The venue for the night was the Wintergardens’ Empress Ballroom, Blackpool and it was filled with an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation.
The night had one support act, in the form of the gorgeous and talented Sophie Ellis Bextor (daughter of Blue Peter’s Janet Ellis) and what a start to the festivities she was! Her band was more than competent, all dressed in the finest garb of the high street and the quality of their performance was all one would expect of trained professionals, but the true highlight was the child-like nervousness in Mrs. Bextor’s as she announced that this was her first performance in Blackpool.
Now it was time for the headlining act: The Pet Shop Boys. The lights dimmed and a familiar sound of synthesizers filled the hall as animated blocks emerged onto the stage. The synthesizers and drum machines flourished as this sonic landscape before us somehow mutated into heart, at which point one of the ‘blockmen’ produced a microphone and started singing the first line, “every time I see you”. A few songs into the performance, two of the ‘blockmen’ removed disappeared from the stage and within moments we were greeted by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. I was blown away by this performance but sadly I seemed to be the one of few as the (older) crowd were simply standing on the receiving end of this experience. Where was the dancing? Where was the harmony? Not so much as a clap from the older generations and I was furious at their refusal to interact. The crowd had shunned Mrs. Bextor but I simply wrote that off as an age thing. This, however, was bordering on sacrilegious!
As the event went on, audience participation stayed at this appalling level until a cover of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida came waltzing with ill-deserved confidence in the direction of the gig. Astoundingly, the audience lapped it up! The Pet Shop Boys were clearly thinking of their audience with this one, particularly as Mr. Tennant had traded in his Mr. Ben headwear in exchange for a crown. During these few minutes, the audience and the band were in perfect harmony as they sang the pseudo-religious chorus, “I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing...” And so on.
The performance was spectacular: The flawless music; costume and set design; scantily clad dancers; projected image of Dusty Springfield during the performance of ‘What have I done to deserve this’ (which features the recorded vocal of the late, great Ms. Springfield from the original collaboration in 1987) and the heartfelt performance of Glad All Over (Blackpool’s official football song) which featured Chris Lowe in a curly tangerine wig and a sentimental speech before bidding us all goodbye.
