The Pet Shop Boys returned to the Bay Area last night, a very appropos Election Day, and their heady melange of intense club beats, pointed political barbs and observations on gay culture took over the Bill Graham Auditorium and rocked the house. The set included a huge black and white photo of a brain on a large block that opened up to let us into its psyche, perfect for the terrific opening song, "Psychological," from the band's brilliant new album, "Fundamental." The couch on one side of the stage got plenty of action in this number, and three white transparent cloth blocks were also used very inventively.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have always evinced interest in the intersection of pop art, camp, cultural mores, world affairs and disco, and they did not disappoint last night. Their imagined love song between Bush and Blair ("I'm With Stupid") was a real crowdpleaser, ultra catchy and dancey, and I noticed lightbulbs popping on over the heads of many audience members who already loved the song but didn't realize its true import. Of course, I wasn't one of them. After all, I had read the interview in Datebook that spelled it out for me!
The new "Minimal" blended seamlessly into a nonpareil version of the classic "Shoppping" that had us all going crazy before PSB smoked us out with a chugging, grinding take on "Rent" that Lamarr particularly liked. Most of the material he is only familiar with from when I play the discs, and they took on new life for him.
There were a couple of poignant moments for me. "Dreaming of the Queen" took me back to the days when all my friends were sick and dying and it seemed no one cared and, in my own personal isolation hell, I felt I was all alone, and The Pet Shop Boys helped me to recognize that I was not, that a great many gay men had experienced what I had experienced growing up, and were suffering as the endless AIDS pandemic thundered on. I let the tears come on that one.
The other moment came with the second act opener, the superb "Numb." Also from the new album, the song details an emotional state I find myself reaching for from time to time succintly and perfectly. Tennant and Lowe continue to grow as songwriters, which was also demonstrated by a tender acoustic guitar version of "Home and Dry."
A few numbers were, of course, way over the top. "Sodom and Gommorah Show," "Always On My Mind," "Go West" and the hilarious Bono/Four Seasons medley, "Where the Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off You" found me alternately laughing hysterically and reaching down to pick my jaw up off the floor.
In the end, however, it was the incendiary new songs like "Flamboyant" and the community embracing old ones like the genius "It's A Sin" that set the tone of the evening. It was wonderful to see so many survivors partying one more time, and note so many old friends reconnecting at the concert.
Naturally all that dancing and energy release needed some replenishing nourishment, so after Lamarr and I hopped on BART and rode to West Oakland station (first East Bay stop and every train stops there), we drove to Koryo to pick up Sake Tempura, Godzilla Roll and a Deep Fried California Roll. Scrumptious!
What a gift The Pet Shop Boys continue to be.
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