A Chesterfield born musician who plays in the rock band Pulp was sworn to secrecy ahead of the group’s surprise appearance at Glastonbury.

Mark Webber has played guitar in the group for 30 years during which time Pulp has made five appearances at England’s top music festival.

The lead-up to their latest Glastonbury show on Saturday was shrouded in mystery, with the band referred to Patchwork in advance billing. Mark said: “We knew that we were playing that secret slot at Glastonbury for a few months but had to lie to everyone that it wasn’t us. Candida (Doyle) came up with the name Patchwork and we’d previously used it as a pseudonym when we were preparing for the 2023 tour. There was a lot of speculation that it would be Pulp but I have no idea how many people actually knew.

"Fortunately no-one seemed disappointed when it finally happened! From where I was on the stage it looked like there were a lot of people watching and going crazy.

Pulp made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury, much to the delight of more than 200,000 fans who attended the festival (photo: Getty Images/Shane Anthony Sinclair)

placeholder image — Pulp made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury, much to the delight of more than 200,000 fans who attended the festival (photo: Getty Images/Shane Anthony Sinclair)

"For me, the most amazing thing about the whole weekend was seeing that footage of Olivia Rodrigo in the crowd, on her boyfriend’s shoulders, singing along to Common People.

"I didn’t get to see many of the other performers, but I did watch Olivia, who was fantastic.”

Mark first appearance with Pulp at Glastonbury was in 1994 before he had really joined the band but was already playing keyboards and guitar with them. He said: “1995 is the one that everyone remembers. Common People had only been released a month before and we were still in the studio recording Different Class, not planning to play any concerts. The Stone Roses had to cancel and we were asked to step in only eight days before the festival. It was terrifying but pretty extraordinary and people still talk about that concert all the time. Glastonbury asked us back in 1998 and everyone seems to have forgotten that we headlined the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night; that was a muddy year. The last time before 2025 was when we played another secret, unannounced set on the Park Stage in 2011.”

Pulp will headline Tramlines festival in Sheffield on July 25. The following afternoon – on Saturday, July 26 – Mark will be in Chesterfield for a conversation/book signing in association with Tallbird Records. He released his book, I’m With Pulp, Are You?, in 2024 and the slightly expanded paperback edition comes out this week, with pre-orders up until July 4 via www.hatandbeard.co.uk

Chesterfield born guitarist Mark Webber has been playing in the rock band Pulp for 30 years.

Mark said: “Before Tramlines we are playing festivals in Bilbao and Montreux. From Sheffield we are going to Korea to play in Seoul for the first time, then to Saint-Malo in Brittany. For the whole of September, we’ll touring the US and Canada.”