Fundamental Tour
{{Short description|2006–07 concert tour by Pet Shop Boys}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2012}}
{{Infobox concert
| concert_tour_name = Fundamental Tour
| image = PSB FundamentalLivePoster.jpg
| image_size = 220px
| image_caption = Promotional poster for tour
| artist = Pet Shop Boys
| location =
| type =
| album = Fundamental
| start_date = {{Start date|df=yes|2006|06|15}}
| end_date = {{End date|df=yes|2007|11|25}}
| number_of_legs = 6
| number_of_shows = {{unbulleted list|64 in Europe|24 in North America|7 in South America|6 in Australasia|3 in Asia|104 in total}}
| URL =
| last_tour = Release Tour
(2002)
| this_tour = Fundamental Tour
(2006–07)
| next_tour = Pandemonium Tour
(2009–10)
}}
The Fundamental Tour (also known as Fundamental Live) was a concert tour by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The tour supported the group's ninth studio album, Fundamental (2006). Beginning in June 2006, the trek played over 100 dates in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. The tour lasted over 17 months.
Background and itinerary
=2006=
The Fundamental Tour kicked off in June 2006 in Skien, Norway, for the first of three dates in Scandinavia, followed by a headline appearance before a crowd of 19,000 at the Santander Summer Festival in Spain.{{cite web |author=|date=19 June 2006|title=Summer tour has started! |url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2006-06-19/summer-tour-has-started |website=petshopboys.co.uk|location=London|access-date=10 April 2025}}{{cite news |last=Gutierrez|first=Jose Maria|date=26 June 2006|title=El directo espectacular de Pet Shop Boys seduce a 19.000 personas en Santander|trans-title=Pet Shop Boys' spectacular live performance captivates 19,000 people in Santander|url=https://www.abc.es/cultura/musica/abci-directo-espectacular-shop-boys-seduce-personas-santander-200606260300-1422180809978_noticia.html |work=ABC |location=Santander, Spain|access-date=11 April 2025}} The first stop in the UK was at the Tower of London for two shows at an open-air music festival in the old moat.{{cite news |last=Price|first=Simon|date=2 July 2006|title=Pet Shop Boys, Tower of London, London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/pet-shop-boys-tower-of-london-london-pharrell-williams-hyde-park-london-1150928.html |work=The Independent|location=London|access-date=9 April 2025}}{{cite news |last=Empire|first=Kitty|date=1 July 2006|title=On with their heads|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/02/petshopboys.popandrock |work=The Guardian |location=London|access-date=9 April 2025}} The tour visited a number of other festivals in Europe, including headline spots at Exit in Serbia, the Melt Festival in Germany, Creamfields Andalucia in Spain, and Bestival on the Isle of Wight, plus a performance in Thetford Forest in England as part of the Forest Live concert series.
In October and November 2006, the tour travelled to North America, with dates in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The production was longer than the summer shows and was presented in two parts with an interval. The tour coincided with the US release of PopArt: The Hits, which had been available in the UK and elsewhere since 2003.{{cite web |author= |date=30 September 2006|title=American Tour / PopArt USA release|url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2006-09-30/american-tourpopart-usa-release |website=petshopboys.co.uk|location=London|access-date=5 April 2025}} The concert at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City was filmed and released on DVD in 2007 as Cubism.{{cite magazine |last=Cohen|first=Jonathan|date=6 June 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys Explore 'Cubism' on Live DVD|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/pet-shop-boys-explore-cubism-on-live-dvd-1051708/ |magazine=Billboard|location=New York|access-date=7 April 2025}}
On New Year's Eve, Pet Shop Boys were scheduled to perform at a Hogmanay celebration in Edinburgh, but the festivities were cancelled due to a severe storm.
===2007===
The first stop of the Fundamental Tour of 2007 was on 5 January at the Cee'd Winter Festival in Madrid, which also featured local electropop band Fangoria. In March, a new leg of the tour began in South America. The set design was streamlined for easier transport, replacing the original cube structure with a screen.{{cite magazine |last=Rushton-Read|first=Sarah|date=July–August 2007 |title=Never Being Boring|url=https://eighteentwentysix.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/PSB-feature.pdf |magazine=Lighting & Sound|page=44|access-date=11 April 2025}}{{cite web |author=|date=16 March 2007|title=2007 tour begins|url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2007-03-16/2007-tour-begins |website=petshopboys.co.uk|location=London|access-date=11 April 2025}}
Travelling to New Zealand for the first time, the tour group's plane was nearly hit by meteorites, although they were unaware of it at the time.{{cite web |author= |date=31 March 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys nearly went down in flames|url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2007/03/31/Pet-Shop-Boys-nearly-went-down-in-flames/75711175365583/ |website=UPI|location=Santiago, Chile|access-date=11 April 2025}} In Australia, they played in four locations for the V Festival and the Best of V Festival, plus an additional full-length performance in Sydney.{{cite web |author=|date=2 April 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys in Australia|url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2007-04-02/pet-shop-boys-in-australia|website=petshopboys.co.uk|location=London|access-date=5 April 2025}}
After a stop in Norway at the end of April for Bergenfest, the production toured Europe from May through August, covering the Baltics and playing multiple dates in Germany as well as the UK. Festival stops included the Garden Party in Ireland, the Eden Sessions in Cornwall, and Newmarket Nights at the Newmarket Racecourse. The tour also travelled to Asia for Singfest in Singapore and two dates in Japan for the Summer Sonic Festival. The only scheduled US date in 2007, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, was cancelled, citing "logistical issues".
In October, Dainton Connell, long-time friend and colleague of Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, died in a car crash in Moscow. A concert in Romania was rescheduled so the duo could attend his funeral, and a date in Moscow was also postponed but ended up cancelled due to elections in Russia. Other scheduled concerts went on as planned. They played back-to-back festivals in Spain at Fiestas del Pilar in Zaragoza and the Asics Music Festival in Barcelona, followed up by an appearance at the Greenspace Festival in Valencia. The Some Days Never End series at the Irish Museum of Modern Art focused on the connection between art and music.{{cite web |author= |date=19 September 2007|title=New music event to be staged in Kilmainham|url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2007/0919/411213-somedaysneverend/ |website=RTE|location=Dublin|access-date=11 April 2025}} The last show of the Fundamental Tour was the rescheduled Romanian date on 25 November 2007.
Production
=Set and lighting=
The Fundamental Tour was designed by Es Devlin, who had also designed the Pet Shop Boys' musical, Closer to Heaven (2001).{{cite web |last=Skrufff|first=Jonty|date=1 June 2006|title=Pet Shop Boys interview|url=http://www.trustthedj.com/SKRUFFF/news_article.php?news_id=5452 |website=Trust the DJ|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614042804/http://www.trustthedj.com/SKRUFFF/news_article.php?news_id=5452 |access-date=8 April 2025}} The original set featured a large cube that could be divided into separate panels and rearranged into different configurations.{{cite news |last=Sanneh|first=Kelefa|date=16 October 2006|title=No Longer Puppies, the Pet Shop Boys Are 25|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/arts/music/16pet.html |work=The New York Times|access-date=9 April 2025}} Neon borders framed the cube sections.{{cite news |last=Clayton|first=Richard|date=29 May 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys, Hammersmith Apollo, London|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7fca9f94-0df5-11dc-8219-000b5df10621 |work=Financial Times|location=London|access-date=10 April 2025}} Interior compartments covered in semitransparent material were used by the performers; for example, on "Rent" (1987), Tennant sang in silhouette on the lower level with a dancer above.{{cite news |last=Hamersly|first=Michael|date=19 October 2006|title=Pet Shop Boys electrify crowd|work=Miami Herald}}
A streamlined version of the set was created in 2007 due to the logistics of touring to South America, Australia, and New Zealand. The cube was replaced with a two-dimensional screen. Drapes and a framework of LED tubes were used to change the size and shape.
Lighting and projections enhanced the set. Lighting designer Carl Burnett created a theatrical, 1980s superclub look using overhead and floor lights as well as backlighting the screen. There was no spotlight on Lowe at his request. Imagery included net curtains for "Suburbia" (1986) and the funeral procession of Diana, Princess of Wales during "Dreaming of the Queen" (1993).
Giant cutouts of the duo's heads were brought onstage for "Always on My Mind" (1987), with dancers in different headdresses emerging from behind them in a routine that also featured a dancing top hat.{{cite news |last=Johnson|first=Kevin C.|date=27 October 2006|title=Pet Shop Boys have 'em nearly dancing out the doors |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch}}
=Costumes=
File:Pet shop boys boston concert.jpg
Pet Shop Boys' look for the Fundamental Tour was a "stylized version of normal".{{Cite AV media notes |title=Fundamental: Further Listening 2005–2007 |title-link=Fundamental (Pet Shop Boys album) |last=Heath |first=Chris|author-link=Chris Heath|others=Pet Shop Boys|date=2017|page=3|type=booklet|publisher=Parlophone Records |id=0190295921170}} The duo's main wardrobe was by Hedi Slimane for Dior Homme. Lowe had a fluorescent yellow hoodie, and Tennant wore a black tailcoat, which he accessorised with a top hat.
During the opening number, "God Willing" (2006), two performers emerged from the cube, one in a yellow hoodie and the other in a tailcoat and top hat; they were followed by two more, also in identical clothes, before Lowe and Tennant made their entrance.
Throughout the show, the supporting players wore a variety of costumes to suit the music, including dark hoodies for "Suburbia", suits for "Shopping" (1987), and gold lamé cowboy outfits for "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" (1991).{{cite news |last=Verrico|first=Lisa|date=29 May 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys|url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/profile/article/pet-shop-boys-gr375jg2jbt?region=global |work=The Times|location=London|access-date=9 April 2025}} Performing "Domino Dancing" (1988), the dancers wore vintage basketball jerseys of 1980s Denver Nuggets player Alex English. For "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show" (2006), the cast wore military gear while Tennant wore a dress uniform with medals. Jeffrey Bryant was the tour's costume designer and wardrobe coordinator.{{cite web |author= |date=24 January 2012|title=Format prize draw|url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2012-01-24/format-prize-draw |website=petshopboys.co.uk|location=London|access-date=10 April 2025}}
=Music and performance=
The performance featured two dancers—Ivan "Swan" Blackstock and Nathan Holliday—and a pair of backing singers—Nick Clow and Andy Love—along with frequent Pet Shop Boys guest vocalist Sylvia Mason-James. Hakeem Onibudo was the choreographer.
Tennant introduced the show as an evening of "electronic entertainment". The expanded performance that premiered in North America in the autumn of 2006 was around two hours long with a 20-minute intermission, which was announced with a recording by Ian McKellen.{{cite web |last=Besenyodi|first=Adam|date=15 August 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys: Cubism (DVD)|url=https://www.popmatters.com/pet-shop-boys-cubism-dvd-2496218515.html |website=PopMatters|access-date=9 April 2025}}
Lowe's keyboard setup included a Korg Triton with a pair of Access Virus rackmount modules. Tennant used a Shure SM58 microphone with Ultimate E5 brand in-ear monitors.{{cite magazine |last=Jennings|first=Steve|date=January 2007|title=Live Mix: Pet Shop Boys|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/00s/2007/Mix-2007-01.pdf |magazine=Mix|page=76|location=New York|access-date=9 April 2025|via=World Radio History}} He played acoustic guitar on "Home and Dry" (2002). A bass player and drummer joined the duo onstage for "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show".{{cite news |last=Porter|first=Christopher|date=16 October 2006|title=Pet Shop Boys, Camped Out in the Confines of Constitution Hall |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2006/10/17/pet-shop-boys-camped-out-in-the-confines-of-constitution-hall/ab2642cb-8749-4556-b879-2bac3feef3be/|url-access=registration|work=Washington Post|access-date=9 April 2025}} The backing vocalists, featuring Sylvia Mason-James, performed "So Hard" (1990) to lead off the encore.{{cite web |last=Rich|first=Jamie|date=2 July 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys: Cubism in Concert|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/28933/pet-shop-boys-cubism-in-concert |website=DVD Talk|access-date=10 April 2025}}
The set list featured song pairings by theme or style, such as "Minimal" (2006) and "Shopping", with their titles spelled out in the chorus as well as on the screens, and the Latin sound of "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" (1996) blending with "Domino Dancing". On the second year of the tour, some changes were made. A cover version of the self-referential "We're the Pet Shop Boys" (2003) replaced "Psychological" (2006) as the first song after the intro, and Lowe performed his solo number, "Paninaro" (1986). "Being Boring" (1990) appeared as an addition to the usual encore of "It's a Sin" (1987) and "Go West" (1993).{{cite web |author=|date=21 May 2007|title=Pet Shop Boys au Grand Rex à Paris|url=https://www.parisgayzine.com/news/193/pet-shop-boys-au-grand-rex-a-paris |website=Paris Gayzine|language=French|access-date=11 April 2025}}
Critical reception
Reviewing the May 2007 show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, Richard Clayton of the Financial Times commented: "... Pet Shop Boys are a great British double-act. Their costumes may change but the dynamic remains the same: vocalist Neil Tennant's urbane sophisticate supported by the stage surliness of Chris Lowe, glowering behind his synthesizer. They realised long ago that this image is a kind of trademark, and it's the point of departure for all their visually vibrant performances".
Of the same show, Lisa Verrico of The Times wrote: "For their first British tour in five years, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe returned to the camp costumes, daft dance moves and sheer silliness of their heyday and pulled off perhaps the slickest show of their two decade-plus career. Live, Pet Shop Boys' problem has always been their lack of activity on stage… This time… they had dancing doppelgangers to do the hard graft, a surreal sight in itself, and opted for a mix of musical theatre and disco".
Fixed seating presented an issue in some venues. At the Boston Opera House, Billy Callaghan of Edge Media Network observed: "Unlike the dancing which would have taken place at a club such as Avalon, at the Opera House the crowd seemed uncertain about what to do for most of the night. By the time the band ended their entertaining hour and 40-minute show with It’s a Sin, and the rousing anthem, Go West, any doubt had subsided and the crowd was on its feet dancing and singing along. At last!" Christopher Porter of The Washington Post noted a similar situation at the "posh venue" Constitution Hall, adding: "But far too few in the crowd seemed to know the songs from "Fundamental," and the tracks "Psychological" and "Minimal" kept the audience sitting on their hands. Whenever the classics came out, however, the crowd found its dancing shoes".
Set list
{{hidden
| headercss = background: #ccccff; font-size: 100%; width: 65%;
| contentcss = text-align: left; font-size: 100%; width: 75%;
| header = 2006
| content =The following set list was performed on 13 October 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.edgenewyork.com/entertainment/music/reviews/performance/46364/pet_shop_boys_at_the_opera_house |title=Pet Shop Boys at the Opera House|author=Callaghan, Brian |date=16 October 2006 |work=Edge New York |publisher=Edge Media Network |access-date=11 November 2012|archive-url= http://www.freezepage.com/1353123728PAVMWEAJNO?url=http://www.edgenewyork.com/entertainment/music/reviews/performance/46364/pet_shop_boys_at_the_opera_house|archive-date=17 November 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://blog.thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2006/10/15/Gallery-and-setlist-Pet-Shop-Boys-at-the-Opera-House.aspx |title=Gallery and setlist: Pet Shop Boys at the Opera House |author=Carioli, Carly |date=15 October 2006 |work=The Phoenix |publisher=Phoenix Media/Communications Group |access-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928175107/http://blog.thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedownload/archive/2006/10/15/Gallery-and-setlist-Pet-Shop-Boys-at-the-Opera-House.aspx |archive-date=28 September 2015 |url-status=dead }} It is not representative of all concerts performed in 2006.
- "Psycho" (Video Introduction)
- "God Willing"
- "Psychological"
- "Left to My Own Devices"
- "I'm with Stupid"
- "Suburbia"
- "Can You Forgive Her?"
- "Minimal"
- "Shopping"
- "Rent"
- "Dreaming of the Queen"
- "Heart"
- "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"
- "Integral"
- "Numb"
- "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)"
- "Domino Dancing"
- "Flamboyant"
- "Home and Dry"
- "Always on My Mind"
- "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"
- "West End Girls"
- "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show"
;Encore
- "So Hard"
- "It's a Sin"
- "Go West"
}}
{{hidden
| headercss = background: #ccccff; font-size: 100%; width: 65%;
| contentcss = text-align: left; font-size: 100%; width: 75%;
| header = 2007
| content =The following set list was performed on 20 May 2007. It is not representative of all concerts performed in 2007.
- "God Willing"
- "We're the Pet Shop Boys"
- "Left to My Own Devices"
- "I'm with Stupid"
- "Suburbia"
- "Can You Forgive Her?"
- "Minimal"
- "Shopping"
- "Rent"
- "Dreaming of the Queen"
- "Heart"
- "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"
- "Integral"
- "Paninaro"
- "Numb"
- "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)"
- "Domino Dancing"
- "Flamboyant"
- "Home and Dry"
- "Always on My Mind"
- "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"
- "West End Girls"
- "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show"
;Encore
- "So Hard"
- "It's a Sin"
- "Go West"
- "Being Boring"
}}
Tour dates
=Cancellations and rescheduled shows=
=Box office score data=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! style="width:250px;"|Venue ! style="width:150px;"|City ! style="width:150px;"|Tickets sold / available ! style="width:150px;"|Gross revenue |
| Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier
|Montreal |1,971 / 2,500 (79%) |$103,850{{cite magazine|date=28 October 2006|title=Billboard Boxscore|magazine=Billboard|volume=118|issue=43|location=New York|publisher=VNU Business Media|issn=0006-2510}} |
| Hummingbird Centre
|Toronto |2,722 / 2,722 (100%) |
| Boston Opera House
|Boston |1,555 / 2,641 (59%) |
| Radio City Music Hall
|New York City |5,961 / 5,961 (100%) |
| DAR Constitution Hall
|Washington, D.C. |2,153 / 3,500 (61%) |
| Jackie Gleason Theater
|Miami Beach |2,286 / 2,286 (100%) |
| The Tabernacle
|Atlanta |2,143 / 2,549 (84%) |
| Nokia Live at Grand Prairie
|Grand Prairie |1,759 / 1,940 (91%) |
| State Theatre
|Detroit |1,096 / 2,700 (40%) |
| Chicago Theatre
|Chicago |3,242 / 3,543 (91%) |
| Orpheum Theatre
|Minneapolis |1,558 / 2,579 (60%) |
| Paramount Theatre
|Denver |903 / 1,861 (48%) |
| Ford Theatre
|West Valley City |2,526 / 4,930 (51%) |
| Paramount Theatre
|Seattle |2,399 / 2,688 (89%) |
| Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
|San Francisco |3,621 / 4,605 (79%) |
| Wiltern LG Theatre
|Los Angeles |4,468 / 4,468 (100%) |
| Citibank Hall
|Rio de Janeiro |3,004 / 8,432 (36%) |
| Credicard Hall
|São Paulo |10,856 / 13,492 (80%) |
| Wolverhampton Civic Hall
|Wolverhampton |2,769 / 2,769 (100%) |
| Hammersmith Apollo
|London |9,134 / 9,784 (93%) |
| Manchester Carling Apollo
|Manchester |3,415 / 3,415 (100%) |
| Brighton Centre
|Brighton |3,482 / 4,000 (87%) |
| Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
|Nottingham |1,809 / 1,809 (100%) |
| Oasis Leisure Centre
|Swindon |1,755 / 2,200 (80%) |
| colspan="2"|TOTAL
|76,587 / 97,374 (79%) |$4,349,506 |
Personnel
Adapted from the credits of Cubism (Rhino, 2007).
Pet Shop Boys
Dancers
- Nathan Holliday
- Ivan "Swan" Blackstock
Singers
- Sylvia Mason-James
- Nick Clow
- Andy Love
Creative and tour personnel
- Pete Gleadall – musical director
- Es Devlin – creative direction, set design
- Hakeem Onibudo – choreography
- Jeffrey Bryant – costume design, wardrobe
- Hedi Slimane (Dior Homme) – Pet Shop Boys' wardrobe
- Andy Crookston – tour manager
- Joe Sanchez – production manager
- Carl Burnett – lighting design
- Tom Fleming – lighting technician
- Dave Waldon – lighting technician
- Dan Curley – lighting board operator
- Julien Hogg – screens operator
- Colin Boland – theatre sound
- Seamus Fenton – stage monitors
- Ben Adams – MIDI tech
- Jim Webb – head set carpenter
- Tom Keane – set carpenter
Concert film
The show was filmed at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico on 14 November 2006, and was released on DVD format as Cubism in 2007.
External links
- [https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/tour/archive Pet Shop Boys tour archive] – official website.
- [http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/extras/setlisttable.htm Songs That the Pet Shop Boys Have Performed Live] – Commentary by Wayne Studer, PhD Interpretations and analyses of every song written or performed by Pet Shop Boys
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Pet Shop Boys}}