Elio and I spent the evening at a Pet Shop Boys concert, and we had a fabulous time. I’ve been a fan since around West End Girls, and converting Elio to the fabulousness that is the Pet Shop Boys was a task I set out on very soon after he moved here. We’ve actually seen them once before together, when they played Liseberg after the release of the Release CD, but that wasn’t quite a proper concert. Before that, I also saw them during the Performance tour (1990 or 1991, I believe) when they played Scandinavium in Gothenburg. I had a ticket for the seated section then, however, so I was what felt like miles away from the stage. That’s pretty much the sum total of my previous concert-going experience.
We got to Eriksbergshallen a little bit before 18.30 tonight, and the line wasn’t too bad. They started letting people in after not too long, and after poking around the venue for a few minutes (for the all-important bathroom visit, and to refill our water bottles) we went over to the stage. There was a small crowd present already, but we managed to get good spots in the second row to the left. It was probably just before 19.00 at that time, so it ended up being about an hour of waiting (and sweating—it got very warm) before Neil & Chris got on stage.
It was well worth the waiting, though. Great show, all in all. Setlist was composed mainly of 80s songs (quite a few songs from Please and Actually) and songs from Yes, the most recent album. Behaviour and Very were also represented, though Release not at all and Fundamental only very slightly. In addition to their own songs they did a cover of Coldplay’s Viva la Vida, partially mixed together with Domino Dancing, with Neil dressed up in robes and a crown. Other than that stage costumes consisted of lots of different coats for Neil, a disco ball jacket for Chris and lots of boxes, including worn on the head by the four dancers now and then.
While there were some songs I would have loved to hear, I don’t think there were too many (if any) that I would have liked to switch out. I certainly enjoyed myself a lot, and I hope it won’t be as long of a wait as this time before we get to see them again.