Over the last 30 years the North East of England hasn’t had too many million selling bands to get behind who we can call our own.  We had a shared stake in the recent Police reunion, we have ongoing claims in the Dire Straits/ Mark Knofler legacy and at a real push we can claim part of AC/DC to be ours.  All the more reason then to celebrate it’s 50% stake in the most consistent electronic act of all time.

The Pet Shop Boys arrived at the Sage clearly looking for a celebration; a celebration of their back catalogue,  a celebration of their recent output and a celebration to be home.  And what a celebration they led everyone in.

With a reputation of humanising their music through it’s live performance, the PSB’s provide a visual and auditory show designed to stimulate every human sense.  They explore what it means to be human in an increasingly technological world. They make their music come alive.  They make their music human.

The consistency of their long standing characters helps provide the ambiance for the evening; Tennant prefers to walk rather than talk, Lowe has had 30 years to perfect the silent-almost-not-there role (this time being even sparser with his chat than usual- I counted 3 words (“Gateshead get ready” before the introduction of ‘It’s a sin’)).

Taken as the sum of their artistic output (music, lyrics, stage show, light and sound displays) the PSB’s can still make a claim at being the most relevant electronic act in the world.  We should celebrate our claimed stake in them as much as we can.