There will be a blog post soon about seeing Take That & Robbie Williams on the Progress Live 2011 tour but first a brief sojourn to pay homage to the support band, the ruddy marvels that are the Pet Shop Boys.
I still have my cassette copy of Introspective. By the time I bought it off a friend's older brother who'd come over all skinhead and wanted to erase his past it was already four years after it was released. I loved it. I still love it.
I was aware of Neil Tennent first and foremost for being in the Pet Shop Boys and giving me Left To My Own Devices. At the age of 12 this lyric resonated with me "I was faced with a choice at a difficult age. Would I write a book? Or should I take to the stage?" Back then I thought they were my two career choices. I went with the writing in the end, not a book, but music journalism inspired by my favourite read of the time, Smash Hits.
And it all comes round you see. Because between those pages of tongue-in-cheek pop gossip was the legacy of Neil Tennent, assistant editor before leaving to pursue the pop stardom for himself. Here's the man who gave us 'pur-lease', 'tragic' and 'back, back, BACK!'. These phrases are still in my vocabulary and I still dream of working for Smash Hits (even though it's not around anymore).
So while his services to music journalism directly influenced me in my early career choices his music has perpetuated in thrilling me. Not just Pet Shop Boys songs but the work they've written or produced for others including Robbie Williams' No Regrets - a fantastic song which means a lot to any Thatter. For all these reasons it was an absolute honour to see them put in a crowd-pleasing support set this weekend.
I don't think Take That could have picked a better support act. The electro beats and mad outfits of PSB fitted well with the Progress set and the crowd were totally hyped at the close. We'd talked before about what we wanted PSB to play and we got all our wishes - Heart, West End Girls, It's A Sin, Always On My Mind, Suburbia, Se A Vida E and my beloved Left To My Own Devices.
I'm looking forward to seeing them again when I return to Progress when the tour hits Glasgow later this month. Once again I know I'll be applauding Neil (and Chris Lowe) not just for the performance on the night, or the hits the play, or all of the ones that don't, or the writing that delighted me as much in my formative years as now but for the influence they unknowingly had on the path my heart chose.
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2 comments:
I'm so glad the Boys seem to be being well received by the TT fans. I'm a massive PSB fan and having dragged my wife to 10plus PSB shows I thought I'd be nice to treat her to TT tickets for Christmas. Imagine my delight when the support act was announced...she couldn't believe my luck..! My happiness quickly turned to worry though as I was concerned about what type of reception they'd get. But reading the Tweets has put my mind at rest. It seems they are doing a good job. As a TT fan do you think the Pets may gain a new fan base after these shows??? I dearly hope so.
I'd love to think so...there were certainly a couple of girls around us who'd never heard their songs (assume they were from another planet) but got into it and were dancing along :)
They got the crowd going really well and without saying too much the PSB set fits perfectly with the themes they use for the TT show.
It would be great to see some more collaboration between the two bands - would love to hear some more PSB produced TT records.
For me, it was a massive treat to get to see PSB ahead of TT and I can't wait to see them again when I go to the Glasgow show. Looking forward to it as much as seeing my TT boys!
Enjoy when you go and let me know what you think :)
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