A vintage reminder that Jarvis Cocker is a savage music critic
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Credit: Alamy
Jarvis Cocker joins Richard Hawley at Leadmill show announcing: “Have some respect for a beautiful thing”
Jarvis Cocker joined former Pulp bandmate and fellow Sheffield-born musician Richard Hawley on stage during his gig at the Leadmill last night amid the venue’s ongoing eviction struggle.
During the second night of Hawley’s sold-out, four-date run of gigs in support of the Leadmill, Cocker took to the stage to show his support for the legendary venue. The cause is particularly pertinent to Cocker and Hawley because Pulp performed their first full gig at the venue nearly 42 years ago, in August 1980.
“It’s more than this building and this stage, it’s something that’s grown over years and it’s a feeling,” Cocker said of the Leadmill. “It’s like a form of magic.” He then addressed the venue’s landlords, adding that “they may own the bricks and mortar, but they don’t own the spirit of the Leadmill”, and pleaded for them to “have some respect for a beautiful thing”.
Hawley and Cocker went on to perform an energetic cover of The Velvet Underground‘s ‘White Light/White Heat’, along with one of Hawley’s unreleased songs, titled ‘A Sunset’, named after the venue’s original logo.
The evening before, Hawley was joined onstage by Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) to perform two songs together – Peggy Lee‘s ‘Fever’ and Nancy Sinatra‘s ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.
The former Pulp guitarist has revealed that he will be joined by special guests at all four shows of his residency, which continues tomorrow night and concludes with a finale on Friday.
The Leadmill management team first mentioned the upsetting situation back in March with a post on the venue’s website. “Today we have received some devastating news that in one year’s time, our Landlord is trying to evict us, forcing us to close,” the statement began.
It continued: “Since 1980 The Leadmill has spent millions of pounds on what was a derelict warehouse, transforming it into one of the U.K’s most respected venues where countless acts from across the globe have performed over the years.”
The team then asked people to show their support for the legendary venue by “sharing this news and sharing your best memories that we can gather to help show them reasons why #WeCantLoseLeadmill”.
In response, the Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd called for the council to “immediately implement an Asset of Community Value status on the premises as the first step in ensuring the venue is initially protected from closure.”
“MVT will be working to ensure that once protected from immediate threat, the long-term future is secured,” he continued.
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