Britpop stars Pulp brought a colourful close to night one of TRNSMT in what was their first show in Scotland for over a decade.
Crowds were teased with a lengthy introduction with captions on a screen reading: “This is a night you will remember for the rest of your life. You are about to see the 529th concert by Pulp. This performance is an encore. An encore happens because the crowd wants more.”
The band, fronted by Jarvis Cocker, surprised fans at the end of 2022 by announcing a run of shows this summer at festivals and outdoor gigs across the UK.
Arriving on stage to I Spy, from their 1995 album Different Class, Cocker was elevated on via a stage lift. He said: “Thank you for being here. It’s really boring without an audience. We did it the other day, it’s called a rehearsal.
“We’re not going to do a rehearsal. We’re going to do the real thing. We are Pulp, you are Glasgow. We are going to spend some time together this evening. This is the furthest north we’ve ever been.”
Afterwards, he got the crowd to clap the first three distinctive bars of the much-loved hit Disco 2000. Two more songs from Different Class followed with Mis-Shapes and Something Changed.
Cocker spoke to fans, asking them: “What’s this festival like then? It seems okay.” Pointing to some fans in the crowd wearing pink rubber gloves, Cocker said: “There’s some people with pink hands over there,” following which the band played Pink Glove from His n Hers.
Cocker told the crowd about the first gig the band played in Glasgow in 1992 to 30 or 40 people at King Tut’s in the city. He said: “Things have changed 31 years later,” and followed up with Do You Remember the First Time?
Cocker also revealed it was former Beatle Ringo Starr’s 83rd birthday and asked the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to him. The band also played much loved hits such as Babies and Sorted for E’s and Whizz.
Closing the set was perhaps the band’s most well-known song Common People, accompanied with pink and orange fireworks.
Cocker said: “I know how you feel, I mean there’s really not such a thing as a common person as you well know, but for argument’s sake, if there is such a thing then we are the common people as well.”
George Ezra, The View and One Direction star Niall Horan also played the main stage on Friday. On Saturday, indie band Kasabian will take to the festival’s main stage and Sam Fender will headline.
The 1975 will close the festival, taking place at Glasgow Green, on Sunday.
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