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SO, I tell people I’m going to see the Pet Shop Boys live and continually get greeted with looks of disappointment or even more lame than that, the occasional single word utterance of ‘gay’! I know how John Peel must have felt when the group were invited on to do a session back in the earlier part of the previous decade, his studio bombarded with hate-filled emails to be greeted by a bemused DJ who couldn’t understand why people were so upset. For sure, the band’s occasional high camp diversions such as their tongue-in-cheek charity record ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and cover of the Village People’s ‘Go West’ were never going to appeal to everyone but this group has always been about far more than cheesy disco.

The Pet Shop Boys often write about subject matter so at odds with most pop music, their 2006 single ‘I’m With Stupid’ perhaps the most subtly vitriolic attack on Bush and Blair leagues ahead of most political rock. For the most part, the group also refuses to blatantly use sex to sell records unlike 99% of the rest of the charts. Their album artwork and live performances often mix high brow concepts alongside contemporary dance, ballet and art. I can’t ever imagine Girls Aloud writing a critically acclaimed musical score to the 1925 silent movie Battleship Potemkin, can you? The group has also been involved in numerous collaborations with many of popular culture’s most revered artists including remixes for David Bowie, Blur, Yoko Ono and Rammstein plus live performances with Suede, Rufus Wainwright (whom Neil Tennant has also produced) and David Bowie again. Of course working with The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on the bulk of their own 2002 album ‘Release’ was quite a leftfield move for a mere pop band. Of course that is the curious juxtaposition that makes the Pet Shop Boys so unique and interesting because at the heart of all the intellectual lyricism, grand arty concepts and collaborations is a pure and simple commercially viable pop band equally happy to embrace working alongside Madonna, Kylie, Robbie Williams, Lady Gaga, the aforementioned Girls Aloud and of course Dusty Springfield. Finally, the added fact the group are one of the few openly gay institutions that are not actually afraid to write about it makes the mocking of this fact even more sad. Maybe what is sadder still is the fact that since the band publicly ‘came out’ it is sadly no surprise their commercial and public standing has arguably been on the wane as it is certainly not for a lack of decent material. The human race will get there on day..

Anyway, all this justification is all well and good but the bottom line is, I have always been a fan of the Pet Shop Boys since I was a child and the chance to finally see them live was not one I was going to miss, so into my car I get to, err, go west!!

The biggest surprise upon entering the BIC was just how much of the band’s audience are in fact hetero couples. Having never seen them live before and based on the negative reactions I kept getting before I went I naively thought my friend and I would be the odd couple at a G.A.Y event! But again, this only helped to solidify my firm beliefs about the artistic integrity of the Pet Shop Boys as well as their committed and open-minded fans. We enter the venue to the remaining couple of tracks from support artist Sophie Ellis Bextor. Not being a fan I had not been overly bothered about missing her performance but all credit due, her solid backing band played very well and my goodness, the woman can actually sing. I can honestly say I actually would not have minded seeing the whole set. However, I’m not overly bothered and take up my seat in a predominantly all-seated BIC.

Already it is clear this is not going to be a typical live gig! As Sophie’s band is quickly hurried offstage a huge stage set is hastily put together coming across as some kind of cubist (literally), theatrical version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall stage show. A huge backdrop of white boxes of various sizes with two smaller, although still large walls of boxes and Chris Lowe’s art décor DJ booth are now bathed in neon blue and the lights are dimmed. The anticipation is heightened when two female dancers, clad in tight-fitting blue and red lycra stand next to each other at a synth, their heads masked by equally blue and red boxes. This really is no mere live gig, this is clearly a stage show with West End production values. And then it happens, Neil and Chris pop out from behind their respective walls, each with their own box head piece and launch into a revved-up hybrid of ‘Heart’ and ‘More than a Dream’.

Anyone familiar with the group’s series of Disco albums will be well aware they are capable of producing some banging club music and live, this element is pushed to the fore. Each and every track stripped to basics and complemented by huge, throbbing basslines and chest-bursting kick drums. Chris Lowe plays the signature parts live whilst essentially providing glorified karaoke for Neil to perform over. Many music purists might sneer at this approach but to turn the Pet Shop Boys into a ‘real’ live band would ironically strip away the heart and soul of the group; the Pet Shop Boys have perfected the art of putting soul into the machine.

Another observation before the gig was the suggestion that tonight was some kind of nostalgia event, evidence that many people seem to think the group stopped making music after they released ‘Go West’. Tonight’s set comprises a career-spanning legacy of classic hits alongside more recent material, much of which is from their excellent new album Yes. After a stunning mix of new track ‘Pandemonium’ with the classic ‘Can You Forgive Her?’ they end this first part of the gig with a superb version of recent single ‘Love, etc’, Neil Tennant absolutely faultless with his soulful delivery.

At this point the simple stage set up reveals its clever design as it collapses and the backdrop becomes the canvas for a huge video projection. The collapsed boxes are re-arranged in time with the music by the backing crew who are cleverly dressed in white so as to be part of the show rather than behind-the-scenes and the introduction of the two new male and female lead dancers who had only previously been on video screens is superbly executed. Their deliberately camp marching to a gloriously OTT ‘Go West’ could possibly even bring a smile to the most cynical of Pet Shop Boys haters. The band throw in some obscure B-Sides to keep the hardcore fans happy and this whole section of the show is clearly dedicated to the glitz and glamour of New York and its equally colourful gay scene. Superbly energetic renditions of ‘Always On My Mind’, ‘Left To My Own Devices’ and the gay clubbing anthem ‘New York City Boy’ all leave me wondering if maybe more people should embrace this side of care-free gay culture, whatever your sexual orientation, maybe the world might be a better place!

Neil, now resplendent in a dark suit and the lights equally dimmed to create a moody atmosphere, it is time for the band to embark on the third section of this four-part show. Soulful balladry has always been a part of the Pet Shop Boys sound as much as classic dance-floor fillers. ‘Kings Cross’ is excellent and proof positive of what a great voice Neil Tennant has, an under-appreciated vocalist and one of the most unique and best voices of our time. Equally excellent during ‘Jealousy’ one of the (many) highlights of tonight’s show, accompanied by a beautiful and engaging dance piece performed by Charlotte Walcott and Sean Williams. Freddie Mercury brought Opera to the masses, seemingly the Pet Shop Boys are intent on doing the same with ballet!

As if to make it clear we are approaching the end section of this excellent show, the backdrop further explodes and the almost industrial sounding intro to ‘Suburbia’ sends the crowd into a frenzy. This has always been my favourite Pet Shop Boys song and it has never sounded better. The impact is incredible!
The obligatory version of ‘What Have I Done To Deserve This?’ complete with Dusty joining in via video then segues into a wonderfully camp medley of ‘Domino Dancing’ and Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’. The Pet Shop Boys have always been happy to poke fun at rock music’s more furrow-browed posturing like with U2 two-decades before and the band’s re-working of ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ with ‘Can’t Take My Eye Off of You’. This time, to further make it clear they are having a tongue-in-cheek dig at Coldplay, Neil is dressed in full regal dress to further emphasise the line “I used to rule the world” whilst equally poking fun at the groups own fall from grace over the years.

A triumphant and spectacular ‘It’s A Sin’ ends with an explosion of silver confetti all over the crowd and as the euphoria dies down they end the show with a deliberately subdued ‘Being Boring’. Never has a song seemed as ironic as the show has been anything but boring. The group of course comes back on stage for the obligatory encore and no surprises for guessing it would be ‘West End Girls’, one of the finest pop tunes ever written and of course, the bands most well-known hit.

Tonight has been an excellent show. A very different kind of live gig that’s for sure and without doubt a re-affirmation of why I have always believed the Pet Shop Boys should be held in such high regard. Never been a fan before? Then drop the prejudice and take a chance, you might actually surprise yourself.

Pet Shop Boys played Bournemouth International Centre  on July 20th 2010