VARIETY IS THE SPICE... AND ALL THAT SAYS CHRIS LOWE

Isn't Glastonbury the least Pet Shop Boys place on earth?

"You'd be surprised where you'd find me and Neil. I used to think they'd never want us to play because we're just pop, but I've got a friend who goes every year and says we'd be surprised by the variety of music. When you're at a festival you get to the stage where you just want to hear a load of pop songs, don't you? Or maybe it's just me, ha ha ha."

What have you got planned for your show?

"There's not a lot we can do so we're just going to have a big screen with lots of back projections. We've got [vocalist] Sylvia [Tella] with us and two male backing singers and some dancing. It won't be your typical rock show. We're doing the greatest hits but there's some we can't be bothered doing any more. We might do one new song we've been working on in Berlin."

Any memorable festival experiences?
"We did one in Finland that was good. Half of the audience was wandering around naked. I've only been to one festival where we haven't played: V-whatever-it-was. It was very family-oriented - not what I thought a festival would be at all"

If you could compile the bill, which bands would you choose?
"I'd definitely have New Order coos they're dead funny and good to hang out with. I'd have Suede and Super grass as well. And Happy Mondays because I like Bez. I'm just picking

friends, really." Do you intend to soak up the Glastonbury vibes?

"I'd like to explore it properly. I might stay with my mates in one of those campers. There's an area with lots of teepees, isn't there? The Healing Field? I must make sure I find that. I'll probably end up there in a drunken haze."
Will you be using the festival loos?
"Do you mean will we be like the Maniacs last year?"
of course.

"I use Port loos they're quite good these days, aren't they? All fitted and plastic and sexy. Actually we went to Elton's charity fund-raising do and his Port loos had works of art in them. Laughs I don't suppose the ones at Glastonbury will, though."

Should you ever trust a hippy?
"Well, on New Year's Eve I was at a trance party up in the hills of Ibiza, so I don't know. I kind of like that kind of life but not all the time. Do you get hippies at Glastonbury, then?"