Pet Shop Boys bring hits tour to theaters
Despite the lyrics to “West End Girls,” Pet Shop Boys have a future, a past, are here today, built to last, in every city, in every nation, from Copenhagen’s Royal Arena to movie theaters worldwide.
On this side of the Atlantic, too many think only of “West End Girls” when someone mentions Pet Shop Boys. The duo of singer Neil Tennant and keyboard wizard Chris Lowe broke globally in 1985 with “West End Girls.” The pair never had another No. 1 in the States but spun out five more Top 10s (over in England it’s 22 Top 10s).
But forget the charts. If you love Eurythmics or the Postal Service or Robyn or disco or great pop or economic-but-biting social commentary, you need to spend a lot more time with Pet Shop Boys. Thankfully, there are new (or newish) starting points to get into the 40-year-old duo.
On Jan. 31 and Feb. 4, Pet Shop Boys will bring their blockbuster greatest hits tour, Dreamworld, to movie theaters. Filmed with a whopping 14 cameras at a date at Copenhagen’s Royal Arena, “Pet
Shop Boys Dreamworld: The Hits Live” shows off Tennant and Lowe’s talent for striking staging and features a full backing band.
Curious and want to cram ahead of the screenings? Last year, Pet Shop Boys released “Smash — The Singles 1985-2020.” Get it on vinyl and spend some time discovering what made the duo so unique.
During the big ’80s, when so many peers went for straight love songs, Pet Shop Boys spent time taking on the culture of greed. Attacking Thatcherism (and by extension, Reaganism), the duo released a series of cutting singles, “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money),” “Suburbia,” and “Rent” — all of which show up here but when you want to dig deeper get their first two albums, “Please” and “Actually.”
Over the next decade, the pair experimented while remaining a shockingly consistent pop band. Early in the ’90s, they collaborated with producer and analog keyboard king Harold Faltermeyer — try “Jealousy,” a ballad that would be fit for Broadway if it traded an orchestra for old school synths. With 1993’s “Go West,” Pet Shop Boys created maybe one of the most unlikely British Top 5 hits by combining Village People disco, Pachelbel’s Canon, an Iron Curtain military march, electro grooves, and a dash of gospel. In 1997, they somehow turned “Somewhere” from “West Side Story” into an absolute club banger.
Since then, Pet Shop Boys have done everything all over again while still busting into new artistic territory. “I’m With Stupid” is the best (and only?) hit about the relationship between Tony Blair and George W. Bush. “The Pop Kids” is an unabashed celebration of dance beats over rock guitars, layered keyboards over crashing drums. “It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas” is the cheeriest Christmas song ever to savage the holiday.
“Smash — The Singles 1985-2020” stands as a testament to the rare act devoted equally to hooks and social commentary, to constantly reminding people that dancing and thinking aren’t mutually exclusive. For another reminder, go see Dreamworld.
For tickets and showtimes visit psbdreamworldlivefilm.com