After more than 25 years of producing ground-breaking electronic music and shows that are part concert, part theater, the Pet Shop Boys (Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe) will perform their only Southern California show in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater Saturday, Oct. 29 at 9 p.m.
Supporting their latest album, Super, which is part two of a planned trilogy with producer Stuart Price (Madonna, The Killers), the evening’s show is staged by long-time Pet Shop Boys designer Es Devlin and choreographer Lynne Page. The band is collaborating for live music arrangements with Price. The performance will include songs from throughout their storied career. Over the last 25 years the Pet Shop Boys have gained a reputation as innovators of the modern live music show. They were among the first to integrate multimedia and theatrical elements into their productions.
The Pet Shop Boys first broke onto the scene with their Englishman-style rap/anthem, “West End Girls” in 1985. A string of hits followed including “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money),” their cover of “Always On My Mind,” “It’s a Sin” and “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” with Dusty Springfield.
Super debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Album Chart in the U.S., while the first single, an ode to underground, dance and raves of the early 1990s, “The Pop Kids,” made it to the top of Billboard’s U.S. Dance Club Chart this spring.
Chris Lowe explains of the album, “We did know that we were going to work with Stuart Price again, so we knew the sort of record that we would all enjoy making together. So we were sort of aiming towards that goal. And then Neil at one point said ‘we want to make it Electric but more so.’ So it was going to be even more electric than Electric. That was the idea.”
Speaking of their second single, “Twenty-Something,” Neil Tennant says, “It’s meant to be a sympathetic song because the basic message is that if you’re twenty-something it’s quite hard to get a decent job, and it’s quite hard if you do get a job to get paid enough money, and then it’s quite hard to get a flat in London. So it’s about being twenty-something in London specifically.”
With 13 studio albums and more than 50 million albums sold worldwide, the duo are considered elder statesmen in the arena of keyboard-infused music. They have won three Brit awards and been nominated for six Grammy awards.
Fans can expect to hear several tracks from Super as Tennant shares, “Yes it’s very expansive, the sound of it and of course it’s an EDM idea, “Inner sanctum.” We’ve been to clubs in Las Vegas and you think, oh, this is the inner sanctum – this is where you’re drinking champagne with the DJ.”
Pet Shop Boys perform at the Microsoft Theater Saturday, Oct. 29 at 9 p.m. Tickets can be bought here.
