PULP brought their most famous lyrics to life as they rubbed shoulders with the Common People on Friday at the Isle of Wight Festival.

The Britpop rockers delivered a headline set which owed a debt to the festival’s halcyon days of the late 60s.

Jarvis Cocker was the ever-eccentric frontman, laying down mid set and taking dad dancing to a new level - perhaps only slightly eclipsed by the gleeful baby boomers leaping around in the crowd to the Mercury Prize-winning band’s signature song.

The Gen-Zers were nowhere to be found; they were at the Big Top, phones waving to US singer Sabrina Carpenter’s rock-pop confections.

Earlier on the main stage, the softly-sung Sophie Ellis-Bextor applied her instantly recognisable vocals to a range of disco hits: some borrowed, such as Cher’s Take Me Home and Alcazar’s Crying at the Discotheque, and others her own.

Daily Echo: Pulp Headline Main Stage at the IOW FestivalPulp Headline Main Stage at the IOW Festival (Image: Rockstarimages)

Adapted from her lockdown kitchen disco performances for a much larger crowd, her glittery purple outfit shined in the afternoon sun.

Fans were in for a treat, as she also performed a surprise acoustic set on the intimate Barclaycard Amp Stage a couple of hours later.

Before launching into Murder on the Dancefloor, she said: “I’m 44 now and I released this when I was 22, so it dawned on me that I’ve been playing this song for half of my life - but thankfully I still love it.”

The early noughties pop revival continued apace with the original Sugababes lineup, whose hit-packed set and perfect harmonies had the Main Stage crowd waving their hands in the air.

Daily Echo: Sugababes at Isle of Wight Festival 2023 Sugababes at Isle of Wight Festival 2023 (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

 

Apart from fan-favourite Flatline, consigned to YouTube while Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan were locked in legal battles over the name rights for the band, the songs were instantly recognisable: Hole in the Head, Round Round, Too Lost in You, About You Now, Overload…the list goes on.

Rent-a-songwriter Ryan Tedder, frontman of OneRepublic, brought some surprising hits to the American band’s set.

Did you know he wrote Halo by Beyoncé, Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love and Ghost by Ella Henderson - or that he was a virtuoso piano player?

It won’t be the last time the Isle of Wight crowds hear the latter song, as the X Factor album will be playing on Sunday.

But before then, there is plenty to enjoy on Saturday’s line-up - including Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder, Anne-Marie and George Ezra, favourite of the masses.

It’s great to be back on the Isle of Wight.