Pet Shop Boys at The O2 Arena

On Tuesday we went to see those Pet Shop Boys and their new 'Electric' show at the big barn that is the O2 Arena (it was called the North Greenwich Arena during the Olympics). The lads have a new album out in July (also called 'Electric') so it was a chance to hear some of the new music before it's released. A ever, they delivered a spectacular show and had an astonishing light show.

As is often the case at the O2 we were seated miles from the stage so saw little people moving around and it was easier to see the close ups on the video screens. Chris, of course, stood behind his keyboards while Neil traversed the stage, usually accompanied by dancers. The lack of sight was made up by the spectacle of the show and it seems like the lads have re-discovered lasers in a big way since we were treated to some spectacular visuals. The sound was excellent and the new songs have a banging beat going on that made my foot tap tap tap which is encouraging for the new album.

There were some odd sequences with dancers (and, at one point, PSB too) wearing horned head-dresses that I assume is something to do with the new album but it made little sense to me. Some of the other costumes were more fun, especially Chris coming on wearing a glitter-ball as a helmet and sending shards of light around the arena and Chris wearing a mirrored bowler hat that didn't work as well as Chris's. Both are obviously influenced by the mirrored top hat of Sir Noddy Holder!

While the new songs sound good it was the hits that got me (and most of the crowd) excited. We were treated to 'Opportunities', 'Suburbia', 'Integral' and 'Domino Dancing'. My favourites were 'Rent', 'Love, etc', 'It's A Sin', 'Always On My Mind' and a big version of 'Go West'. The encore was (of course) 'West End Girls' with a follow-up of 'Vocal', the new single.

It's a show designed to be filmed and released as a DVD. A lot of money has obviously gone into it so I expect a live album/DVD pack like for the 'Pandemonium' tour. I'll be disappointed if we don't get it!