Live review: Pet Shop Boys at the Chicago Theatre

In a rousing, if not thrilling, 90-minute show at the Chicago Theatre last night, the Pet Shop Boys, purveyors of energetic synth-pop, proved that you can go homo again. I use the word "homo" because stateside at least, PSB haven't scored any major hits since the late '80s, although they continue to appease their mostly gay (and by now middle-aged) fan base with consistently good albums every few years. Yet their songs continue to provide a compelling soundtrack of the gay experience. Judging by crowd reactions and post-show fan discussions last night, each number seemed to provoke a reaction of nostalgic exuberance.

For example, the show kicked off with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe arriving on stage in fetching black windbreakers with colored cubes covering their faces to sing Heart, a song that die hards will recall was meant to be submitted to Madonna to record, but ended up becoming a U.K. #1 for the Boys instead. As images of heart-shaped balloons flooded the giant screen behind him, Tennant, sounding as droll and bewitching as ever, belted out the song's classic lines before segueing into new tracks Did You See Me Coming?, Pandemonium (which mixed in a few verses from Can You Forgive Her?) and Love, etc. from their newest album, Yes.

These tracks were fine of course, but the audience hardly seemed energetic until midway through "Building A Wall" (another new track) when the screen behind Tennant literally crumbled into a dozens and dozens of blocks that were then artfully incorporated into the rest of the show. This grand act of drama made for a nice transition into the great gay anthem "Go West," a Village People cover and a major hit for PSB back in 1993. Here we saw finely tuned dancers Jazzercising away while Tennant sang about the gay migration westward (a typically recalcitrant Lowe remained perpetually in the shadows tinkering away on his computer and beating occasionally on drum machines).

"Two Divided by Zero" and "Why Don't We Live Together?" featured rousing urban backdrops and the latter included joyful dancers dressed as skyscrapers alongside Tennant. Hits Brenda Lee's "Always on My Mind" and "New York City Boy" took the energy level at the Chicago Theatre to new heights. A section devoted to ballads like "King's Cross" and "Jealousy" proved less compelling, especially when male and female dancers played out a typically hetero normative domestic squabble as Tennant sang "Jealousy."

The Pet Shop Boys were here to deliver their greatest hits. The show wound down with a string of chart and fan favorites including "Suburbia," "Se A Vida E," "It's A Sin" (here the entire set and backup performers were drenched in lily white while Tennant alone wore black), "Being Boring" and "West End Girls." Sure, the concert was a trip down memory lane for most, but it was one to which you could tap your feet.

The set:

1. More Than A Dream (instrumental)
2. Heart
3. Did You See Me Coming?
4. Pandemonium/Can You Forgive Her? (medley)
5. Love Etc.
6. Building A Wall (incorporating "Integral")
7. Go West (incorporating "Paninaro" and "Opportunites (Let's Make Lots Of Money)")
8. Two Divided By Zero
9. Why Don't We Live Together? (incorporating "Left To My Own Devices")
10. Always On My Mind
11. New York City Boy
12. Closer To Heaven (truncated)
13. Left To My Own Devices
14. Do I Have To?
15. King's Cross
16. The Way It Used To Be
17. Jealousy
18. Suburbia
19. All Over The World
20. Se A Vida É (That's The Way Life Is)
21. Viva La Vida (Coldplay cover incorporating "Discoteca" and "Domino Dancing")
22. It's A Sin
23. Being Boring
24. West End Girls