Evol Presents: JARV- IS ‘Beyond the Pale’ at Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool 5th November 2021

 

REVIEW BY JANET HARDING – IMAGES WARREN MILLAR

 

 

Dressed in signature light brown velvet flared suit and snakeskin Cuban heeled boots with patterned kipper tie, he has got to be THE coolest man on the planet!

 

5th November 2021

I’m excited!  I’m going to what will be the most bonkers, eccentric, house meets art pop, geeky, cool indie disco, and most random experience ever – because tonight, we’re off to see Jarv-is. And Jarv-is are cool as!!  In Liverpool once again (I’m happy), in driving rain and bitter cold. Down at the Old Dock road it seems colder still. In the heart of the old warehouse District it’s very industrial looking, as you would expect, but most buildings have been converted and regenerated:  housing, some very trendy bars and pubs.

Our destination tonight is the Invisible Wind Factory, and is one such converted warehouse –  and a bloody good venue to boot. The club takes its name from its industrial history, formerly being a factory that produced fans and air vents, including the ones used in the nearby Mersey tunnels. It’s a very quirky place; metal and concrete feature heavily, and scaffold balconies; psychedelic and luminous splashes and features are dotted about. It almost feels like being outside. This genuinely is an excellent venue to see a live band.  It’s big enough to get a decent gathering, yet small enough to still feel fairly intimate and special.

Support act – Jockstrap

Georgia Ellery – vocals/guitar/violin

Taylor Skye – keyboard/synth   

This London based duo, alternative/electro pop band, certainly fit right into the club setting, and are the perfect warm up for what is to follow. Starting off in front of a pretty empty house, this didn’t faze them one bit. It’s not too long before it s filled up and the crowd were suitably impressed with the performance, dancing, whooping and clapping. Georgia (Ellery) has such a wide range of vocals, from hushed whispers to high, almost piercing, scream-like at times, to sweet and controlled – almost lullaby- like in nature. This performance art style duo had the fast tempo, club style beats, going synth and electro gave it a retro feel, very different, very ‘out there’. Brilliant performance, well done. Perfect start to a must see headliner. When a band leaves you feeling slightly bewildered (in a good way) – you know they’re ones to watch!

 

 

….And now for the wonderfully bizarre, this wonderfully conceptual, experimental band… Jarv-is led by the one and only, wonderfully eccentric Jarvis Cocker himself.

Jarvis Cocker – vocals/guitar

Seratina Steer – keyboard/harp/backing vocals

Emma Smith – violin/backing vocals.

Jason Buckle – synth

Andrew McKinney- bass

Adam Butts – drums  

And so it begins……Dry ice fills the stage; in total darkness, strobe lighting starts up.  The crowd are wild, the place is now rammed. The screams are loud, but suddenly become deafening as the band assembles on stage. The slowly fading and haunting intro of the iconic (for the diehard fans) Pulp song ‘She’s a Lady’ fills the venue. It’s instantly recognisable, and the only Pulp song we’ll hear tonight, as the iconic front man himself arrives on stage, positioning himself atop of  the central monitor – the screams go up another level. Dressed in signature light brown velvet flared suit and snakeskin Cuban heeled boots with patterned kipper tie, he has got to be THE coolest man on the planet!  Surely?  Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bunch of grapes he dangles them into his mouth and eats one or two, whilst posing like some Greek statue, then casually launches them into the audience.

Now the show really begins: he’s gyrating, gesturing, he’s posing, shimmying, leaping about, shaking his hips and pointing out into the crowd.  This is what we came to see. Every inch of stage is covered. What an opener!  We’ve been waiting for this – the album ‘Beyond the Pale’, the debut album from  Jarv-is (and I personally LOVE this album), the new and experimental band fronted by the legendary Jarvis Cocker himself.

Released in July of last year (2020) the pandemic delayed this, the accompanying tour. The album incorporates live recordings, some done live in the Devil’s Arse caves in Derbyshire (who could forget Rave in a Cave).  It’s ultra experimental, very conceptual and boundary pushing. Detailed by the band as an ‘alive’ album, it certainly feels alive tonight .The delay in the tour of course means we all by now know and love the songs.  ‘House music all night long’ is one such song, It’s a diary entry, from someone who’s ‘lost in the living room, adrift in a world of interiors. longing to be out on the lash, but is isolated and trapped in a domestic disco’..  Written well before the pandemic, this isn’t about lockdown it’s about the pitfalls of middle age. The crowd join in, sing, bounce, dance and cheer through every number. It’s a brilliant crowd to be in. It feels like a whole new genre, verging on dance or club music, but more gritty, more everyday, more real I suppose.  It’s also very special and trance-like at times. We still have the art house and indie glam pop running through it, but with an undercurrent of classical, with violin and harp; bold punctuations of experimental sounds, synths and lots of fading in and out.  Jarvis’s (Cocker’s) voice is made for this. Those instantly recognisable, low, husky almost growling tones; that signature seedy talking, and raspy whispers. then the higher notes, the frantic sounding build ups, then the signalling choruses, and the addictive hooks. It’s sheer brilliance. The lyrics, as with anything written by Jarvis, are genius: a mixture of witty, intelligent, seedy, mundane, detailed and downright bonkers. being sung right at you in true style with those unmistakable dance moves and arm gestures. He’s literally made an art form out of flicking a mic lead over his shoulder – as a front man he oozes style and charisma….I mean the guy invented geek chic!! It’s fascinating, you can’t take your eyes off him.

 

 

Between songs the interaction is great – .he s chatty, witty, reading out little anecdotes of facts about today’s date. and talking about times he’s played Liverpool in the past. referring to a gig at Williamson Tunnels in 2018, where he chatted to the crowd about phobias, asking an audience member there, what her phobia was. She replied ‘wax dummies’.  ‘I always remember that’ he muses, ‘Always thought that’s a good one. Wouldn’t it be good if she was here tonight?’  Somebody shouts ‘I’m here.’  ‘Are you? Where? Come forward’…Managing to get to the stage edge, where Jarvis is now leaning over, he reaches out and shakes her hand. Keeping hold of her hand, he thanks her for coming, then dedicates the next song to her, launching into the song, directing it her way.  The fan, Eallan Seasman, is so overwhelmed she s now crying.  It’s truly made Eallan’s experience tonight very special, and the friendliness and genuineness of Jarvis Cocker is to be commended. Something, so little to most, which will stay with her forever.

The energy given out by this band tonight is spectacular, and it does not cease.  All too soon it seems it’s over, the lights dim and the band walk off stage. We want more, we aren’t done – chants for an encore…’JARV-IS, JARV-IS, JARV-IS’… It’s got manic, you can feel the electricity; the crowd is wired!  Minutes later Jarv-is are back on stage, Jarvis (Cocker) swigging from a bottle of beer, which he then hands to a member of the audience.  We’re treated to another 2 songs .’Further Complications’ one of Jarvis Cocker’s solo releases, and ‘Aline’, a Christophe cover which is sung entirely in French, from the album by Jarvis Cocker to accompany the film ‘The French dispatch’ which was released in October this year.

We’re a happy crowd.  This has honestly been some show, at almost 2 full hours (which you rarely get) we’ve been entertained truly. It’s been nonstop, mind blowing, dance inducing, thought provoking, innovative, creative, inspirational, original, totally bonkers and totally fascinating. True inspired brilliance!!  In theory, none of this should work, but it does,  it really does – an inspired, clever and wonderful thing to experience live. Mind blowing!  The King of Avant Garde and his equally ingenious band did not disappoint (but then I knew they wouldn’t).

To the venue (which is perfect,), to the support (Jockstrap) who were exactly right for this,  to the amazing Jarv-is, and to the legendary and ever brilliantly eccentric Jarvis Cocker:  Thank you!.

My final words on this, have to be about wax dummies, and a girl who will never, ever forget the night Jarvis Cocker remembered her, took her hand and dedicated a song to her.  I’d like to further that, by dedicating this article to her.

To Eallan Seasman: May you treasure this memory

 

 

Set list:

She s a lady (Pulp cover)

House music

All night long

Slow jam

Fat children(Jarvis Cocker solo release)

Sometimes I am Pharaoh

Am I missing something

 Big Julie (Jarvis Cocker solo release)

 Swanky modes

Cunts are still running the world

Must I evolve

Children of the echo

Futher complications

Aline (Christophe cover)

 

 

 

 

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