Sunday Night Is Pet Shop Boys Night

I have been so busy with theatre-going and work shenanigans that I hadn't had to time to work myself up into a suitable state of PSB excitement. I was getting a bit worried that even with ten minutes to go I was still in a resolutely un-excited mood - despite buying merch, being in a nice central position and standing in the Hammersmith Apollo stalls with the seats all taken out - all live venues should have such a precipitous rake even if it's eventually killing to the small of the back. But all was put to right when the lights went down!

The last time I saw them was at Brixton Academy in 2002 on their RELEASE tour when they eschewed the lights and costumes and were performing as a 'straight' band. I had heard nothing about this tour so was a bit worried that they might still be into their 'unplugged' vibe but luckily no! The setting was a neon square surrounded by dark curtains and a keyboard on a neon stand to one side. After a tease of having first two backing singers then two dancers come out dressed as Neil and Chris, the real ones appeared and it wasn't long before the neon square was shown to be neon poles that went up and down or expanded to a 'cinemascope' screen with projections behind to fill the stage with glorious pulsing colour.

It wasn't long before full PSB service was fully resumed with the appearance of the magnificent Sylvia Mason-James to provide her soaring backing vocals so missing on the RELEASE tour. Neil was in good voice, Chris even smiled a few times and the crowd were suitably in good voice. The only dodgy aspect of the show were the two body-popping hip-hop stylee dancers who certainly added to the onstage traffic but who didn't add much to the show artistically.

There were so many great songs although they did relatively few from the new album FUNDEMENTAL. We got "West End Girls", "Opportunities", "Suburbia" (with an enormous twitching lace curtain behind them), "Paninaro", "Shopping", "Rent", "It's A Sin", "Heart", "Left To My Own Devices", "Domino Dancing", "Always On My Mind" (against huge cut-out heads of themselves), "Being Boring" (and yes I did get moisty-eyed), "Where The Streets Have No Name", "Can You Forgive Her?", "Dreaming Of The Queen" (wonderful, against grainy film of Diana's funeral car driving through a rainstorm of flowers), "Go West", "Se A Vida E", "Home And Dry", "Flamboyant", "Integral", "I'm With Stupid", "Numb", "Minimal" and "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show".

I hope it's not 5 years before seeing them again.

Owen supplied the nice photos!