UK SUMMER PANDEMONIUM TOUR 2009

I saw the Pet Shop Boys play live at the Manchester Apollo on Thursday 18th June 2009. It was the fourth time that I had seen them play live and they were all in Manchester.
I arrived at 7.20pm. The support act, Frankmusik took to the stage at 8.00pm and did a 30 minute set. Now it was time for the main event, Neil and Chris took to the stage at 9.00pm wearing coloured boxes on their heads for the first track. Neil said, "Good evening Manchester, it's good to be back. We've already been to Selfridges." There was Neil and Chris on stage, plus, Sophie Duniam, Polly Duniam, Charlotte Walcott, Sean Williams (all vocalists and dancers) and lots of boxes. They did a cover of 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay and mixed it with 'Domino Dancing' which worked quite well. I bought a programme (£15) as a souvenir (I always do). At the end of the concert Neil said, "We're back again in December (referring to the new dates announced earlier on in the day)." My favourite tracks played live that night were 'Pandemonium/Can You Forgive Her?', 'Go West', 'Two Divided By Zero', 'Always On My Mind' and 'It's A Sin', and I loved Chris' dance during 'Why Don't We Live Together?'. As usual it was a fantasic performance, apart from the sound, too much bass. The production and projections were very clever in the way they used the boxes.
When I got home I booked my ticket for the concert at the Manchester MEN Arena in December, can't wait (see below).

The full UK Summer 'Pandemonium Tour' schedule was:

Thursday 18th June 2009 - Manchester Carling Apollo, Manchester, England
Friday 19th June 2009 - O2 Arena, London, England
Sunday 12th July 2009 - T In The Park, Balado, Scotland
Monday 13th July 2009 - Summer Pops Festival, Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
Friday 17th July 2009 - Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Sunrise Coast, Suffolk, England

The full playlist at the Manchester Apollo on Thursday 18th June 2009 was:

More Than A Dream/Heart
Did You See Me Coming?
Pandemonium/Can You Forgive Her?
Love Comes Quickly
Love Etc.
Building A Wall
Go West
Two Divided By Zero
Why Don't We Live Together?
Always On My Mind
Closer To Heaven/Left To My Own Devices
Do I Have To?
King's Cross
Jealousy
The Way It Used To Be
Suburbia
All Over The World
Se A Vida É (That's The Way Life Is)/Discoteca/Domino Dancing/Viva La Vida
It's A Sin
Being Boring
West End Girls

UK CHRISTMAS PANDEMONIUM TOUR 2009

I saw the Pet Shop Boys play live at the Manchester Arena on Sunday 20th December 2009. It was the fifth time that I had seen them play live and they were all in Manchester.
After a very snowy day (10cm where I live) I had almost given up hope of going to the show, it had snowed all day. At about 6pm it stopped. So I decided to take a chance, I cleared the path of snow, defrosted my car and carefully set off. I took my time as the roads were bad and I arrived at 7.40pm. The support act, Bad Lieutenant took to the stage at 7.30pm (I think I missed the first two tracks), they were on for about an hour and played tracks off their new album aswell as classic New Order and Joy Division tracks. Now the main event, the Pet Shop Boys took the stage at 9.00pm. The scale and set list of the stage production was increased from the Apollo date in June to include 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?', 'My Girl' and 'It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas'. At the end of the concert Neil said, they were embarrassed about releasing As usual it was another fantasic performance, the sound was much better than at the Apollo and I was very glad that I'd braved the bad weather, 11 out of 10. The programme was the one I'd got early in the year (reduced to £8).

The full UK Christmas 'Pandemonium Tour' schedule was:

Thursday 17th December 2009 - SECC, Glasgow, Scotland
Friday 18th December 2009 - NIA, Birmingham, England
Sunday 20th December 2009 - MEN Arena, Manchester, England
Monday 21st December 2009 - O2 Arena, London, England

The full playlist at the Manchester Arena on Sunday 20th December 2009 was:

More Than A Dream/Heart
Did You See Me Coming?
Pandemonium/Can You Forgive Her?
Love Etc.
Building A Wall
Go West
Two Divided By Zero
Why Don't We Live Together?
New York City Boy
Always On My Mind
Closer To Heaven/Left To My Own Devices
Do I Have To?
King's Cross
The Way It Used To Be
Jealousy
Suburbia
What Have I Done To Deserve This?
All Over The World
Se A Vida É (That's The Way Life Is)/Discoteca/Domino Dancing/Viva La Vida
It's A Sin
Being Boring
My Girl
West End Girls
It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas