TRNSMT: Pulp tease and fascinate as festival goers brace for rain and thunder on day two

Main man Jarvis Cocker holds the crowd in his hand at first show in Scotland for over a decade.

Britpop stars Pulp teased the crowd at Glasgow’s Trnsmt festival on Friday night in what was their first show in Scotland for over a decade with music fans today braced for downpours and thunderstorms as the event moves into its second day.

Crowds at Glasgow Green were kept waiting for the band with a lengthy introduction to the show 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.

Pulp return to Scotland for the first time in more than a decade at their Friday night show at Trnsmt festival in Glasgow. PIC: Calum Buchan.Pulp return to Scotland for the first time in more than a decade at their Friday night show at Trnsmt festival in Glasgow. PIC: Calum Buchan.
Pulp return to Scotland for the first time in more than a decade at their Friday night show at Trnsmt festival in Glasgow. PIC: Calum Buchan.

"This performance is an encore.

"An encore happens because the crowd wants more."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

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.

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker on stage at Trnsmt festival, Glasgow Green, on Friday. PIC: Calum Buchan.Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker on stage at Trnsmt festival, Glasgow Green, on Friday. PIC: Calum Buchan.
Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker on stage at Trnsmt festival, Glasgow Green, on Friday. PIC: Calum Buchan.

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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

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 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.

Today (Saturday), indie band Kasabian will take to the festival's main stage and Sam Fender will headline.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Crowds heading to the second day of Trnsmt could face thunderstorms as temperatures rise, with Met Office issuing a weather warning.

A yellow weather warning has been put in place for the majority of the UK between 9am and midnight on Saturday.

As of 11am on Saturday, the Met Office forecast raises the chance of thunderstorms between 5pm and 7pm and again at 10pm - around the time headliner Sam Fender will be set to take the stage.

The 1975 will close the festival on Sunday.