As the live orchestra begin to etch out their opening notes at Castlefield Bowl, a message beams out from the stage. “This is a night you will remember for the rest of your lives”, it reads.
For those Pulp fans who have waited some 20 long years since the band's last gig in Manchester, it’s a dead cert.
The alt rockers who rode the crest of the Britpop wave in the 1990s are back out on this reunion tour, aptly titled This is What We Do for an Encore. As the big screens further explains, an "encore is what happens because the crowd wants more".
