Pet Shop Boys

Saturday, July 22, 2006
9:12 AM

Thetford Forest

At first, Thetford Forest might not have seemed the obvious setting for the understated, wry material created by one of Britain's best pop bands.

But if nothing else, the Pet Shop Boys know how to put on a show.

The scene had been set as the crowd made their way into the forest, braving a downpour of biblical proportions.

This was to be an epic night, as Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe sauntered through seminal songs that have provided a soundtrack for a generation.

The crowd, schooled on pop sensibilities, didn't seem entirely sure how to react to the support act, svelte, Norwegian boy rockers called Lorraine. But their blend of prancing, synth pop was the perfect warm-up for the Pet Shop Boys' more subtle blend of electronica.

Throughout Lorraine's performance, a hulking cube taking much of the stage glowed ominously.

Maybe it was a metaphor for how the Pet Shop Boys think outside the box - but as they exploded out of it to take to the stage, the cube came alive, and so did the audience.

Hit after hit followed as the Pet Shop Boys pumped out some of their most loved classics.

Left To My Own Devices resounded, with the crowd singing along to every word.

Soon after, Suburbia really hit home as thousands joined in - the lines “I only wanted something else to do than hang around”, particularly pertinent to those growing up in Norfolk's market towns.

There were plenty of songs from the latest album, but even I'm With Stupid, and Ode To Bush and Blair, couldn't come close to touching the classics.

Tennant and Lowe reached a pinnacle with You're Always On My Mind segueing into Streets Have No Name.

The first was sung in front of giant cut-outs of the top of their heads and tap-dancing top hats, the latter to a giant projected cowboy mirroring the moves of a live dancer on stage.

The heavens stayed dry for the rest of the night and there were, thankfully, no forest fires.

Apart from the Pet Shop Boys, of course, who set the forest alight.

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