But Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowegarnered radio play throughout the latter half of the Reagan decade, andclub DJs continue to embrace the duo. A rare Milwaukee appearance on Sept. 15 at the PabstTheater found the group recalling its storied songbook in roughlyreverse-chronological order.
A stage set comprised of cardboard boxesfit the duo’s penchant for striking visual simplicity. The boxes formed ascreen for videos that accompanied many of the numbers and amoveable backdrop for choreography by four co-ed, racially diverse dancersand background singers.
As Lowe generated nearly seamlessbeats and swaths of melody behind his iBook and keyboards in a strobe-litbooth, Tennant went through a few costume changes and sang his showman’s heartout.
Tennant’s subject matter makes theBoys more than a nostalgia act in the United States. With wit andunderstated warmth bathed in multiple ironies, he traverses the sadness,joy and resignation of postmodern romance and life in general. Whenaddressing the homosexuality he shares with much of his audience(most explicitly on "New York City Boy" and a triumphal remake ofVillage People's "Go West"), there's a more nuanced humanity at playthan that heard from many current disco divas with videos onLogo.
Within Pet Shop Boys’ gayspecificity and overall minting pleasure from ennui, there's room for both sincerityand camp. That left room for Lowe to knock out a few bars of classicalpianism. The arguable height of campiness for the evening took form inTennant’s donning of princely crown and cape for a more bittersweet renditionof "Viva La Vida" than Coldplay could have conceived.
Spectacle after spectacle, includingTennant and Lowe wearing silly hats for the first of their encores, flewby with over 20 songs in about two hours. And if life can be hard, asTennant sometimes acknowledges, at least there's the occasional oasis offabulousnesslike a Pet Shop Boys concert.
Photo by CJ Foeckler
