Discovery Tour dates: 26 October-11 December 1994
production design/Lighting design: Abigail Rosen Holmes
choreography: Les Child;Claire Eastman
I finally watched Pet Shop Boys' Discovery concert all the way through on YouTube, I would love to see this on DVD someday with a commentary along with their movie It Couldn't Happen Here.
This piece starts off with camera footage of Pet Shop Boys and their travels to Latin America, variations of locations kind of like a travelogue, which was pretty cool to see while the song "The Man Who Has Everything" can be heard at the same time. "...Pet Shop Boys wanted a performance that reflected the sense of sun and sexual liberation that could be found in places like Brazil..." Catalogue (p. 199)This particular concert was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil(South America). The tour; however, was also in Singapore, Australia and Central America. The actual concert begins with a small hint of "Tonight is Forever" and moves on to "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing," this is one of my favorite bits because of the optical illusion, not only from the visual, but also as the giant props that almost look monumental. The outfits Neil and Chris wear absolutely remind me of a Andy Warhol-esque style. They continue to wear the outfits until after "One in a Million/Mr.Vain"(Culture Beat's song), which is my favorite Mash-ups they did out of the three. The other two Mash-ups are "Left to My Own Devices/Rhythm of the Night"(Corona's 1994 song, not to be confused with DeBarge's 1985 version) and "It's a Sin/I Will Survive"(Gloria Gaynor) and also includes a cover version of Blur's "Girls and Boys" and of course The Village People's "Go West." This concert is very lively as well as erotic, I have to admit this, it's more erotic than the bits in Performance, but sex is a form of art. The line-up was pretty good, I must say! To me, it also gives a reminiscence of their previous tours. Meaning, the pieces including: "Paninaro"(even though it's the 95 version they are performing, but it's 1994), "Domino Dancing", "King's Cross", and "It's a Sin" and used some of costumes from their 1989 tour MCMLXXIX. "'...And we reused things: some of the Derek Jarman films, some costumes, and sort of brought everything we'd ever done together...', Chris said. 'It was a straight-up concert in many ways. Apart from the naked people in cages.'And the coned hats with lights on,' Neil added.'" Catalogue (p. 199) I have to agree with Neil and Chris, I did have vibes of their previous concerts throughout the whole concert, especially "West End Girls" it definitely reminded me of Performance version almost. And then the fact it's traditional concert at the same time symbolic as well. It's full of art: from dancing, visuals, props, sexuality, costumes, etc. I like the idea of reusing ideas what people have done, it's original and sometimes actually work! The nun outfit in "It's a Sin/I Will Survive" reminded me of the show The Flying Nun. "'I think this show reflects how we've changed', Chris noted. "We're more liberated, I think we're more liberated as people....Neil rejoin.'" Catalogue (p.199). I again concur, this was a very loose concert, almost like a collision of Performance and MCMLXXIX with a dash of Latin/erotic/liberated flavor. It also proves they can get with the times no matter the age range, it's also intriguing they kept it cultural and funfilled theme as well. It's a nice contrast between 80's and 90's, I must say! "' The whole thing about it was that it was a fun, sexy party show.' 'It was meant to be a party, 'Neil said.'" Catalogue (p.199) And that's exactly what it was! The only two songs that was played on guitar were "Rent" and "Suburbia" and the gold glitter jacket Neil wore is very similar to the one he wore in Performance and "How Can You Expect to be Taken Seriously?" music video only difference is that the cuffs wasn't black in this one. The "Go West" reprise had me laughing because as soon as the music goes out, then it comes right back on, and Chris was being a camera guy for a moment filming the crew and the miles of fan shouting and you have Neil introducing everyone which was respectful. The title itself "Discovery" was a combination between Disco and Very which was a creative move, because it does fit their previous material Disco and Very. A friend of mine Clare told me and she said it's also mentioned in an interview too. It also discovers how freely they can be as people and artists too, and also proving to make use of what they had done back then up to that point and even now. The tour program even have a reminiscence of "Yesterday When I was Mad" straight jacket on it.The VHS cover by Mark Farrow had the colors to represent the same colors of the Brazilian flag and the tone of the concert itself. Andy Earl's photograph of the metallic cone hats was brilliant because the sense of movement ( because of the messing with the speed of the camera) can be define and detected something fantastic is about to go on. They do have an age limit of 15 or older just to be safe. More facts can be found in their book Catalogue (p. 198-201) and other places.The format is only on VHS and Laserdisc as of now, rumor has it that it will be in another format soon.The colors were very vivid as well. It's definitely worth watching in my opinion.Oh I forgot to mention in "Paninaro", Chris does his notable turn arounds, the jacket he worn must have been heavy otherwise he would have spin a bit faster and last but not least, you see Neil doing something very unusual on "Being Boring" as in blowing a kiss.
Here's Sally Field as the Flying Nun, now compare what she's wearing to the female singer during "It's a Sin."
production design/Lighting design: Abigail Rosen Holmes
choreography: Les Child;Claire Eastman
I finally watched Pet Shop Boys' Discovery concert all the way through on YouTube, I would love to see this on DVD someday with a commentary along with their movie It Couldn't Happen Here.
This piece starts off with camera footage of Pet Shop Boys and their travels to Latin America, variations of locations kind of like a travelogue, which was pretty cool to see while the song "The Man Who Has Everything" can be heard at the same time. "...Pet Shop Boys wanted a performance that reflected the sense of sun and sexual liberation that could be found in places like Brazil..." Catalogue (p. 199)This particular concert was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil(South America). The tour; however, was also in Singapore, Australia and Central America. The actual concert begins with a small hint of "Tonight is Forever" and moves on to "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing," this is one of my favorite bits because of the optical illusion, not only from the visual, but also as the giant props that almost look monumental. The outfits Neil and Chris wear absolutely remind me of a Andy Warhol-esque style. They continue to wear the outfits until after "One in a Million/Mr.Vain"(Culture Beat's song), which is my favorite Mash-ups they did out of the three. The other two Mash-ups are "Left to My Own Devices/Rhythm of the Night"(Corona's 1994 song, not to be confused with DeBarge's 1985 version) and "It's a Sin/I Will Survive"(Gloria Gaynor) and also includes a cover version of Blur's "Girls and Boys" and of course The Village People's "Go West." This concert is very lively as well as erotic, I have to admit this, it's more erotic than the bits in Performance, but sex is a form of art. The line-up was pretty good, I must say! To me, it also gives a reminiscence of their previous tours. Meaning, the pieces including: "Paninaro"(even though it's the 95 version they are performing, but it's 1994), "Domino Dancing", "King's Cross", and "It's a Sin" and used some of costumes from their 1989 tour MCMLXXIX. "'...And we reused things: some of the Derek Jarman films, some costumes, and sort of brought everything we'd ever done together...', Chris said. 'It was a straight-up concert in many ways. Apart from the naked people in cages.'And the coned hats with lights on,' Neil added.'" Catalogue (p. 199) I have to agree with Neil and Chris, I did have vibes of their previous concerts throughout the whole concert, especially "West End Girls" it definitely reminded me of Performance version almost. And then the fact it's traditional concert at the same time symbolic as well. It's full of art: from dancing, visuals, props, sexuality, costumes, etc. I like the idea of reusing ideas what people have done, it's original and sometimes actually work! The nun outfit in "It's a Sin/I Will Survive" reminded me of the show The Flying Nun. "'I think this show reflects how we've changed', Chris noted. "We're more liberated, I think we're more liberated as people....Neil rejoin.'" Catalogue (p.199). I again concur, this was a very loose concert, almost like a collision of Performance and MCMLXXIX with a dash of Latin/erotic/liberated flavor. It also proves they can get with the times no matter the age range, it's also intriguing they kept it cultural and funfilled theme as well. It's a nice contrast between 80's and 90's, I must say! "' The whole thing about it was that it was a fun, sexy party show.' 'It was meant to be a party, 'Neil said.'" Catalogue (p.199) And that's exactly what it was! The only two songs that was played on guitar were "Rent" and "Suburbia" and the gold glitter jacket Neil wore is very similar to the one he wore in Performance and "How Can You Expect to be Taken Seriously?" music video only difference is that the cuffs wasn't black in this one. The "Go West" reprise had me laughing because as soon as the music goes out, then it comes right back on, and Chris was being a camera guy for a moment filming the crew and the miles of fan shouting and you have Neil introducing everyone which was respectful. The title itself "Discovery" was a combination between Disco and Very which was a creative move, because it does fit their previous material Disco and Very. A friend of mine Clare told me and she said it's also mentioned in an interview too. It also discovers how freely they can be as people and artists too, and also proving to make use of what they had done back then up to that point and even now. The tour program even have a reminiscence of "Yesterday When I was Mad" straight jacket on it.The VHS cover by Mark Farrow had the colors to represent the same colors of the Brazilian flag and the tone of the concert itself. Andy Earl's photograph of the metallic cone hats was brilliant because the sense of movement ( because of the messing with the speed of the camera) can be define and detected something fantastic is about to go on. They do have an age limit of 15 or older just to be safe. More facts can be found in their book Catalogue (p. 198-201) and other places.The format is only on VHS and Laserdisc as of now, rumor has it that it will be in another format soon.The colors were very vivid as well. It's definitely worth watching in my opinion.Oh I forgot to mention in "Paninaro", Chris does his notable turn arounds, the jacket he worn must have been heavy otherwise he would have spin a bit faster and last but not least, you see Neil doing something very unusual on "Being Boring" as in blowing a kiss.
Here's Sally Field as the Flying Nun, now compare what she's wearing to the female singer during "It's a Sin."
No comments:
Post a Comment