18th June 2013: Pet Shop Boys / Jon Hopkins - The O2, London

"You have a certain quality which really is unique,
Expression with such irony, although your voice is weak.
It doesn't really matter cause the music is so loud,

Of course it's all on tape but no-one will find out..."

I may have mentioned last time that May and June saw me entering into a nice little seam of electronica, cutting like a very funky raspberry ripple into the vanilla sea of rock gigs I normally drone on about. 

Well, in terms of conventional instruments played, I think this gig sets a new record, as between the support and the main act there actually aren't any. I mean, there's a keyboard in front of Chris Lowe which he jabs at occasionally, but there's a moment in the middle of their Hi-NRG cover of Bernstein's 'Somewhere' where he just wanders off stage (leaving only dancers dressed as minotaurs in day-glo orange jumpsuits - this could only be the Pet Shop Boys) and the music keeps on playing without anything discernible being missing.

Yeah, by the way, these are some of the worst photos I've ever taken.
You're welcome.

You could complain, but it's there in black and white italics above and they've never made any secret of it. But to moan about most of the music we hear tonight playing itself is to miss the point of a Pet Shop Boys gig. They're serious electronic artists, honey, they don't need no guitars. Yes, that's right, they're electronic pioneers and dancefloor gods - what do you mean they're just a cheesy pop band?

It's a point which is hammered home tonight at every opportunity- from the title of the tour (and upcoming album), 'Electric', to the selection of banging choons which play over the PA while we wait, to the part of the gig where the duo are packed away into giant hard drives either side of the stage for one of their many, many costume changes while 'Love, Etc' plays itself with accompanying projections- and I don't see anyone complaining. 

Tonight's support fits the theme perfectly...

Jon Hopkins

...is a name that's been on the outskirts of my attention for a while, but it's not until tonight that I get to check out what the moderate fuss is about. It's hard to describe just what is so mesmerising about his set- perhaps it's the continuous flow of tracks from nervous, pulsating beats to all-out dance floor grooves and then onto Balearic bliss with a side order of morning after style chill out. Prog fans like to say their favourite music takes them on a journey, but this cinematically epic set shifts about all over the place in moods and feels, from a dark London alley at chucking out time to the beaches of Ibiza, and conjures up more mental imagery than even the colourful backdrop projections suggest.

Yes, colourful backdrop projections. Not my fault if you can't see them.

So, what's Mr Hopkins actually up to on stage? Well, aside from gyrating around behind his laptop in a most endearing fashion, he uses pads and knobs to trigger glitchy, mashy, scratchy sounds which truly differentiate his music from your average chill out compilation. With some dubstep bass here and there and the hypnotic cycling keyboard theme of 'Light Through the Veins' providing his biggest "hit", 40 minutes passes in a flash and he leaves the stage to a mixture of bewilderment and rapture from this crowd. Clearly it wasn't for everybody. 

Pet Shop Boys

...don't care whether they're for everyone or not- even their fans. Taking a leaf out of the Steven Wilson book of stagecraft, they're not even visible to a lot of the audience for the first couple of songs - being encased in a giant tent where projections and shadows bounce off the front, while banging new album opening track 'Axis' starts things the way they are destined to go on all night. A mash-up of old classic 'One More Chance' and 'A Face Like That' from last year's somewhat overlooked 'Elysium' album establish the theme of pleasing the hardcore - and in fact it's not until song number 8 that anything approaching a major hit single pops up, with a joyous version of 'Suburbia' beckoning the entire crowd (a curiously varied lot, to be honest) to their feet for a bit of a boogie.

In the interim, Neil and Chris do pretty much whatever they please - and it's clear from the new album (which you can listen to here, and you should) that they're in a mood for a dance. That, and revisiting some long overlooked corners of their catalogue - hence minor hit 'Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)' gets mashed up with 'The Clothes Show' theme 'In the Night', then there's the oddly topical 'Integral' ("If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear...") before the more chilled beats of last year's single 'Leaving', during which everyone takes the title literally and decides to go to the toilet - so many of them that I take a picture by way of passive aggressive protest. It's a shame, because it's a lovely performance, with this and 'Invisible' being some of Neil's best vocals, although he's in astoundingly good voice all night.

Knobs.

There's also time for a couple more new tracks - including Bruce Springsteen cover 'The Last to Die' (which, I suppose, is no more odd than the version of 'Always on My Mind' they play later), and the excellent 'Thursday' which give us both our first Chris Lowe trademark deadpan Mancunian vocals of the night and a guest appearance from Example, who pops in for a quick rap and a cup of tea. (Minus the tea.)

It's a bold set for the first two thirds at least (opening and closing with brand new, as yet unreleased tracks is a gamble which luckily pays off), and it necessarily does away with a few of the hits, but some of those that remain are given a makeover- 'I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing', for instance, managing to confound everyone by being prefaced with an excerpt from 'The Rite of Spring', before having the "electro" knob turned up to 11 whilst Chris Lowe wears a kind of Viking Transformers helmet.

Then there's a version of 'Rent' which I describe in my notes as 'dirty' (although I don't remember exactly why, I don't think there's any more gyrating on stage than at any other point), before they move into the home strait with a slam dunk final half hour of tracks from iconic 90's Best-Of 'Discography' including the first PSB song I ever heard, 'It's a Sin', and the big covers ('Go West', 'Always on My Mind') which personally I would live without in favour of something (anything, pleeeeease?) from the 'Behaviour' or 'Bilingual' albums. Still, earlier in the night they played my favourite B-side 'I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)' so totting up the scores I think they're still ahead.

My favourite part of this hit-tastic final section? The Latin-infused 'Domino Dancing' has always been a favourite, and it gets everyone up and samba-ing to the best of their ability (yeah, you can probably imagine), but it's enhanced for me by the two middle-aged ladies in the row behind and their "We love you Neil" banner. I hate to break it to you, ladies...

Pet Shop Boys Setlist

Axis 
One More Chance / Face Like That 
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) 
Memory of the Future 
Fugitive 
Integral 
I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing 
Suburbia 
I'm Not Scared 
Invisible 
Last to Die (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Somewhere (Leonard Bernstein cover)
Leaving 
Thursday (with Example)
Love Etc. 
I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) 
Rent 
Miracles 
It's a Sin 
Domino Dancing 
Go West
Always on My Mind

Encore:
West End Girls 

Vocal

28th May 2013: Depeche Mode / How To Dress Well - The O2 Arena, London

Part 3 of my 4-gig week and my 3rd attempt at reviewing something in 500 words. I think I wrote 500 words about the support- sorry.

You could be forgiven for thinking that I only listen to progressive rock music. Or even, rock music. Looking down through the list of old entries here does make me look like an ever older, fartier old fart than I actually am. The truth is, that I've spent ages reviewing newer, "dancier" acts (Cut Copy, M83, The Invisible) before now, but I don't move in cool enough circles for them to get much interest.

Still, there's a rich seam of synthpop and electronica hitting London over the next few weeks, and across my next 3 gigs I will see a sum total of 3 instruments with strings - all of which are here this evening; Depeche Mode being one of those bands that straddles the electro and rock genres like the Basildon colossi that they are.

Gig buddies tonight (and not biddies, as I just accidentally typed) are Tinyfish Bassplayer Paul and his wife Helen (Queen of the Apiary), who's something of a synthpop nut and has dragged "'Im indoors" along to see what all the fuss is about. Being a musician, he's also a useful person to have about at a gig, since we're too late to get close to the stage, so he suggests we plonk ourselves down in front of the mixing desk for optimal sound, and we end up standing on top of the remnants of the other night's Rush gig.

Um, what is that we're nearly putting our feet in? Yes, I thought so...

Support tonight is from Tom Krell, aka...

How to Dress Well

...who play what I remember as "Ethereal R&B", singing quite soulful vocals into two microphones at once (one more reverby than the other), while a chap on stage right twiddles knobs. Together they produce some fun, jaunty tunes like '& It Was U', as well as some much more sombre material like the beautiful 'Suicide Dream 1', where knobs-man picks up a violin and Tom gives an extremely heartfelt vocal performance which steers just on the correct side of "boyband". The songs are accompanied by sometimes interesting and sometimes downright bizarre video material; the scene which seems to be a man putting on and taking off an avocado facepack for an unspecified reason is a particular highlight.

The last song is quite anthemic, and I can imagine it going down very well in a small club or on an outdoor terrace in summer but in this cavernous arena it gets lost slightly. Ultimately, the crowd are waiting for Depeche Mode and haven't really been prepared to put in as much attention as is required, but these guys are definitely worth a listen at home. A commentator on Youtube suggests that "this is some baby making music" so that probably tells you all you need to know.

The main event is on its way, so it's time to head to the bar and pick up our rock and roll order of "3 waters", which takes a ridiculous length of time thanks to the most annoyingly generous man ever at the bar, who runs up an £80 bill two drinks at a time - firstly for his companions, then the lady he nearly punches in the face, then the people who are getting annoyed at him being at the bar for 25 minutes... All of which means that by the time I return, it's nearly time for...

Depeche Mode

...who make a fairly convincing argument this evening for the possibility of being a rock band without guitars (except when they feel like it), and also for bands from the '80s still managing to create relevant new music in the '10s.

Depeche Mode are another band, like Rush the other day, who I've only recently discovered (I know, I'm so on the pulse...) so it's testament to the quality of new album 'Delta Machine' that they manage to play three quarters of it tonight and not have it stick out like a sore Essex thumb (with a garishly bejewelled fingernail on the end, perhaps).

Kicking off with the one-two of album opener 'Welcome to My World', and current single 'Angel', is a pretty obvious statement of intent - this is no nostalgia show, and even when they reach further back into their bag of tricks, it's with a renewed sense of vigour and purpose. 'Walking in My Shoes' is suitably dark and menacing, and 'Policy of Truth' prompts Dave "I really ought to be dead" Gahan to start the first of many little bolero dances he undertakes this evening in his stunning combo of leather waistcoat and bare chest. I wouldn't recommend it for most of the bands I see, but he is a genuine rock star, commanding the entire venue by his very presence even when he's not singing.

Which is just as well, since he's rather fond of the old "get the crowd to sing the chorus" trick. So much so that he uses it again and again, certainly for the giant singalong classics. The problem with this is that Dave's got a deceptively low voice, and I don't know if you've ever tried to sing very low and very loudly but it usually involves soiling yourself, if it works at all, and is mostly quite impossible. The net result is that some of the best-loved songs this evening ('Question of Time', 'Enjoy the Silence') are essentially chorus-less, which is a bit disappointing. Still, there are plenty of pretty things to look at while we listen to the crowd trying to sing along in the style of Wookies.

Like this!

And this!

And some cute dogs. And the band wearing and swapping a variety of hats. And lights which come down like a helicopter at the start of 'Question of Time'. There's even a lot of fire, but it's just on the screens. Rush had real fire. Just saying...

Mid-set, there's the obligatory "quiet spot" where Martin Gore, with his never-aging, slightly sad clown-looking face, grabs a guitar and takes centre stage. It's an opportunity for the hardcore fans to enjoy his much softer, more melodic voice, and some of them embrace and look genuinely moved as he makes his way through 'Higher Love' and 'When the Body Speaks'. It's also an opportunity for people who only know three Depeche Mode songs to shout at each other, take photos of themselves in front of the stage, and generally act like, well I want to say "bellends" but really it's more like "modern-day giggers". Get off my lawn, hipsters.

Oh, go on, please listen to me, or I'll look even sadder... 

With Dave back on the stage, the gig makes its way to the finish line, with some of the biggest hits still to come, including a very dance-y version of newer hit 'A Pain That I'm Used To', based on the Jacques Lu Cont mix, and a slow, Johnny Cash style start to 'Personal Jesus' before it turns into the rockiest song of the evening.

It's in the encore though, that things finally come alive for the whole arena (bellends included.) A very James-Bond-esque version of 'Halo' (which turns out to be based on a Goldfrapp remix) is a surprise highlight of the entire gig, and then there's the small matter of an early '80s mega-smash hit single and erstwhile DFS commercial, which gets the whole place jumping up and down to Alan Fletcher's cheesetastic keyboard riff in a way which is rather at odds with the rest of the evening's dark, brooding set.

I bet they 'Just Can't Get Enough' of playing this song. Ha! HAHA!

A couple more bona fide hits, with occasional choruses, round up the evening and we're sent home with the sounds of 'Never Let Me Down Again' ringing in our ears, past the resident tube station busker knocking out 'Personal Jesus' for the hundredth time.

It's been a good night, with some excellent music and some proper rock star behaviour (not all of it from the band). It's hard to get too involved in a gig when you're standing right at the back of an enormodome, but Dave Gahan has a good old go at engaging every single person in the hall, even those standing by the sound desk on a pile of someone else's spit.

I will probably never, ever, forgive them for not playing 'Everything Counts', though. Surely that's the only way a Depeche Mode gig should ever end?

Depeche Mode Setlist:

Welcome to My World 
Angel 
Walking in My Shoes 
Precious 
Black Celebration 
Policy of Truth 
Should Be Higher 
Barrel of a Gun 
Higher Love (Sung by Martin)
When the Body Speaks (Sung by Martin)
Heaven 
Soothe My Soul 
A Pain That I'm Used To ('Jacques Lu Cont's Remix' version)
A Question of Time 
Secret to the End 
Enjoy the Silence 
Personal Jesus 
Goodbye

Encore:
Home (Acoustic)
Halo ('Goldfrapp Remix' version)
Just Can't Get Enough 
I Feel You 

Never Let Me Down Again 

24th May 2013: Rush - The O2 Arena, Greenwich

Part one of ‘James attempts to write a normal amount’. 

Rush are surely the biggest band that most people have never heard of, aren't they? Ultimate proof of this comes a few days after this gig when on round one of daytime quiz show par excellence "Pointless" (what can I say, I work from home…) it's revealed that only 3 of 100 people surveyed could identify the name Geddy Lee as a member of the band. Still, you wouldn't know this upon arrival at the O2, as hordes of middle aged men and the odd outlier like gig buddies Tim and Karin queue up for nigh-on 45 minutes to buy T-shirts at £25 a pop. “No T-shirt is worth queuing for 45 minutes for,” says Karin. “Not unless when you put it on, Peter Hammill magically appears in front of you.”

Actually there's a lovely, chilled atmosphere in the queue – a chap in front of me and Tim joins in with our banter, we all roll our eyes in mock scorn and secret jealousy at the blowhard behind who is proclaiming loudly about having seen the ‘Hemispheres’ tour at the Southampton Gaumont, and we have a good old snigger at the £400 Rush leather jackets. “Who would pay that much money to look like that much of a knob?” I say, a question which is answered on the way to our seats as we spy two gentlemen proudly wearing the said matching garments in a way which Karin likens to teenage girl BFFs.

Photo: Tim Lawrie

Arriving in our seats, the PA keeps us entertained with selections from Crimson and Genesis, and the gods of fate and coincidence throw a complete curveball as I suddenly realise that the chap standing in the aisle by our block looking around for his gig buddy is my cousin Adrian, who I haven't seen in possibly years. “Adrian! ADRIAN!” I shout repeatedly, in an unintentional homage to both Rocky and Alan Partridge. He doesn't run up any steps to come and meet me, but to be fair the poor guy's just had a baby, so I'll let him off.

Eventually, with only 135 words remaining, the gig starts. (This is going really well, isn't it? Perhaps I'll reset the word count now we're talking about the actual thing.) Now, here's a confession, in case you're expecting the kind of gushing eulogies I sometimes dole out to my most favouritest bands – I like Rush, I'm on the way to loving Rush, but I am basically quite a noob compared to everyone else I meet this evening. The problem is, it took me until 2009 to start listening to them at all, and at that point I ended up picking up all the albums pretty much at the same time, and in case you hadn't noticed, there are quite a lot of them.

'Subdivisions' - Photo: Tim Lawrie

Whilst this means I don’t really know anything apart from "The Hits" very well, it does basically mean that I don't care what they play, as I sort-of-know it all to about the same degree. Which is just as well, since they've decided that this tour is to be a kind of “80's to present day” tour, with lots of selections from albums like ‘Power Windows’, ‘Grace Under Pressure’ and ‘Signals’. Kicking off with one of my very favourites, ‘Subdivisions’, is a good move on their part as this completely partisan crowd goes completely batshit crazy and doesn't let up for the next 3 hours. ‘Big Money’ is up next, not a song I know that well but it's ok, a thoughtful fan directly behind me sings the lyrics directly into my left cochlea in exactly the same register, pitch and accent as Geddy - to his own beer-befuddled mind, anyway. Nobody can sing like Geddy, let's be honest. And thank goodness for that – even Geddy can't actually sing like Geddy half the time, although he's in fine voice this evening, hitting a higher percentage of the high notes than in 2011 and commanding the stage and everyone's attention more than anyone who yelps for a living ought to.

Photo: Tim Lawrie

And over the course of the evening, the band give us a master class in how just 3 men can keep a giant arena audience entertained for the whole evening whilst playing far from their best known material. Geddy switches between bass, pedals, keyboards and bad jokes all evening (“We've got about 60,000 songs for you tonight…”) and makes it all look effortless, Alex Lifeson runs the full gamut of guitar techniques from the Police-esque strumming of ‘Grand Designs’ to the far more rifftastic display of ‘Far Cry’, and Neil Peart proves several times why he's widely regarded as the best drummer in the business, not least on his two solos, the second of which breaks new ground in having his kit trigger notes and samples to create a surprisingly electronic atmosphere, continuing on into a fantastic reading of ‘Red Sector A’.

'The Percussor' - Photo: Tim Lawrie

The songs and the playing are enough for me, but then again, if you're going to play a giant dome like the O2, then why not use its capabilities? Hence there are giant screens showing both impressive modern graphics and wonderfully vintage animations for songs like ‘Force Ten’, there are fantastic light shows, and there are even giant pyrotechnic explosions which literally make me jump out of my skin. Ok, not literally, that would be disgusting. There's even a man who runs on stage in a chicken suit and throws things around, some guys with traffic cones, and a giant popcorn machine. No, me neither.

'Force Ten' - Photo: Tim Lawrie

But for me, the highlight of this evening is the second half of the set, when the band bring out a wonderful string section to accompany them for the vast majority of new album and probable personal favourite ‘Clockwork Angels’. I'm still inordinately annoyed about missing the Yes Symphonic tour in 2001, but this nearly makes up for it. Exquisite string arrangements for heart-rending new songs like ‘The Wreckers’ and ‘The Garden’ and the old classics like ‘YYZ’ cause Karin to wonder whether the band will ever sound the same again without their new wooden friends. (She might not have put it quite like that, mind.) And the best bit about this whole thing is that we can actually hear what they're playing thanks to a great sound mix– adding sumptuous harmonies here and biting riffs there.

'The Wreckers' - Photo: Tim Lawrie

For fans of classic (i.e. pre-1982) Rush, it might have been a long old, synth-and-new-album-heavy slog for the main part tonight, but not to worry, there’s still 30 minutes of the gig remaining, and following “the best instrumental ever to be named after an airport apart from perhaps ‘Heathrow’ by Level 42 – oh dear lord am I going to get it from certain people now” , the show ends with the “feel-good classics”, the closest Rush have to “hits”. ‘The Spirit of Radio’, ‘Tom Sawyer’ (sadly with real, non-South Park lyrics), and a nice chunk of ‘2112’. Who can argue with that?

Certainly not any the people we meet up with afterwards, including Bob "Top 5 gig of all time” Hodds, Matt “Loopy” Stevens, and Paul “Vitamin P” Tippett, who's even managed to catch one of the T-shirts fired from cannons on the stage.

They love lamp, you know. Photo: Oh, me!

Like much of this evening, it doesn't make a lot of sense to the uninitiated, but for those who are fully paid-up members of the clandestine society of Rush, it's the icing on the cake. Let's just say I may have learned the secret handshake this evening…


1209 words. That's actually not bad for me, honest, and I think Rush deserved it. Will try harder next time.

Rush Setlist

Subdivisions
The Big Money
Force Ten
Grand Designs
The Body Electric 
Territories 
The Analog Kid 
Bravado 
Where's My Thing? (Including drum solo)
Far Cry 

Set 2: (with Clockwork Angels String Ensemble)

Caravan 
Clockwork Angels 
The Anarchist 
Carnies 
The Wreckers 
Headlong Flight  (Including drum solo)
Halo Effect
Seven Cities of Gold 
The Garden 
Manhattan Project 
Drum Solo (The Percussor)
Red Sector A 
YYZ 
The Spirit of Radio (Without String Ensemble)

Encore:

Tom Sawyer 
2112 Part I: Overture 
2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx 

2112 Part VII: Grand Finale