Jarvis Cocker on Pulp Reunion Film, Fame and Young Fans — SkimNews
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- Garth Jennings directed "Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?" with Jarvis Cocker, a hybrid concert film and documentary the pair began developing after Jennings messaged Cocker in 2022 offering to help with the second reunion.
- Pulp filmed the live show at London's O2 Arena in summer 2025 on the night their eighth studio album "More" — their first in 24 years — hit No. 1 on the British album charts, with Cocker waving the chart trophy on stage.
- Jennings credited Abba Voyage as direct inspiration for blending live performance with storytelling; both he and Cocker attended the holographic show multiple times and used its structure as a model for giving each song context.
- The film honors bassist Steve Mackey, who died in 2023 at 56, with a tribute Cocker said was approved by Mackey's family beforehand; he called it "a hard thing to express in the right way."
- Cocker, about to turn 63, reflected on the disillusionment of the 1998 "This Is Hardcore" era — "people think fame is a magic wand" — a theme the documentary explores through a fond interview with his late mother and grandmother, plus VHS footage and material from his 2023 book "Good Pop Bad Pop."
- Recent Manchester gigs drew fans not born when Pulp first split in 2002, a phenomenon Cocker said he "can't explain" but is "happy about," as the band wraps its 2023-launched reunion tour at End of the Road and plans to regroup in October to see Abba Voyage together.
Why it matters: The documentary crystallizes Pulp's late-career comeback — a first No. 1 British album in 24 years paired with cross-generational fandom, including fans who weren't alive when the band split in 2002 — and turns it into a creative artifact. For Cocker, now 63, the project also serves as an explicit reckoning with the post-fame disillusionment he described during the divisive 1998 "This Is Hardcore" era, giving the reunion a reflective rather than nostalgic tone.
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