Scott Spiro Blog

It would appear that Neil and Chris have taken their theatrical brand of pop show to another level with the Pandemonium tour. Although it’s not the sheer size or scale of 1991′s “Performance” tour, I’d say “Pandemonium” rivaled or past up 2006′s Fundamental Tour (Cubism) and certainly 2002′s “Release” tour on grounds of pure creativity alone.

Since June I’ve done a good job of not reading much about this tour on the web. I did not want to know the set list before I was saw the show. I did not want to see any of the videos on youtube. I did not want to be influenced by other reviews. I just wanted to enjoy the experience without knowing what was coming. I have only lightly browsed the tour program that my friend Mike Lowe (no relation to Chris Lowe of PSB but he DOES have a brother named Chris Lowe who is a fan) gave to me as a gift from the June 19th UK show. It all paid off folks!

Let’s talk about the set itself. Es Devlin did an amazing job designing a stage that is made up mostly of boxes, lights and projections. There were some great effects as entire walls of boxes came crashing down with video projections on top of them. Chris Lowe spent his time behind a booth covered with “Versa Tiles” which were very interesting. The box theme that runs throughout the show is of course inspired by the art of Gerhard Richter which in turn inspired the “Yes” album cover art. Or is that all the other way around? Either way, the sets and video projections did well to accentuate the music of the PSB themselves. So let’s get to the music..

The songs and musical styles of the show harkens back to the 1999′s Nightlife tour where some radical reinterpretations of songs and sped up beats took the place of the original arrangements. Elements of this year’s Brit Awards came through in a “Suburbia” mix for example. The show moved forward almost like a DJ set with hints of songs intertwining with full versions of others: For example, Domino Dancing’s “All day All day” line intermingled with Coldplay’s “Vida la Vida” or “Can You Forgive Her” popping into “Pandemonium”. But it’s the creativity in Stuart Price’s arrangements and Pete Gleadall’s programming that allow these musical transitions and arrangements to be so amazing. Johnny Marr’s harmonica from “Pandemonium” is singled out as a lone instrument to represent “Pandemonium” as CYFH’s orchestra hits play in the foreground. Truly, much work went into the musical direction of this show. Back in 2006, I spoke to Pete Gleadall backstage at the Fundamental LA shows and we discussed the challenges when lifting original musical elements from the backing tracks of these older songs (many of these recorded with the Fairlight) to flush out the new live sequences.

The show was divided up into multiple sections and it was the “NYC” section that I liked the most. It contained a few tracks from PSB’s first album that have never been played before including “Two Divided by Zero” and “Why Don’t We Live Together”? What was most interesting about the first track was an instrumentation from “In the Night” (b-side of the original domestic release of “Opportunities”) mixed with a heavy drum beat from Shannon’s “Let The Music Play”. This was genius folks. Pure genius because the Pet’s have enough sense to leave their original instrumentation in place but add/enhance it with these new musical elements. And yes, Chris even comes out to “dance” with the dancers for a few bars.

PSB perform “Two Divided By Zero” and “Why Don’t We Live Together”

The next section of the show opens with Chris playing a piano solo of “Do I Have To?” (a classic and beautiful track) released as the B-side of Always On My Mind and being covered by such groups as Inga Humpe. I wasn’t expecting the full track to be performed but Neil and Chris delivered the joy before going directly into King’s Cross leaving the backing beat of “Do I Have To?” playing throughout the second track. I would never have guessed this combo to work- but it did.

Closer To Heaven/Left To My Own Devices

Other highlights included a verse and chorus from “Closer To Heaven” (from 1999′s Nightlife album and of course a highlight of the musical “Closer To Heaven”) giving way to “Left to my own Devices”.

The dancers and their costumes in this show were also well received by the crowd. Having cubes on their heads was a novel idea, but also on their arms and legs? Yes it’s true and it works. The choreography by Lynne Page utilized robotic head movements that made these head cubes appear to move separately from the dancer’s bodies (it’s what the Flight of the Conchords “robots of the year 2000″ should have looked like if Murray had hired a professional crew to design them).

It’s A Sin

There was a great opening with “Heart” and “It’s a Sin” closed out the set. An encore included “Being Boring” and the signature song “West End Girls”. It’s true we missed “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”, and “Love Comes Quickly” (which appears to be performed at other tour dates) but there’s only so much you can do in 2 hours. And there’s always next time. I’ll be in England this December to visit family. Conveniently PSB will be back at the O2 Arena on the 21st of that month. Hopefully I’ll be there for round 2.

For more information and tour dates visit the official Pet Shop Boys website here.

For many years I’ve seen images of the Space Shuttle: pictures, movies, sketches, blueprints, etc. But last Friday was the first time I had seen the Shuttle with my own eyes! My friends know that I attended Space Camp twice back in ’84 and ’85. Space Camp (located in Huntsville, AL) was an experience I have never forgotten. A full week of Astronaut training culminating with a very realistic Shuttle mission simulation complete with an Orbiter simulator, Mission Control, and Space Station. As great as the experience was, I have always wanted to see a Shuttle launch and landing (though I do follow the space station as it speeds by on certain nights here in SoCal).

Last Friday when NASA announced that they had made a flight plan adjustment (due to inclement weather in Florida) and were planning to land the Shuttle at Edwards Air Force base here in California I knew that I had a unique opportunity. I packed up a few things, called the NASA Dryden Flight Research Base to find out where the best viewing would be (Edwards was closed for public viewing however) and headed out. I reached the viewing area after a 2 hour drive, arriving at Boron, CA in 105 degree heat. Luckily, my iphone had 3G service and I was able to follow shuttle communications via NASA TV which was viewable using an iPhone app called NASA News. Approximately 47 minutes before the landing time, Discovery began it’s deorbit burn while rounding the tip of Africa.

There were approximately 40 cars parked along the road in this remote part of the high desert. Folks had their lawn chairs, binoculars and looked genuinely prepared for the landing. I’ve posted my video of the landing below- there’s only so much an iphone can see but you can definitely hear the sonic booms as Discovery hit sub-sonic speeds, approached the landing cone and began a steep landing onto runway 22. Honestly, I was surprised at how high the shuttle was flying as it approached, and I would recommend viewing the movie below full screen so you can see the orbiter as it glides overhead (and it is indeed a glider as it comes in for a landing).

If you have never been to a shuttle landing, I hope you do someday go see it. Since NASA only uses CA as required (it’s just too expensive flying the shuttle back home), it’s usually a last minute scheduling change. You just need to be ready!

PS. If you want to find out when the next International Space Station (ISS) viewing is in your area, visit the NASA viewing app located here.