PSB performance in Poland last summer.
Saturday, July 15th, 2000

The event takes place at Gliwice Airfield. This is the 3rd of 10 mega-festivals called "The Power Invasion" and organized by RMF FM (the biggest and the best radio station in Poland). The day is rather cold and windy, it even rains from time to time. We hadn't got such a bad weather in July for years. But it couldn¹t certainly stop the PSB fans from coming to see them live - for the first time in Poland !

When I arrive to Gliwice, it's about 7 pm. The festival started at 4 pm. but there is no rush - the Boys are to appear at 10 pm. I know that it's useless to try to get to the airfield by car and I decide to find some alternative way of getting there. I follow the crowd surging from the railway station to the nearest bus stop. Just as I get there, a bus arrives. This is not a "regular" one but when the driver shouts "Airfield" nobody hesitates. In a few seconds the bus is overcrowded. The driver shouts (he obviously likes shouting) "Hold on !" as the bus gathers speed and overtakes other buses and cars. I'm sitting next to a man with a 10-year-old boy.

"I've been a PSB fan for 13 years" he says proudly, showing me his PSB T-shirt. "Me too, actually" I answer him and we start talking as if we'd known each other for ages. The bus driver turns the radio on. They play "It¹s a sin" and someone shouts "Pump up the volume !" Everybody sing along, including the little boy next to me. "I had to take him with me - explains his father - he loves them even more than I do".

"It¹s a sin" finishes as we arrive at the airfield. "Have a good fun !" the bus driver shouts. Of course we will ! That¹s what we came for ! The crowd surges forward. When I finally reach the airfield all I can see is a sea of people - walking around, standing or sitting on the grass. The organizers claimed it would be a very big event. I seem they were right - in a huge tent you can try to operate a professional camera, learn how to surf in the net or just play games. There is a lot of food and beverages everywhere but no alcohol (except beer) is allowed, fortunately. I have my face painted with white and blue,

I put a fancy wig and finally, when the dusk falls, I get into a balloon. As it gains height, the view becomes more and more breathtaking - people look like ants and the stage looks like a match box. But it's high time I got as near the stage as possible. When I approach it I can see how big it is : 32 m large and 12 m high (2 m higher than in other towns, especially for the PSB). The festival includes Polish artists appearances. The last one finishes at 9.30 pm. Now, the stage is being prepared for the PSB. The show is preceded by a drum group.

The audience can hardly wait for the PSB themselves to appear and at 10 pm., when they don¹t turn up, about 20,000 people start making a terrible noise with their special whistles. During the preparations, we can see some of the images to be displayed during the show (including the famous one from "Being Boring"). The whistles get silent when at last the music starts to play. This is the introduction to "Some Speculation", accompanied by futuristic images displayed on the screen. At 10.15 pm THEY appear. Neil wears a shiny suit and a stetson while Chris wears a dark shirt, a dreadlocks wig and sunglasses, as usually. With them, Sylvia Mason-James in a long dress and two dancers in sailors suits turn up. They begin with "I don¹t know what you wantŠ", I am a little bit disappointed not to see them in their "Nightlife" look but I forget about it when Neil starts singing.

He sounds PERFECT live, much better than in early 90's (well, he has practiced a lotŠ). He is a great showman, too. He shouts "Good evening, Gliwice" in almost perfect Polish and immediately catches a good contact with the audience. But he seems a little surprised when he notices how many people sing along. Apparently, he didn¹t expect it. The crowd becomes silent when he takes his acoustic guitar for "You only tell me you love meŠ" and "Rent". When he finishes, thousands of whistles can be heard again. For "Paninaro" his leaves his place for Chris who makes people hysterical by singing, quite deadpan, his famous "Passion, love, sex, moneyŠ" and dancing to it.

How good dancer he is ! When Neil reappears in a white suit and a bow tie he seems older than he really is, especially while comparing it to Chris "street boy" look. I can't take my eyes off Chris. Surprisingly for me, he seems to have a good fun ! Having a broad smile and tapping his feet - this is the thing I wouldn¹t normally expect him to do ! I turn back to Neil when he approaches the audience to shake some hands. Of course, there is hysteria again. "It¹s a sin", my favorite song, is the last one of the set. By now, everybody is dancing, singing and screaming.

Then Neil and Chris wave goodbye and disappear backstage. But it's quite obvious that the audience won't let them go so easily. A few moments later, they return for the encores: "West End Girls" and "Go West" - their West Side Story. With his bow tie released, Neil looks so relaxed and Š well, luscious. At the end, he presents everybody on the stage and promises they would come back to Poland.

Will they keep their promise ? Who knows? Nevertheless, we will always wait for them, that¹s for sure ! When we are leaving the airfield, it starts raining for good. But nobody seems to care about it. I can see happy faces all around me, I can even hear some voices sing "Go West". "It's another world here, somebody's singingŠ" those words from "The theatre" come suddenly to my mind. I hope so much they will come back one day to take us to that "another world" againŠ They are both "perfection personified", no doubt about it !!!!! Well , that¹s the end of the story. As for me, I have understood that first love never dies and their music will always be with me. Not that I haven't tried to take to some other music. I did try, many times actually, but I always come backŠ I've been listening to Robbie Williams recently. I like some of his songs, "No Regrets" and "Supreme" for example but I don¹t like Robbie himself.

He looks and behaves just like one of the Spice Girls and I don¹t like them at all. There is nothing "special" about his songs - they aren't as unique as the Pet Shop Boys songs always are. And what about you - do you like him ? What artists except the Pet Shop Boys do you listen to ? And one more thing - I'm going to come to London in March to spend two weeks there. And I would like to ask you whether you could recommend any places worth seeing there, except the typical attractions, of course. I'd like to have as much fun as possible and I expect it to be a very busy holiday.

Marta
m.kowalczyk@dz.com.pl