Review Briighton Tour 1999
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Show been to : BRIGHTON
Sun, 19 December 1999
ed From: Kirsty Chestnutt . . . .
E-mail address: svelteness@cwcom.net
after spending a long time trying to get rid of my spares at the venue (bastard piker friends!) we got inside at about 7:45pm, bought some merchandise, checked our coats (with pockets full of PSB goodies) and headed into the hall. First impression - absolutely fucking empty. Although it was only 20 minutes before the gig, we were able an excellent position, and spent the remaining minutes worrying about the complete lack of atmosphere. As soon as the lights dropped, however, the crowd woke up and the place came alive. And then *there* were the Boys. 'Gosh', I thought to myself, 'I *really* love the Pet Shop Boys'.

I've now seen them a whole bunch of times (including twice in the last month) and I still get that special buzz when I get to a gig. They, to use the Stateside parlance, rock. my. fucking. world. And as usual, they more than delivered the goods. Despite the absence of one of the backing boys, the show went down an absolute treat, with the crowd screaming for more as the lights came back up. As much as I think the song is a piece of trite rubbish, even Footsteps sounded wonderful (but stayed in the back of my mind for the rest of the evening.

Grrr). The one thing that sucks though, is the inability of any of the sound technicians to get the vocal levels right. The backing vocals are generally lost (excepting Sylvia's solos and during the acoustic section), and I'm sure some people go away thinking the boys in sailor suits are just for decoration... But I have really noticed how much better Neil is getting on stage day after day. I thought he sang well at Party in the Park back in June, and by New York his voice was pretty well spot on tunewise and by Prague he was looking, dare I say, *comfortable* on stage. His performance in Brighton, however, was the best yet - his voice sounded great and he was actually in control of the space, looking completely natural up there under the lights like we

always knew he could :) Roll on Wembley. Kirsty PS I think it's notable that despite the fact the shows aren't selling particularly well here in the UK, the Boys are giving their all. I think Drico One's post about the Boys being artists rather than pop stars now, is completely true.

I, for one, am sorta looking forward to more intimate venues in the future. But then, I'm a selfish bitch. Subject: brighton gig....aww :) Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 14:23:38 +0200 From: spacey@zahav.net.il To: introspective that was no doubt, absolutely the most wonderful night of my life!!! the show was brilliant!!! absolutely fabulous!!! ....the highlights for me were: 1) at some point someone yelled "sexy" to neil and then i yelled "very sexy", and Neil heard and SMILED AT ME!! :).

i stood motionless for a few minutes..and then realised i wasnt breathing. neil's such a sweetey! 2)neil's "technical fuck up"..what a quote! then with the great kindness of the lighting engineer (or whoever...THANK YOU!!!) and dainton who let me in and saved me from those security guys who had no idea what they were doing...(thanx bear!)..i met neil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was the sweetest and nicest person on earth!!!!!!! he was so nice to us and generally he's such a charming individual....THANX NEIL! :) i love you!!! still recovering --spacey posted to the dotmusic psb forum by Brad Topic: BRIGHTON! BRIGHTON!! BRIGHTON!!! posted 18 December 1999 06:55 PM Wow! What can I say? Last night was unbelievable. "Our first visit to Brighton" as Neil proclaimed. The moment the curtain rose (or fell, in this case) was a moment difficult to describe. It's them. Here

. In Chris' case about two to three metres away. I was four rows from the front standing directly in front of him. I could seen the detail on his shoes. The place was packed. All age groups, families with kids even. It was very strange, having been a fan for twelve years and seeing them in the flesh for the first time. Chris looked rather weary as if he'd been up since the last gig (he probably had) and the sweat was dripping down Neil's face! He came up to us during 'Always on my Mind' and let us sing the chorus. I had eye-contact with him for a fraction of a second! There were some great moments. He threw something out to the middle of the audience,

I don't know what and whilst singing someone in turn threw them up a Christmas card. Neil opened it, smirked and put it down by Chris. Before Drunk, he said he felt like a member of the Von Trapp family (does that mean it's war :-) ) Chris did nothing much, but I was looking forward to him being minimalist. The end of Act One, where Neil takes the wig off and Chris shyly waves as they walked off was fantastic! The encore and… oh dear. Neil starts to sing. No one can hear him. The audience start to laugh. He realises he has been given a faulty microphone. He goes up to the floor manager and pretends to hit him in the face. He gets a fresh microphone blames "a technical f.uck up", and starts to sing 'It's Alright' Merchandise wise I bought a programme (£7), mug (£6) and poster (£3) Didn't bother the T-shirts as even the small ones go down to my knees. The counterfeiters were outside with their fake T-shirts. What a night! And, no, as far as I could see. It wasn't being filmed.
 
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