The Electric Tour was

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

' 2013–15 world tour in support of their two albums ''

Elysium Elysium (), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields (, ''Ēlýsion pedíon''), Elysian Plains or Elysian Realm, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cult ...

'' and ''

Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

''. The first leg started on 22 March and ended in October in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The second leg of the tour was announced in January 2014, starting at the Coachella festival in California in April. A third leg of the tour was announced in February 2015, starting at the Festival Contempopranea in Badajoz, Spain. Notably, the tour was announced on 5 December 2012 even before the announcement of ''

'', the album bearing the same name with the tour.

Concept

The show consists of the band along with two dancers performing in front of a huge screen. The screen often projects the silhouettes of band members

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for '' Smash Hits'', and assist ...

and

Chris Lowe Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981. Biography Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in Bla ...

morphing into different colours or shapes according to each song, but it also projects other types of videos, such as visiting places of the world via

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

during "

Somewhere Somewhere may refer to: Music Albums * ''Somewhere'' (Eva Cassidy album) or the title song, 2008 * ''Somewhere'' (Keith Jarrett album), 2013 * '' Somewhere – The Songs of Sondheim and Bernstein'', by Marina Prior, 1994 * ''Somewhere'', or ...

". The show starts with "

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

" and ends, on most dates, with "

Vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

", which are respectively the opening and closing tracks of their ''

'' album. The set list has some short interludes or extended instrumental parts to allow the band to go offstage, change costumes and come back. Those moments could also be considered as links between one act and another in the show. The dancers always have their faces covered in some way. They appear for the first time during the interlude preceding " I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" and finish off on "

", both times wearing big minotaur masks.

Reviews

Alex Needham of

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

said of the Sydney shows, "Like a lot of their long career, the show walks a tightrope between pop and art, silliness and profundity. Much of it sees the Pet Shop Boys perform in extravangant outfits (fluorescent orange jackets; a disco ball which entirely covers Lowe’s head) in front of specially-made films ranging from Google Earth images for Somewhere to equations for Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)." Robert Collins of CTV British Columbia said of the Vancouver show, "... they comprehensively proved how ideas are at the heart of pop stardom."

Setlist

Tour dates

Personnel

Pet Shop Boys *

Dancers *Merry Holden *Tom Herron Creative and tour personnel *

Es Devlin Esmeralda Devlin (; born 24 September 1971) is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. She has received several accolades including a Tony Award ...

– creative director and set design *Rob Sinclair – lighting design *Andrew Turner – laser design *Luke Halls – video content *Jack James – video/LED director *Jeffrey Bryant – costume design *Andy Crookston – tour manager *Thomas Stone – production manager *Matt Gurney – stage manager *Holger Schwark – sound engineer *Seamus Fenton – monitor engineer *Jon Barker – lighting director *Michael Bowerman – lighting crew chief *Ed Duda – lighting technician *Kenny Rutkowski – lighting technician

References

{{Pet Shop Boys 2013 concert tours 2014 concert tours 2015 concert tours Concert tours of Argentina Concert tours of Australia Concert tours of Austria Concert tours of Belgium Concert tours of Brazil Concert tours of Chile Concert tours of China Concert tours of Colombia Concert tours of the Czech Republic Concert tours of Denmark Concert tours of Estonia Concert tours of Finland Concert tours of France Concert tours of Germany Concert tours of Greece Concert tours of Hong Kong Concert tours of Hungary Concert tours of Indonesia Concert tours of Ireland Concert tours of Israel Concert tours of Italy Concert tours of Japan Concert tours of Latvia Concert tours of Lebanon Concert tours of Malaysia Concert tours of Mexico Concert tours of the Netherlands Concert tours of Paraguay Concert tours of the Philippines Concert tours of Poland Concert tours of Russia Concert tours of Serbia Concert tours of Singapore Concert tours of Slovenia Concert tours of South Africa Concert tours of South Korea Concert tours of Spain Concert tours of Sweden Concert tours of Switzerland Concert tours of Taiwan Concert tours of Thailand Concert tours of the United Kingdom Concert tours of the United States Concert tours of Uruguay Pet Shop Boys concert tours