On Meeting the Pet Shop Boys

As any music fan will tell you, meeting a favorite artist or band can be a religious experience. One is given that rare chance to grab an autograph, a picture of or with their idols, a chance to tell that artist how much their music has meant to them, or just the opportunity to smile/wave or even just gawk at them. In my many years of fandom, I think Iʼve experienced it all with varying degrees of success. When my long-time favorites Pet Shop Boys announced their Fall “Pandemonium” tour with a chance to purchase a “VIP Meet and Greet” package, I jumped at the opportunity.

And this VIP package was not cheap, boys and girls, especially with our crazy economy right now: it was the near equivalent to buying 3 general admission tickets. I joked with friends that I had just committed musical prostitution, but I was secretly thrilled with the notion. I justified all of this by reasoning it was my own birthday present to myself (and it was, as the shows were scheduled within a week of mine) and immediately felt better. The Boys would be playing for two nights at the historic Warfield Theatre on Market Street in San Francisco and I purchased tickets to both nights, scheduling the meet and greet for the second night.

I made my purchase in the beginning of June and though a progression of events have triggered excitement for it (friends talking about it, then receiving my tickets in the mail, and finally receiving my instructions for the meet and greet) the reality that I would actually be meeting Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe didnʼt really hit me until they came onstage Tuesday, September 22, to very thunderous applause. As with each time Iʼve seen them, the ʻPandemoniumʼ show is visually stunning and like no other show Iʼve seen before. Dozens of white cardboard cubes filled the stage, with a keyboard on one end and a white cube booth (complete with Mac, presumably where Chris would be stationed) on the other. Out came two dancers dressed head to toe like living graphic objects right off the cover of their latest (and very awesome) album, “Yes,” (which is comprised of eleven colored squares--each representing an album track--arranged like a check mark). Inside their bodysuits are more boxes/cubes in interesting places, and their heads were covered with a different colored mesh box. The music had already started (the aptly titled “Magical dub” of “More Than A Dream” from “Yes”) and the two dancers tansformed into robots at the keyboard, striking keys in rhythm to the beat. Suddenly two sections of the white boxes are pulled away and out step Neil and Chris and they too have colored mesh boxes over their heads, and the dub segues into the unmistakable chords of “Heart,” and that nightʼs spectacular has officially begun. The crowd around me are going crazy and it is only the first song! A quick glance backward and to the balcony shows that the magic has touched the entire venue.

“Heart” is performed with the colorful head gear on and then when they briefly exit and return donning sun glasses, there is no mistaking Neilʼs excitement as the
music for their new hit “Did You See Me Coming?” starts and the crowd is clearly in love with it.

As their electrifying set continues to wow me, so do the costume changes, the dancers/back-up singers (there are four of them), the cubes, the projections and the tunes (from their remarkable 25 year plus back catalog) and for the first time, Chris is not just at the keyboards, he is suddenly playing these awesome electronic drums, to the delight of the audience. Here are never-before-played-live tracks “Two Divided By Zero,” and “Why Donʼt We Live Together?” where the background singers are now New York City skyscrapers and (on my second night when I was closer to the stage) their glee unmistakable as they sing through the slots in the cardboard and first dance around Neil and then as he exists, Chris leaves his platform and in his amazing “mirrored” jacket briefly dances with the buildings. It is a highlight both nights. Two of my favorite songs of the evening are the b-side “Do I Have To?” with Neil looking dapper in a tuxedo, followed by longtime favorite “Kingʼs Cross.” I have often told friends that I try not to “wish” for songs to be played at concerts, because often Iʼm disappointed. So when “Yes” favorite, “The Way It Used To Be,” starts and Neil announces the title, I think Iʼve just died happily. Those semi-tragic chords, the beat, and its achingly beautiful melody are perfection performed live.

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