common People’, accompanied by two bagpipers.
The show was the last scheduled gig of the band’s reunion tour, although drummer Nick Banks revealed to NME that more may come from the band in 2024. “It’s the last scheduled thing we’ve got. Hopefully we’ll have more to announce for next year but I don’t know how much I can say at this moment in time, sorry! It’s classified. I’m looking forward to whatever 2024 may bring.”
Pulp have been touring all over the world; they recently visited Argentina, where they played ‘Joyriders’ and ‘Bad Cover Version’ for the first time in 11 years in November. They also visited Mexico earlier that month to debut their new song ‘Background Noise’.
In December, they played in Hong Kong, with Jarvis Cocker ploughing on despite having broken two ribs earlier in the day.
The show brings a difficult year for the band to an end, after their bassist Steve Mackey passed away aged 56 in March.