Latest news with #MarkWebber
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Pulp review – Jarvis Cocker's captivating comeback turns a rapt crowd rapturous
A thick velvet curtain cocoons the stage as a cool disembodied voice projects over the audience: 'This is an encore. An encore occurs because the audience wants more.' Since their initial breakup in 2002, Pulp have re-formed twice, for sold-out tours and festival sets played to loyal, rapturous audiences. Tonight, the stakes are higher: for the first time in 24 years, Pulp have a new album, More, released just one day before tonight's opening show. The audience want more – but do they want More? Any anxiety about new material is quashed when set opener and comeback single Spike Island is received like an old friend. Jarvis Cocker rises from the back of the stage flanked by cardboard cutouts of his bandmates – recognisable from the cover of 1995's Different Class – before joining their real-life counterparts, guitarist Mark Webber, drummer Nick Banks and keyboardist Candida Doyle, downstage. Continuing this mood, old and new songs on the setlist complement each other: the spacious psychedelia of More's Farmer's Market leads into the wide-eyed wonder of Sunrise from We Love Life; and the high stakes disco of O.U. (Gone, Gone) is echoed in its new counterpart Got to Have Love. With its illuminated staircase, kitschy backdrops and full string section, the stage is reminiscent of a 1970s chatshow set, with Cocker holding court in a corduroy suit, taking a seat – and occasionally laying down – during the spoken word sections, but always captivating. The setlist caters for fans of most Pulp eras, but This Is Hardcore heads are truly spoiled, with Help the Aged and The Fear both played live for the first time in over a decade. The latter sees Cocker share the limelight with four inflatable air dancers, somehow perfectly encapsulating the song's ennui in their gigantic absurdity. This Is Hardcore begins with the strings-only End of the Line mix, maximising the luxe melodrama before laying on its heavy dread. A hits-packed final run ends with Common People, somehow still thrilling – and relevant – 30 years after its release. The curtains are drawn, but the band return for a semi-acoustic version of A Sunset, the final track from More. It says a lot about this beloved group that, after playing their biggest hit, they can play an album track released yesterday to the same rapt attention. Pulp tour the UK and Ireland until 21 June
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
ADRIAN THRILLS reviews Pulp: More (Rough Trade): Britpop for grown-ups...it's a perfect Pulp album for 2025
Breaking into a music scene then dominated by glum American grunge bands, Pulp were the Britpop outsiders who became massive. Fronted by a witty English eccentric in Jarvis Cocker, the Sheffield group secured their first Top Ten album with 1994's His 'n' Hers, and became front-page news two years later when Cocker wiggled his backside onstage during a Michael Jackson performance at the BRITs. Like their 90s contemporaries Oasis and Blur, they are returning to find themselves as big as in their Cool Britannia heyday. Their 2023 tour, This Is What We Do For An Encore, included headline shows at Finsbury Park and Latitude – and they've now come up with their first new album in 24 years. With Jarvis, 61, joined by a trio of fellow Pulp veterans – keyboardist Candida Doyle, guitarist Mark Webber and drummer Nick Banks all excel here – More is a perfect Pulp album for 2025. Out in a week's time, it revisits the disco-infused, keyboard-driven pop of yesteryear while adding more assured musicianship and age-appropriate lyrics: Britpop played by grown-ups. It's a record front-loaded with its catchiest anthems. It opens with Spike Island, a track inspired by a Stone Roses gig on the Mersey estuary in 1990, but in reality a song that examines why Cocker put Pulp on hold in 2001 and then got them back together in 2011 and 2023. 'I was born to perform, it's a calling,' he sings. 'I exist to do this: shouting and pointing.' He delivers lyrical zingers as the LP progresses. The orchestral Tina is a stalker-ish song about unrequited desire for a woman he sees on his morning commute; Farmers Market, a pithy portrayal of middle-aged love. He addresses ageing again on the stomping, Madness-like Grown Ups: 'So you move from Camden out to Hackney, and you stress about wrinkles instead of acne.' The quality dips on ballads Slow Jam and Partial Eclipse, but More otherwise finishes strongly. The swirling disco-pop of Got To Have Love is bound to be a highlight of next month's UK arena shows. There's also, on The Hymn Of The North, a celebration of Sheffield's resilience despite the decline of its manufacturing industries. 'Northern lights will guide you home,' sings Jarvis, capping a warm, rewarding comeback with a hometown homage. He insists that 'no AI' was involved in making the album, and that feels right. Artificial intelligence would struggle to replicate the quirky genius of Pulp. More is out on June 6. Pulp start a UK tour on June 7 at OVO Hydro, Glasgow (
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Oscar Piastri pips McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to practice double at Imola
Oscar Piastri edged out McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to claim a practice double on Friday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Australian Piastri has won the last three races – and four of the first six – to hold a 16-point championship lead heading into this weekend. McLaren were dominant in claiming a one-two in Miami a fortnight ago, where Mercedes' George Russell in third was over 33 seconds adrift of runner-up Norris. Friday's running at Imola, ahead of the first European race of the season, hinted that the papaya duo would again be the ones to beat. Piastri was just 0.032 seconds ahead of his team-mate in first practice before coming out on top by an even narrower margin of 0.025sec in the second session. The 24-year-old's impressive start to the season has seen him become the first Australian to lead the standings since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 and catapulted him into being favourite to claim his first drivers' championship. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella earlier praised the way Piastri has developed since last season and also credited the team around him, including Webber. 'Over the winter, there's been a very specific amount of work that has gone in,' Stella said. 'It's been quite holistic. While Oscar is definitely the main one to praise for these developments, I would like to mention the team around Oscar – his engineers and all the support from the factory with all the analysis – and even the team, Mark Webber, that works with Oscar. 'He's definitely a great source of thoughts, insight and identification of opportunities. 'So, there's quite a lot of work behind this progress. But ultimately, hats off to Oscar who has been able to capitalise.' Pierre Gasly finished the day an impressive third for Alpine ahead of Russell, with Max Verstappen fifth and over four tenths off the pace. Early encouragement for Lewis Hamilton, at his first home race for Ferrari, faded as the day went on. The seven-time world champion was fifth and less than a tenth off the pace in FP1 but both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc raised brake issues in the second running as Hamilton could manage only 11th. Leclerc, who missed Thursday's media day through illness, finished the day sixth fastest.
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Automotive
- News.com.au
How Mark Webber will help Oscar Piastri become an F1 champion
Mark Webber's experience could be the deciding factor for Australian Formula 1 sensation Oscar Piastri in this year's Grand Prix season. Webber, a nine-time Grand Prix winner who led the F1 championship in 2010, is now Piastri's manager and mentor. Webber came agonisingly close to winning the title, but ultimately fell short during a lonely fight at the top. The boost provided by Webber's guidance has not been lost on Kiwi V8 Supercar legend Greg Murphy, a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000 now coaching up-and-coming drivers. Murphy told the Apex Hunters United motorsport podcast hosted by pro racers Scott Pye and Elliot Barbour it was clear Mark Webber's wisdom 'is the difference' between Piastri and rivals including Lando Norris. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™, LIVE in 4K with no ad-breaks during racing. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. 'Look at Oscar Piastri,' Murphy said. 'Mark Webber is the difference in there. Show me another F1 driver at the moment that's got a 'Mark Webber' doing what Mark Webber is doing.' The Supercars legend said Webber 'is totally in tune, networked, has the phone numbers, can talk to anybody, has the respect, [and] can be in the McLaren team in the way he is, because they want Oscar to perform at his absolute best. 'It's so obvious.' Pye, who won a Supercars race supporting the F1 at Albert Park in 2018, agreed that 'Webber is so competitive and ruthless'. 'He'll be telling Oscar, now's your time to sink your teeth in,' he said on the podcast. 'Finish him. 'You've got your foot in his throat … I think that's one of Mark's strengths.' The racer said Webber's effect can be seen in Piastri's decision to focus on his racing, rather than building a public profile through media such as Netflix's Drive to Survive series. While some drivers, including New Zealand's Liam Lawson, have courted fame, Pye said 'you look at Oscar and they have certainly not prioritised the fame side'. Four-time F1 champ Max Verstappen praised Webber's work with Piastri following the Aussie's sensational victory in Saudi Arabia, where Verstappen said 'with Mark by his side, he's helping him a lot'. 'It's great. People learn from their own careers – that's what I had with my dad [Jos Verstappen], and Mark [Webber] is advising Oscar.' I've met Webber a couple of times recently in his role as an ambassador for Porsche – a brand that he drove to a World Endurance Championship title in 2015. While I can't share what the retired racer says about Oscar in informal settings, I will say there is a steel in his eyes that suggests Webber has unfinished business in F1 and that he is determined to help Piastri get the job done. Webber's experience at the highest levels of motorsport included a golden opportunity to win the F1 championship in 2010, when he was ultimately defeated by Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel. The Aussie racer was let down by his manager and mentor, Flavio Briatore. Briatore was the team boss during Michael Schumacher's early F1 success at the Benetton Formula team, which became the Renault F1 outfit. When Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr crashed out of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in suspicious circumstances, Briatore was accused of ordering the young Brazilian to crash deliberately to help orchestrate an unlikely win for Renault teammate Fernando Alonso. The FIA smashed Briatore with a lifetime ban from F1 in September 2009, a few weeks after Webber won his first Grand Prix in Germany. Webber backed Briatore and told the press 'I won't work with anyone else'. Which meant he was fighting a lonely battle against Vettel, Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in the 2010 season – a year where the Aussie led the standings after victories in Spain, Monaco, Silverstone and Hungary, before ultimately finishing third in the standings. Now Piastri leads the championship. And Webber is in his corner. Briatore's lifetime ban was eventually quashed, opening the door for a return to F1 managing drivers including Alonso, whose carefully orchestrated exit from Renault's Alpine F1 team allowed Piastri to secure a seat with a better team at McLaren. Webber's connection to Briatore gave Piastri the best possible start in F1. When 1980 F1 champion Alan Jones says Piastri has ' all the attributes that you need to be a world champion ', his manager is one of them. Norris' manager and mentor, Mark Berryman, does not know how it feels to be in a brutal title world championship fight against a talented teammate and proven champions. But you can bet that Webber has replayed his 2010 battle with Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso over and over again. And right now, like Murphy said, 'Webber is the difference'.
