Pet Shop Boys
Electric Ballroom, London
6th April 2026
Legendary synth pop duo Pet Shop Boys begin their residency inside Camden Town’s Electric Ballroom where they plan to perform some of their more obscure tracks from the past.
The world is full of electronic duos in 2026 but none go back as far as the chart topping, multi-million sellers Pet Shop Boys who are this week, for five consecutive nights, performing obscure B-sides, non-single album tracks and who knows, maybe the odd track from a flexi disc that may once have been sellotaped to the cover of Smash Hits in 1983?
The greatest hits tour comes later this year of course. Tonight is their first performance this week inside Camden’s Electric Ballroom, and from the off Neil Tennant informs us all again that there’ll be no hits. For some of us, we’ll only recognise one or two tunes that we sometimes wake up to at 5am thanks to the algorithm inside our electronic devices we’ve forgotten to turn off before falling asleep, but it’s clear from the start that for many in here tonight every first note of every intro is instantly recognisable and greeted like a long lost friend.
Almost half the songs we hear tonight are being played live for the first time. Atmospheric laid-back songs such as Jack The Lad (B-side to Suburbia if you’re taking notes) calm us down after a few more upbeat openers. There’ll be no fancy costume changes or flamboyant dancers on stage tonight – just Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe and a couple of percussionists, along with a set of songs that deserve to be heard either by those with the band’s back catalogue sitting on their shelves back home, or for those of us who simply like to hear unfamiliar material whenever we go out at night.
We were never expecting to get bombarded with non-stop high energy bangers this evening, however as soon as Sexy Northerner is introduced it’s phones out, hands in the air and another mass sing along. ‘It’s not all football and fags’ sing the crowd as this upbeat number gives a good indication of how familiar these songs are for this crowd tonight. It’s a song more than two decades old, a ‘fans favourite’ and still sounding just as timeless as anything the duo have provided us with over recent years. Every song tonight, as always, performed with such ease and confidence whilst also providing joyous enthusiasm from different pockets of the packed crowd.
Sylvia Mason-James, who has appeared with the band previously, joins in for a few songs, and the pre-encore airing of The Performance Of My Life is introduced as a song about a drag queen who frequented the nearby and recently reopened Black Cap pub around the corner. It’s not the only local establishment that gets name checked during the evening, as the nearby Murray Street Studios where the duo first recorded their early hits also get a mention.
The promised encore begins with Neil alone at the piano for Your Funny Uncle, the most poignant moment of the evening, before three more up-tempo tunes are served up that, again, are just as welcome to hear as any of the hits spread across the decades.
‘Here’s one you’ve never heard before’ is how their final song I Dream of a Better Tomorrow is introduced. It’s an unreleased song from Naked, a forthcoming musical the band are currently working on. It’s gets the appreciation it deserves before the house lights go on and we all know the show is over.
Not many other bands could achieve a performance like this without the temptation of smuggling in the odd household favorite, however, true to their word, we get an hour and a half of captivating non-hits that are as just as joyous as anything one could expect from this distinctive sounding band. Tonight is an achievement that needs supporting and deserves massive recognition. Who else do we have around that could do this? 1500 people crammed into the Electric Ballroom to see a band with such a huge presence in the UK music scene over the years is a rare experience and one to savour. Not only do we hear many of these songs performed live for the first time, but one feels the night could have even doubled in length and no one would have complained.
More of this behaviour is definitely required.
Set list:
Will‐O‐The‐Wisp (Live debut)
Two Divided By Zero
Jack The Lad (Live debut)
To Face The Truth
After The Event (Live debut)
Hit And Miss (Live debut)
Always (Live debut)
Do I Have To?
Sexy Northerner
Young Offender
Happiness Is An Option (with Sylvia Mason‐James) )
The Theatre (with Sylvia Mason‐James)
One In A Million/Mr. Vain (with Sylvia Mason‐James)
New Boy (Live debut)
King Of Rome (Live debut)
King’s Cross
Love Is The Law (Live debut)
Why Don’t We Live Together?
The Performance Of My Life (Live debut)
ENCORE:
Your Funny Uncle
The Way It Used To Be
Later Tonight
A Dream Of A Better Tomorrow (Live debut)
~
Words by Keith Goldhanger. More writing by Keith on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Keith on Facebook Instagram and Bluesky
Photos by Eva Pentel, supplied
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