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The Hammerstein Ballroom, New York
Pet Shop Boys
Concert Performance
November 12, 1999
Review by Andrew Yarrows
 
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Armed with my new MiniDisc player/recorder, stereo tie-tac microphone and two blank discs, I ventured into the cold night air, onto the 1 train downtown to 34th Street, and found my way to the Hammerstein Ballroom, where the Pet Shop Boys had stopped for two shows as the finale of their new tour’s American leg. The Boys’ new album, Nightlife, went on sale in America on November 2nd and I, of course, made certain to be at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square at 12:00AM Monday to pick up my copy. It’s excellent, by the way. Go out and buy it.
For anyone unfamiliar with Pet Shop Boys, they consist of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, songwriters who have produced many albums for themselves as well as other artists, including Liza Minnelli, Electronic and Boy George (well, in his case, a single). Their songs have been recorded by a wide range of artists, and they are currently working on a musical together. It was supposed to have premiered in London in 1998, but never materialized. A song from that musical appears on the Nightlife album as a duet between PSB’s singer, Neil Tennant, and Kylie Minogue (of the 1980s suped-up club version of “The Locomotion”) and is quite good, with interesting subject matter to boot. I hope that the project gets off the ground again in the near future.
PSB’s sound is born of 1980s European “synth-pop” (synthesizer driven pop music), the kind of music you hear in high energy dance clubs, where they have remained popular despite now courting only a strong cult following in America. They remain superstars in the UK and Japan, where they have always had better luck. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe can be recognized not only as innovators of, but also the inventors of “house” music, which would take too long to explain here. But some of you probably know what I’m talking about, anyway. Their songs are becoming classics, and critically they are very highly regarded. I don’t think their style and/or magic has been duplicated; they have a very serious air, musically, but it’s also tongue-in-cheek and very passionate. Buy a few albums and you’ll know what I am talking about (I suggest starting with 1990’s brilliant, downcast Behavior).
So, having arrived at the Hammerstein Ballroom, I noticed that three long lines of concert-goers had assembled outside of the theater’s entrance and, to my complete horror, that everyone was being frisked for weapons and/or recording devices. I made the mistake of having gone to the concert all wired up in advance, and had to quickly strip off my equipment and conceal it in the inside, breast pocket of my leather jacket. When the man doing the searching got to me, he frisked me all over and felt the heavy lump inside of my coat, asking me what I was concealing. I thought I was going to die right on the spot.
“It’s my radio,” I said blandly, attempting to conceal my terror and guilt.
“Take it out, please,” he commanded unsympathetically.
I removed the “radio” from my coat and he took it from me, examining it (actually, scrutinizing it) with a flashlight. After a second, he returned it to me and said in an authoritative monotone:
“Okay, go ahead.”
Flushed with relief, I proceeded into the theater, unable to believe that I hadn’t been evicted on the spot. I made my way into the center of the theater’s open floor and got about 20 feet from the stage before the crowd in front of me became too thick to allow further progression. In other words, I had an excellent view.
One thing that particularly surprised me was the fact that many people were openly lighting up cigarettes (and, later on, joints) on the floor of the theater. Talk about a fire hazard! Anyway, I followed their bad example and lit up, as well, although I stopped as soon as the show began.
One more thing about the Hammerstein Ballroom... It’s a dingy place. Granted, it’s clean, but the lighting is poor, excepting the fantastic lighting design of the actual performance. There are three tiers of seating above the empty floor, where standing only is possible, and supposedly Elton John was up in the balcony watching the show with his entourage. I looked up once I caught wind of this news and saw an old, hunched lump sitting amidst some serious looking people. I assume that it was him. Oh joy.
The costumes for this tour are based on the look the Boys have for their new album: spiky, punked-up hair with blond highlights. Their costumes consist of dark overcoats over puffy, pajama-like pants. Basically, they look very futuristic and slightly gothic. The hair, which is actually just a wig over their shaved/bald heads, is very convincing; Elton John could take a lesson from them. Rather than taking notes on their musical innovations (which Elton desperately needs to, his last few efforts being unbelievably dull), Elton should sit down with Neil Tennant (who is nearly bald at 45) and compare hair replacemnet techniques.
The show began late, around 9PM instead of 8. I was tired of standing around, frankly, as my legs had already begun to ache, but once the music began pounding, I got my second wind. A piercing blend of electronic sounds filled the hall as a wild series of projections crossed the large, white screen which covered the entirety of the stage in place of a curtain. The projections included electronic noise and two, holographic images of Neil’s and Chris’s heads, turning round and round endlessly as the dark choral opening to their new song, “For Your Own Good,” began. The bass was thumping so hard and loud (the volume was more than I have EVER been exposed to in my life) that I found it hard for a moment to draw in a breath. My entire body was vibrating! The images on the screen continued even after I Neil Tennant’s live vocals could be heard, and the number was finished with the projections still whipping across the screen and the screen still covering the stage. I began to wonder if I was ever going to actually see them!
Suddenly the screen fell to the stage, revealing the Boys in full costume. The hall exploded into applause as the Boys launched into a rocking, suped-up disco version of their classic 80s megahit “West End Girls.” It brought the house down.
Throughout the show PSB was in top form. Neil Tennant’s demeanor was happy and, in classic PSB style, tongue-in-cheek. They did a number of new songs (since the new album needs promotion) backed by a chorus that included Sylvia Mason James, a talented soul singer from London, and 4 black men clad in sailor uniforms (an ode to the Village People, whose style is borrowed for the instant classic "New York City Boy" from Nightlife, which was an obvious audience favorite at this venue). They also performed many old favorites (since they haven’t toured since 1991). Songs ranged from the classic “Being Boring,” to “Opportunities,” “Always On My Mind” (which Sylvia Mason James extended with a tecno-fied version of “I Will Survive” that made my hair stand on end) and “Shameless.” Spectacular lighting and intriguing stage setups made for a great visual element on top of what was a superb evening of music and audience interaction between the jocular Neil and ever-silent Chris. Neil even brought out a guitar and played an acoustic version of "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk," one of the funnier songs from their new album. He prefaced the song by joking: "Welcome. We're the Von Trapp Family Singers." It's that kind of attitude which separates Pet Shop Boys from other techno music makers; they have a very human, humorous side. Their lyrics are extremely intelligent, as well, and I do not exaggerate when I say that they are perhaps the best songwriting team in pop music at the present. Anyone who begs to differ hasn't heard Behavior or Bilingual.
In all, I had a great time seeing my favorite pop performers of all-time, for the first time, live on stage; I hope they come back to NY next year as their tour continues. My one complaint was the sound level; too loud and borderline distorted at times but, in a theater as old as Hammerstein Ballroom, I wasn’t too surprised that the acoustics weren’t great.
-------Andy
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