On the Summer Solstice, Pulp’s latest arena tour had its curtain call at Manchester’s Co-op Live with a bold, visually rich show that fuses nostalgia with innovation. Featuring bespoke lighting, wacky-waving arm-flailing inflatable tube men, AI-enhanced visuals, an orchestra, and sentiment-rich design, the production celebrates the band’s legacy while pushing creative boundaries.
In keeping with the title of the band’s new album, the aim was the addition of more production and originality.
“The creative direction from the band is more about what’s artistically interesting and tells the stories in the songs,” Production Designer, Douglas Green said, recalling the project’s creative origins.
The iconic staircase, first seen during Pulp’s legendary 1995 Brixton Academy show, became the creative starting point. A bespoke curved drape, custom-dyed by Blackout, created an intimate, stripped-back setting for the final track, A Sunset, following the chaos of unofficial national anthem, Common People.
Ahead of the tour, Michael Harpur at Drawn to the Light created technical drawings, which James Sturdy developed into a Syncronorm Depence file for previsualisation. “Collaborating with the team at Drawn to the Light allows me to work at a speed and scale that’s just unachievable individually. They’re invaluable.” Green said. “Each song looks entirely different because they all sound different. Pulp’s music is full of pastiche and cultural references, so we approach each song on it’s own terms, and then locate it in the wider arc of the show, scaling it up or down as the moment requires.”
This duality of old and new extended into the visuals. The show opened with black-and-white cutouts of the band, Jarvis Cocker appearing in silhouette via a lift, before exploding into colour during the track, Spike Island.
The visuals were based on a 30-year-old Dazed & Confused magazine shoot by Rankin, and a photograph Jarvis took of a mountain range in Iceland, digitised and animated by More Eyes using an AI Image Upscaler.
For Disco 2000, vintage Optikinetics Solar 250s were filmed at Insight Lighting and merged with modern effects, including AI and Notch. Acrylic Afternoons, a new addition to the set, featured “fizzy, amber-y” hues evoking the lyrics ‘lemonade light’, using pixel-mapped ACME Super Dotlines built into the floor.
“We replaced the ROE Visual CB5 LED riser fascias with bespoke perspex-fronted light boxes with ACME Lighting Super Dotlines inside. The different type of light engines on the lights gave us incredible flexibility – they could resemble an old disco floor or be tilted upwards to create light curtains, or even used for video playback,” Green explained. “Big thanks to Production Manager, Jerry Hough and Ox Event House for making these happen.”
In addition to truss and hoists, highlights of the lighting package included 74 Martin MAC Ultra Performances and 22 MAC Ones; 56 ACME Super Dotlines; 21 two-light blinders; 13 GLP JDC1s; five Robe iFORTE LTXs with Robe FollowSpot base stations and a Mole Richardson Type 245.
“It’s a simple kit list, which makes replication easier across continents,” Green noted, praising support from Christie Lites’ Mathew Illot, Lighting Operator, Rob Gawler and the wider lighting crew.
“It is always great to work with Christie Lites and Rob is calm and meticulous. We have programmed about 52 songs so far between Lighting Programmers, Ben Cash and Jamie Trant,” he added. “The aim is to have the detail of a timecoded show without the actual code – Pulp don’t play to track, so Rob and I have had to memorise every detail of every song. He has been fantastic.”
Alongside the lighting crew chiefs and four lighting technicians on the road, over 50 Christie Lites staff – including preparation crew, technicians, warehouse staff, project managers, cross-rental team members and transport coordinators – were involved in assembling the package. “It is always a huge pleasure to collaborate with Dougie – he always has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve. The lighting was a mix of retro and modern styles – a nod to previous Pulp tours,” added Christie Lites’ Mathew Ilott. “It was a massive privilege to support the team.”
Around 200 specific colour presets were used within the show, chosen more through emotion than science. “Pulp’s colour palette often comes from real-world inspiration – each song requiring its own set of colours to create its world,” Green explained.
A major visual highlight was The Sunlight – a custom rig featuring a central Mole Richardson Type 245 5KW Skypan surrounded by ETC Source Four PAR XWFLs and 2-lite moles.
Inspired by a photo sent by frontman, Jarvis Cocker, referencing the song A Sunrise, Green’s bespoke structure delivered an eye-catching moment before the curtain closed for an interval as Cocker danced within its blinding glow – an astonishing commitment to sartorial elegance with the frontman donning corduroy on one of the UK’s hottest days of the year thus far, coinciding with the Summer Solstice. “It is a powerful and unifying moment – the whole audience and band bathed in the same light and heat,” Green commented.
ER Productions added further spectacle, supplying an EX25 laser, six BB4 lasers, six Stadium Shots, six Stadium Blasters, Viper and Unique hazers, and pyrotechnics, controlled via Galaxis. Additional confetti enhanced The O2 arena performance. Touring crew included Colin Clarke, Ed Chiswell Jones and Amber Forbes. ER Productions’ Managing Director, Marc Webber even operated the green laser during Sorted for E’s & Wizz back in 2011, evidencing the long-standing relationship with Pulp.
“Doug always brings fresh ideas, and his shows look fantastic,” ER Productions Project Manager, Ben Couch commented. “From project coordination to warehouse staff, everyone plays a key part. Working with Pulp is a pleasure.”
The team also handled Pulp’s secret Glastonbury Festival set. To preserve the surprise, even flight case labels were removed. “It was probably the worst-kept secret in Somerset this summer,” Green laughed. “But it worked. Jarvis wanted to reference Charli XCX’ promise of a ‘PULP SUMMER’ back at Coachella so we tweaked some video content, re-lit everything and made it bold for that moment.”
Poncho-clad crew on Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage, led by Emma Reynolds-Taylor, doubled as extras to hide the band during their entrance, stepping aside for the dramatic reveal. “We felt so welcomed by the Pyramid stage crew,” Green commented. “It was a special day – 30 years to the weekend after their first appearance on that stage – the reaction blew us all away.”
‘A NEW ERA OF PULP’
Screens Producers, Pete Thornton and Matt Sharp of More Eyes were tasked with transforming existing video content – reassessing, reprogramming, rescaling, and creating new material from the band’s avalanche of ideas.
Visual artist Julian House provided iconography, while Garth Jennings offered creative oversight. An existing Disguise show file, linked tightly with cues, provided a base. “We built upon it – a lot of filming, custom animation and Notch was involved,” said Thornton.
A notable development was the enhanced use of IMAG overlays. “This time, we had more video surface to play with. The IMAGs now carried content, not just live feed,” Green noted.
Each song had a unique delivery format. “We previewed everything with the band. Not all visuals were ours – we also used analogue techniques like gel overlays on lenses, paired with digital Notch effects,” said Thornton.
“It was controlled evolution,” Sharp added. “Each song had space for happy accidents.”
With only five weeks lead time, the biggest challenge was centralising all the visuals. From scanning hundreds of Rankin’s 1995 archive shots to sourcing a specific sunset image from a book requested by Jarvis for A Sunset, every element was curated meticulously. “I reverse image-searched it, found the highest resolution online, ran it through an AI Image Upscaler, then animated four images to fade into each other – simple, but it took days,” recalled Thornton.
The band’s freeform style also created technical challenges. “With no click track, we had to build in leeway and buffers. We needed full-length visuals with enough overhang to adjust in real time,” said Sharp, crediting Media Server Programmer, Ben Gittos and Notch Programmer, Dan Williams for their “precision”.
“It’s low-fi creatively, but high-tech in delivery,” said Sharp, noting the use of Disguise GX 3 media servers and real-time Notch effects.
“I love Acrylic Afternoons – dark, sinister, but beautiful. Syncing those moments without code was very satisfying,” added Thornton.
For the interval section, More Eyes dug through 25 VHS tapes supplied by Rough Trade Records to create a five-minute montage superbly edited by Chris Allen. “It felt more like curiosity than nostalgia,” Green noted.
A retro-styled vote between two songs added an interactive layer. As Common People reached its extended chorus, and once the Pulp-branded teabags, fingers of fudge and handfuls of grapes were launched into the crowd, Jarvis used a spy camera on a stick – first used in the 2011/12 shows.
Notch Designer, Dan Williams created a filter that multiplied audience members on screen, turning them into “common people” – a symbolic blurring of boundaries between artist and audience. “This band’s history predates me, and their style isn’t necessarily my own personal one, so it’s important that I do my research and deliver confidently,” Green said.
“Experimentation is very Pulp and they’re all about taking risks on ideas. Tour Manager, Liam Rippon knows this all too well and has fostered a supportive environment for us to collaborate in, while also ensuring that the ideas that make it to the stage are delivered to a militarily high standard. Watching him guide this process is a real lesson in management.”
Asked about the responsibility of handling visuals for culturally significant songs, Sharp admitted: “The pressure was on – these are tracks we grew up with. You feel a duty to honour the band and the fans. It felt like a new era, not a nostalgia trip.”
Green concluded: “Two sold-out nights at The O2, a rammed Pyramid Stage and their new album going to number one in the charts. It’s been an extraordinary year and I think proves that resisting convention and taking creative risks can really pay off.”
Words: Jacob Waite
Photos: Roberto Ricciuti, Harris Tomlinson-Spence, Lauren Krohn and Douglas Green
