Pulp at the O2 in London - You Deserve More

I am a huge Pulp fan, and I've been following them since 1995 when Common People was released. I vividly remember hearing the song for the first time on the radio one evening and I was hooked, but I didn't catch the song or artist's name. The next day I had a school trip and I spent the whole coach journey listening to Radio 1 on my personal stereo hoping that they would play it again. I finally heard it again on the way home, and I went straight out and bought the single! Oh back in the old days, before you could just search up a song that you liked in Spotify and listen to it on repeat. 

Each of their albums brings back memories of the time in my life when I listened to it over and over. "Different Class" was my mid-teenage years, "This is Hardcore" when I was a bit more grown up. The album "We Love Life" released in October 2001 was the soundtrack to my final year at university. Then Pulp disappeared for years, and I was busy having babies when they released the single "After You" in 2013, so I completely missed it until a few years ago when it popped up on a Spotify playlist.

Their new album "More" was released a couple of weeks ago, and I bought a copy even though I don't own a CD player. I have a small collection of their albums and singles so I wasn't going to miss owning a physical copy! I love it, it's a perfect selection of tracks, a mixture upbeat dancy ones and more reflective songs. There are loads of call backs to their previous songs in the lyrics which I love to spot. I don't know what it is about Pulp songs that I love so much but I think it's that each one tells a story.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to see them at the O2 on Saturday, and it was just amazing. We arrived and parked early at the O2, and although it was busy there were only a few fans milling about. We took the tube to Stratford for a few hours for a wander around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a place that has many happy memories. Then there was a brilliant change in atmosphere when we returned and the fans were out in full force. I wore my tour T-shirt from when we saw them in Sheffield two years ago and saw so many other people in the same one which made me happy! The atmosphere really was electric.

You can find the full setlist here - Pulp at the O2, June 14th 2025. The set was split into two halves with an unusual and yet convenient 15 minute interval. They began with "Spike Island" which was the first single from the new album, then a couple of other new songs before moving on to some of the old  favourites like "Disco 2000", "Sorted for E's and Wizz". We had amazing seats close to the front on the side. I swear Jarvis pointed right at me when he arranged to meet me at 2 o'clock by the fountain down the road!

The second half began with an acoustic version of one of my favourites "Something Changed" and then ramped up through the hits until the finale "Common People". I can't think of many better feelings than to be stood dancing and shouting along to a song with a whole stadium of people that know every word. I was totally immersed in the music, and I had tears in my eyes at the end! The encore was "A Sunset" which is the final song on the new album, and I really hope that I'm not reading too much into the lyrics about things coming to and end.

It was such a great show, I came home and wanted to watch it all over again. 

If you want to read a far better written review of the show, then I think this review from The Standard is perfect - Pulp at the O2 review: greatest gig of the summer so far? 

We have a few more gigs still to come this summer, but I can't see how they can beat this one!