Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley play intimate show in support of Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’
In celebration of Wes Anderson’s latest movie, Asteroid City, Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley played an intimate show in London. The pair of Sheffield musicians have penned two songs for the film, playing under the moniker of Gauchos Calientes.
“Welcome to the Asteroid City diner,” Cocker told the audience at an exhibition dedicated to the film at London’s 180 Studios earlier this week. “You didn’t realise, but as soon as you walked into this place, you travelled back to the year 1955.”
He continued: “A lot of things happened that year, didn’t they? I wasn’t alive, but they did happen. We are a group called Gauchos Calientes, and in the film we get stranded in Asteroid City and we’re going to play you two songs that are featured in the film.”
For the show, Hawley and Cocker were joined by the banjoist Jean-Yves Lozac’h and double bassist Perè Mallén, who appear in the movie. Wes Anderson was also in attendance. The duo opened with ‘You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep’, with the Pulp frontman explaining the title to the crowd: “This is a phrase that gets repeated a few times in the film, which you can think about whilst you listen to the song.”
Before their rendition of ‘Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven)’, Cocker said: “Another potential plot spoiler now. This is a song written by a young child that has seen something that visits the town and changes the course of human history and the destiny of all the people within the town.”
The group performed three additional tracks, including a cover of Elizabeth Cotton’s ‘Freight Train’, and Ricky Nelson’s ‘Lonesome Town’. Regarding the latter, Cocker told the audience: “This one isn’t in the film, but Asteroid City is a lonesome town, and the population of the city is only about 67 people. It gets swollen a lot by the people who get stuck in it so this is more like the Asteroid City before the people came, which was a very lonesome town.”
The set concluded with a re-working of Lee Hazlewoods ‘Pour Man’. “We haven’t played together for two years, so I don’t think we’re doing that badly,” Hawley joked. “There’s absolutely no reason to play this,” Cocker said of the set closer, “but it’s great! We played it together many years ago and it’s not got any better since then.”
In his review of Asteroid City, Far Out‘s Joe Williams awarded it five stars, writing: “Ultimately, the film is a heartfelt, engaging and surprisingly compelling success story that heralds a return to form from an auteur director who has gained a new sense of modesty and humility.”
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.