- 30/05/22
It was a night of homecoming for
Sheffield’s Mr Cocker. Arriving on the Crucible stage, armed with a full bin liner and
framed by those big specs, he presented a night of nostalgia, humour and love
for the city that made him great.
There to talk about his latest
book, Good Pop, Bad Pop, Jarvis was being interviewed to a sold-out
crowd who couldn’t be happier to have him home in Sheffield. The book is a sort
of inventory- he raided his loft in his East London apartment in lockdown, a
raid he hadn’t undertook since he moved in the 80s. He goes through many an item, describing and decoding its significance to him.
The bin bag of props would tell
the irreverent and quintessentially working-class birthing of Pulp. From a second-hand
exercise book sketching out the Pulp uniform and manifesto, to a matchbox containing
the last remnants of original Imperial Leather soap, the seemingly random assortment
shows Jarvis’ passion for what Pulp would and did become; he drew a vision at 15
and it, in all its weird glory, came true.
His songs tell of the beautiful
comedy in the ordinary and that’s exactly what the night was. He spoke of
Sheffield’s resilience in the age of Thatcher, the nightlife that educated him musically,
and the firm devotion of the women that raised him. He highlighted the whimsy
and shadowed the bleak- his lyrical storytelling, and his Yorkshire drawl
juxtaposing like the themes in his art.
The Q&A section at the end of
the talk turned into a superfan session, as to be expected from his hometown. People
of all sorts were bursting with (sometimes stalker-like) confessions of true
fans. Despite Jarvis looking uncomfortable at times (which added hilarity), it was lovely to see such
an enthusiastic crowd, all happy to be there in times where we’ve been kept
apart.
It was a great night, the crowd
was happy and our speaker was happy. His mum was there and he showed photos she
wouldn’t have seen. It proved the Crucible’s power as a theatre- the power to
harness delicate intimacies and large jokes and themes with great success. I’m proud to be
a part of it, however small that part is.
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