The Pet Shop Boys duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, (vocals, keyboards, occasional guitar) and Chris Lowe (keyboards, occasional vocals) may not be boys anymore — they’re in their mid- and late-50s — but the electronic pop duo have continued their ability to top the charts through the decades. Their 2013 Electric tour supports the July 2013 album release of the same name — the band’s 12th. The album was both a popular and critical success, with U.K. chart results besting any of the duo’s albums since the release of Very in 1993. Since the duo first hit the big time in the mid-1980s, they have sold more than 50 million records.
Rob Sinclair
Lighting Designer
“A Pet Shop Boys show is equal parts pop concert, Broadway show and art installation, and I tried to mirror this with the lighting. We go quickly from EDM-style lasers and strobes to subtle theatricality to all out rock show and back again. Creative director Es Devlin’s brief to me was to create moments of intense brightness in amongst the projection that appear and subside suddenly. Our solution to this was the venetian blind that allows a projection surface to instantly become a wall of light, and then a screen again, in seconds. I’m immensely grateful to Mike Bowerman, our lighting crew chief for the whole run. He’s an unflappable Kiwi and just the person to have by your side in 29 countries with very variable local equipment.
“For this tour, the band wanted lasers, and we needed to work out a way of making them an integral part of the show and not just a pretty bolt-on. We worked really hard in rehearsals to program them, and I’m really happy with how it worked out. We have lighting, video and lasers swapping prominence and cues throughout. For fixtures, we took with us some Clay Paky Sharpy Washes, which I fell in love with. They’re lightweight, punchy and with a great zoom — they did all the heavy lifting. The show has a lot of cues, all of which lock to timecode — everything is thought out and timed to the frame. I’m really happy with the level of detail I was able to achieve during the tour.
“Andrew Turner and Marc Webber from ER Productions did a fabulous job, not only of safely making the show work everywhere, but also deciphering my sometimes really obscure and impenetrable notes and turning them into beautifully executed cues. Working with Es is always an inspiration. She has a fabulous eye and can instantly tell what works and what needs attention. I’ve learned so much from her about so many things. Pet Shop Boys shows are always unique and I’m very happy and proud to have been involved.”
Es Devlin
Creative Director
“Since I first collaborated with the band back in 2000, Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have a very clear aesthetic — they know who they are, and they are fearless… which makes them endlessly experimental. The idea for every new tour has to start with the text and the music, either running with it, or around it, or against it. I find a lyric from each song and take that as my guide.
“Chris Cronin and Mervyn at Total Fabrications were a great and tireless support as we evolved ideas, tirelessly prototyping as the designs developed. I have built up a relationship over the past decade with the Pet Shop Boys team. They surround themselves with glorious collaborators — the genius costume designer Jeffrey Bryant, the phenomenal lighting designer Rob Sinclair, their inspired manager Angela Becker and their endlessly resourceful production team, Andy Crookston and Thomas Stone. It’s always a great experience”
Jon Barker
Lighting Director
“I took over from Rob Sinclair as lighting director for the North American leg of the tour and, as such, I took over the controls of the Jands Vista lighting console. The Vista is Rob’s first choice of lighting console. I have one Vista S1 for control and two Vista M1 playback wings connected to two networked Apple MacBooks (1 master and 1 backup) running Byron Version 2.2. Fixture patching in Byron is really intuitive, and I find the Change Fixture Type function really powerful and accurate. The flexibility to be able to assign the select buttons, intensity faders and flash buttons to be pretty much whatever you want is a really useful function.
“I’ve particularly enjoyed this tour due to the strong back catalog of music the Pet Shop Boys have and the presence they create on stage. It’s been great to be involved in a theatrical and structured show rather than just a gig every night. With regards to fixtures, I’ve been particularly impressed with the Sharpy Wash fixtures which are used as sidelight on wheeled booms. As usual, Upstaging supplied excellent equipment and a top notch lighting crew in the form of Ed Duda and Kenny Rutkowski, but particular thanks should go to our hard working world tour lighting crew chief, Mike Bowerman.”
For more Pet Shop Boys tour photos by Steve Jennings, go to www.plsn.me/PetShopBoysExtras
Crew
LD/Lighting Director: Rob Sinclair
Creative Director: Es Devlin
Lighting Director: Jon Barker
Crew Chief: Mike Bowerman
Techs: Ed Duda, Kenny Rutkowski
Video Content: Luke Halls (Treatment Studios)
Video/LED Director: Jack James
Lasers: Andrew Turner
Production Manager: Thomas Stone
Tour Manager: Andy Crookston
Stage Manager: Matt Gurney
Lighting Companies: Neg Earth/ Upstaging
Video Company: Video Creative Technology (London)
Staging Company: Total Fabrication (Total Solutions Group)
Trucking: Fly By Nite / Upstaging
Truss/Rigging: Neg Earth / Upstaging
Gear
1 Jands Vista S1 console
2 Jands Vista M1 wings
16 Martin MAC Viper Profiles
23 Martin MAC Auras
17 Clay Paky Sharpys
12 Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330s
20 Martin Atomic strobes
18 4-Cell Molefays
6 PAR 16 Birdies
1 RGB LED keyboard stand light
2 Luminex Ethernet-DMX8 units
2 Luminex GigaSwitch8 units
2 DF50 Hazers
