‘The Songs Came Back to Life’: Pulp Announce First North American Tour in a Decade

Pulp are finally returning to North America this fall, marking the Sheffield band’s first tour on the continent in over a decade.

The brief trek will kick off at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom on Sept. 8, followed by stops in Toronto, Brooklyn, and San Francisco. The shows will wrap in Los Angeles on Sept. 18 at the Hollywood Palladium.

Pulp’s last time performing in North America was Coachella 2012, and American fans have been eagerly waiting for them to return after they toured the U.K. last year. “So, the encore continues,” frontman Jarvis Cocker said in a statement. “The songs came back to life and they want to be heard. They need to be heard. Come out and have some fun with us. You deserve it. Yes. You do.”

It’s been more than 20 years since Pulp released their last record, 2001’s We Love Life. The band — Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, and Russell Senior — formed in 1978. Mackey, Pulp’s bassist, died last year at the age of 56. The band is dedicating the upcoming tour in his memory.

In 2020, Cocker released the album Beyond the Pale with his band Jarv Is. “People used to call disco music ‘mindless boogie,'” he told Rolling Stone. “But I never thought that was an insult, because it’s like a meditation thing. Everybody’s into mindfulness apps, but just go and dance for two hours and you’ll experience that same cleansing of thoughts, concentrating on a rhythm and keeping in tune with that. You’ll get those same benefits, plus some exercise as well. You don’t need a wellness app.”

General tickets go on sale on Friday.

Pulp North American Tour Dates
Sept. 8 – Chicago Byline Bank @ Aragon Ballroom
Sept. 10 – Toronto @ HISTORY
Sept. 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
Sept. 16 – San Francisco @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Sept. 18 – Los Angeles @ Hollywood Palladium