Jarvis Cocker has paid a visit to his former High School in Sheffield to perform a short acoustic set.
Jarvis Cocker remains devoutly Northern. The singer’s work has a real outsider streak, informed by his adolescence in Sheffield. Despite living in London and France, Jarvis Cocker retains an immense affection for his hometown.
Recently deciding to return North, Jarvis Cocker arranged a one off concert in his former High School. Taking place at the City School, the singer returned to speak to students about the impact of his school days.
During the talk Jarvis Cocker played a brief acoustic set, and returned a book to the school library he had borrowed 30 years ago.
Reflecting his youth in Sheffield, the singer explained that Pulp played their first set in the school hall. “It was this school hall that saw the first performance of Pulp in March 1980, the tickets costing 20p promised 30 minutes of live Pulp, which was pretty good value really,” he said.
Continuing, Jarvis Cocker explained that was conscious of trying to keep in touch with his roots. “It was only when I moved away to London years later that I realised the normal things I’d experienced in Sheffield weren’t actually normal at all – they were interesting and I wanted to write about them because I was scared of forgetting where I’d come from.”
Performing a short set of Pulp covers, the singer finished with a short visit to the library. “I’m bringing back a book I never returned to the school library all those years ago – ‘Nine Modern Poets’.”
It’s not known if Jarvis Cocker was forced to pay a late fine.
This isn’t the first time the Pulp frontman has spoken to students in the city. Two years ago Jarvis Cocker was given an honorary degree by Sheffield University, giving a short speech after accepting the doctorate.
