Those of you who drop into Adam‘s Bagging Area will have read his glowing take on the Pet Shop Boys performance at the Manchester Arena when they played there in late May.
He’s not alone in praising the show, with just about every reviewer rushing to give it five stars, whether it was the set they had seen in Manchester, London, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow or Hull.
I’m not going to waste your time by repeating what everyone else has said suffice to add that the Glasgow gig was jaw-dropping in many places. They are at Glastonbury this coming weekend, and while the festival goers are unlikely to get the full two-hour extravaganza, they will not be cheated as the set will no doubt be drawn entirely from the songs they aired during the recent sojourn around the UK.
Suburbia, Can You Forgive Her? Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You) Rent I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More So Hard Left to My Own Devices Single-Bilingual / Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is) Domino Dancing Monkey Business New York City Boy You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk Jealousy Love Comes Quickly Losing My Mind You Were Always on My Mind Dreamland Heart What Have I Done to Deserve This? It's Alright Vocal Go West It's a Sin West End Girls Being Boring.
Far too many highlights to mention, but if forced to choose just the one, it would be Left To My Own Devices, which really came into its own when blasted out at full volume in front of 12,000 ecstatic fans who had waited two years for a great night out – the tour had originally been scheduled for Spring 2020. Neil and Chris stuck to the 7″ version that went to #4 in the singles chart at the end of 1988. I’d have loved it if they had treated us to this take on things:-
mp3 : Pet Shop Boys – Left To My Own Devices (Disco Mix)
Eleven plus minutes worth. As made available on the 12″ version of the single. It’s one I’ve long been on the hunt for a good quality copy at a reasonable price, but no joy.