Fan Club Concert, The Garage, London, 22 August 2000

So - sorry about that. It was very hard keeping my big mouth shut. Members were informed in issue 30 of Pulp People newsletter and we were glad it was a predominantly fan club crowd - that was the idea. Great to see you all there, even if I didn't get to speak to many of you in person. Thanks for coming! Cheers to all of you who sent in pics of the night, especially this one (below) from Rachel Seed - best view in the house!

Set List: Common People; Birds In the Garden; Weeds; A Little Soul; The Fear; Help The Aged; Sorted; F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.; Minnie; Something Changed; I Love Life; This Is Hardcore. Encore Sunrise; Party Hard

Howdy! Brilliant time was had by myself last night, sadly been deaf in my left ear all day (It's still whistling now) but who cares!? I loved the new tracks straight away (James Cannon)

AMAZING!  WONDERFUL!  BRILLIANT!  GORGEOUS!  Just carry on thinking of more of those kind of words. It still won't come near how much I loved Pulp at the Garage.   It was just the best anything ever!!!! Thanks so much Alex (Toni Sutton)

Just a note to say thank you so much for organizing the concert last night, I can't describe how fantastic it was. I have never been so close to the band, it was simply unbelievable. It was
brilliant...Well thank you once again, and of course to the band, they were fantastic, I
really liked all the new stuff, can't wait for the album! (Karen Melrose)

A quick e-mail to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Pulp concert at The Garage. I think it was the best concert that I have been to.  It was nice that the venue was so small (rather than needing binoculars to see the stage!) and the songs were brilliant. I am looking forward to when the new album comes out. (Vicky Haggar)
The new songs...bore out predictions from insiders that the band's new material was pitched somewhere between the darker tones of This Is Hardcore and the pop sensibilities of its predecessor Different Class (not giving much away there then! Ed.). (nme.com)

I managed to get to the gig and thought it was the best one I had seen. Pulp were brilliant. (Ros Green)

After waiting a good 2 and a half hours (plus the 4 and a half outside if you came too early like a lot of people did), the stage suddenly went silent, except for some eerie music. Suddenly four out of five of the band’s members came on, led by Candida. There was another slight pause and silence before Jarvis’ came on the stage in a typically anti-fashion beige shirt and kicking those long legs around. The crowd went wild. They broke into a rather eerie version of Common People, and as soon as Jarvis hit the chorus, the crowd went from calm to uncontrollable again. Just imagine it – 500 people or so jumping up and down singing in a tiny little venue like The Garage - it seriously amazed me how we all fitted in the place. As soon as Common People was finished, Jarvis said 'Ello’ to the audience and introduced us to one of the new songs, called The Birds In Your Garden. The song shocked me right away, mainly because most people already knew the lyrics (and due to the fact that the song was absolutely fantastic. "I don't understand why people say they're weak. They can grow anywhere, can't they? Between any bit of concrete…’’ was Jarvis’ introduction to the next new song, Weeds. Afterwards, Pulp performed some of older songs, A Little Soul, The Fear, Help The Aged, Sorted and F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E, before another new song, Minnie Timperley. Jarvis introduced this by saying "It's a song about a dream I had…’’, and ended it by saying “Well, you don’t see people with the name Minnie any more, do you? That’s because their parents think they will only grow up to ‘ere...’’ while holding his hand about a meter above the ground. Something Changed was more of an electronic version then their acoustic album version. Jarvis complained to the crowd about his finger before starting the song, by saying that it had caused him problems lately, and he Pulp continued with two new songs and one old one - I Love Life, This Is Hardcore and Sunrise. Of the three songs This Is Hardcore drew the most enthusiastic response. The song had recently been voted the Best Pulp Song In The World … Ever! in this very magazine, and Jarvis holding onto a bunch of dangling wires from the ceiling and thrusting his hips towards the audience only added to the drama of it all. Jarvis stressed that we shouldn’t blame him if the song messes up – we should ‘’blame the finger’’ instead. The set ended with Party Hard, where everyone began to dance and bang into each other. As soon it was over, Jarvis took a sip from his water bottle, waved and quickly left saying ‘’Goodnight!’?’ The other band members followed, and the crowd began to clap and yell. It had been a good night, to say the least. This concert was probably the best night of my life, a one of a kind experience, and Pulp’s performance was marvellous....(Deborah Hare)

THANK YOU to Pulp, you're the best. Fantastic as ever and it's great to see them back and looking excellent. To top it all off I want to thank Jarvis for making my trip to London (from Belfast) the best yet, playing with his fingers for nearly two minutes during F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E was a moment never to be forgotten in my life. I'm still walking on air". [Claire Forker]

Wasn't it amazing?! I thought Pulp were absolutely ace, Candida looked gorgeous, they all looked relaxed and healthy. At the end of 'The Fear' I wanted to shout out "That was ace!", but I daren't, the venue was so intimate Jarvis would have probably come over, seen this fifty-ish lady, and dedicated 'Help The Aged' to me". [Judi Borland]

Let me a say a huge thanks for the fan club gig which was excellent idea - everyone I knew who went had an amazing time. I would never have believed I would have seen Pulp so close up! [Giles Bosworth]

I can't even begin to describe how thrilled I was to be at the fan club gig...fabulous, just fabulous! [Julie Lynch]