Skip to navigation Skip to content

History

March 2011

On March 14 a double-CD of the music from the ballet The Most Incredible Thing is released under the name Tennant/Lowe. It contains the full performance score of the ballet with orchestrations by Sven Helbig.

2011 March

On March 17 the ballet The Most Incredible Thing has its first public performance at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Its genesis can be traced back to a week in where, by chance, two initially unrelated events took place. Ivan Putrov, a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet whom the Pet Shop Boys had got to know through Sam Taylor-Wood, called Neil to ask whether they would write a piece for him to dance to. Two days later, before Neil had even had a chance to ask Chris, Chris called to say that he’d just read a story in a new translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales that he thought would make a great ballet: “The Most Incredible Thing”. This eventually led to the Sadler’s Wells production, choreographed by Javier de Frutos and starring Ivan Putrov, Clemmie Sveaas and Aaron Sillis. All ten performances sell out.

May 2011

On May 27 the Pet Shop Boys appear at the Sunderland Stadium of Light, joining Take That at their invitation as “special guests” on their first reunion concerts as a five-piece on what will be the biggest British tour ever – 29 British stadium shows – followed by a short European leg. “45 minutes of intensity,” says Chris.

December 2011

On December 31 the Pet Shop Boys appear at a New Year’s Eve concert on an island in Sydney Harbour.

On this day

1993

‘I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing’ is released as a single.

1997

The Boys’ rendition of ‘Somewhere’ peaks at #125 on the U.S. singles chart.

2000

Chris and Neil write the song ‘Home and Dry.’

2005

Neil attends a brief (five-song) live set by Madonna at London’s Koko Club. Afterward he goes to the Groucho Club with Bernard Sumner.

2010

Tickets go on sale today for the premiere run at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre in March 2011 of the ballet The Most Incredible Thing, with music composed by Tennant and Lowe.

2011

The official PSB website announces that the Boys will be performing at the upcoming New Year’s Eve festivities in Sydney, Australia, where they will present their entire Pandemonium Tour show ‘Down Under’ for the first time. Also slated to appear on the same bill are Culture Club, Jamiroquai, and Pseudo Echo, among others.

2014

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City begins today a year-long exhibition titled Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye, much of which concerns album cover design. Mark Farrow’s design for the PSB album Introspective is among the items exhibited.

2015

Neil, along with the Boys’ collaborator, playwright Jonathan Harvey, and the original Billie Trix, Frances Barber, attend this afternoon’s matinee performance of Closer to Heaven at London’s Union Theatre and meet with the cast after the show.

2016

The Boys perform this evening in St. Petersburg, Florida.

2018

They work at length on ‘Hoping for a Miracle,’ including Chris’s piano part on the track.

2024

The double-single ‘New London Boy’/‘All the Young Dudes’ is released in physical format today.