Jarvis Cocker @ Webster Hall - 23 April 2007

One of my big concert regrets is not ever having seen Pulp live. The first time I got any hint of how amazing their live show was was when I purchased an import of their concert film F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.I.V.E. in 1997. I used to watch that VHS tape over and over again imagining how awesome it would be to live in England and be able to go see multiple Pulp shows. Instead I lived in the southeast and had the chance to see Jimmy Buffett every year (though I never did). Needless to say, last night was somewhat of a realization of a dream in that I got to see one of my musical heroes for the very first time. Jarvis Cocker and his band did not disappoint.

In general I've found Webster Hall to be among my less favorite venues in the city but last night everything was perfect. The sound was outstanding, the bass at times out of this world. Like, move your body a few inches to the left kind of out of this world bass. But not ever too loud, just perfect. And such spot on sound is exactly what Jarvis's current music needed to come across really well in a live setting. Well, the sound and the perfectly engaging lead vocalist...

For the whole show the entire room was transfixed on Jarvis. Above you can see him reading stories to us from a book titled This is New York.

The set lasted about an hour and included every song from his recently released album (an album which, by the way, appeared at #10 on EF's Top Albums of '06). Last night we even got to hear "Black Magic", which is something the audience from Sunday night's show did not have the pleasure of seeing the band perform, and it was amazing. It was, unsurprisingly, the highlight of the show and the final song of their set.

When Jarvis and crew returned to do an encore the anticipation in the room was palpable. Pretty much everyone was wondering if they'd play any Pulp songs. The people next to me kept muttering "Common People", "Common People". Yeah right. I knew better. They obviously didn't read the internets as much as me. We were going to hear some cover songs, right? I mean, he played "Heaven" by the Talking Heads and "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath the night before. What tonight?!

Well the first song of the encore wasn't a cover. It was, in fact, the final song from Jarvis's album called "Running the World". Then Jarvis proceeded to fake everyone out by saying he'd run out of his own material and was going to play an old song. The room waited, breathless. The guitar started before the rest of the band. It sounded a bit like..."Eye of the Tiger"?! No. "Burning Down The House"? Yes, maybe. But no, Jarvis then announced that they were playing a song written by someone who lives not too far from here. A song called "State Trooper". That's when I screamed out loud - "YES!" I think I was the only person in the room familiar with the song. To that end, I've posted the original version below so you Pulp/Jarvis Cocker fans can get an idea of what Bruce's version sounds like. Jarvis and the guys started the song slowly, more true to the Nebraska version of the song, and then stretched it out into an E Street style live jam. It was honestly the perfect ending to what is sure to be one of my favorite shows of 2007.

Listen:
Jarvis Cocker - "Black Magic"
Bruce Springsteen - "State Trooper"

Visit Jarvis Cocker on MySpace.

More pictures of Jarvis Cocker (from this show) HERE.

Setlist and other pictures @ Music Snobbery.