Gig review: Pet Shop Boys

Published on Friday 18 December 2009 22:09

SECC, GLASGOW ****

THE Pet Shop Boys rarely tour, but when they do, even the casual fan should sign up for a place in the crowd.

The Pandemonium Tour is their most stylish outing yet, resembling a camp, electro version of Pink Floyd's The Wall. It's an audacious vehicle for their distinctive strain of urban synthpop, cleverly conceived so that Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe simply take care of the setlist, while roadies in white coats and hard-hats adapt the stage set and four lithe dancers in primary-coloured cubist costumes (including cubes over their heads) attend to the visual stimuli.

At one point, this involved dressing up as New York skyscrapers – a routine notable for the brief involvement of the taciturn Lowe. A run of introspective ballads in the middle of the set was the cue for some self-involved choreography, but the party resumed for Suburbia, during which the dancers cast off their anonymity.

The Pet Shop Boys have a fiendish way with a judiciously chosen cover version – it's easy to forget that Always On My Mind is not actually their own song.

They now look set to take ownership of Coldplay's Viva La Vida, too, rendered triumphantly by Tennant, striding about in a regal cloak and crown.

And there was an unexpected bonus cover of Madness's My Girl, also made to sound like a long lost PSB track.

A couple of their best were saved for the home straight – the innocent charm of Se a vida contrasted with the gleeful mischief of It's A Sin.

A classy West End Girls was the natural conclusion to this slick and striking production, so when they returned for one final festive romp, with dancing Christmas trees, it felt like that extra helping of Christmas pud that you don't really need.