A video is posted on YouTube in which a speech, a response to some specific examples of contemporary Irish homophobia, that was recently given by an Irish drag queen, Panti Bliss (real name Rory O’Neill), is set to music by the Pet Shop Boys on a new track, “Oppressive (the best gay possible”.
On April 12 and 19 the Pet Shop Boys make their first, and second, appearance at the Coachella festival in California – the first evening performing despite a sandstorm.
On April 18, a limited edition twelve-inch single containing two new versions of “Fluorescent”, re-recorded with additional lyrics, is released for Record Store Day. The original version was the final song written for Electric: “about a model like Kate Moss, a very glamorous person”.
On July 23 the world premiere of the Pet Shop Boys’ A man from the future, their piece about Alan Turing, written for orchestra, choir, electronics and a narrator, takes place at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. The narration is by the actress Juliet Stevenson, the orchestration is by Sven Helbig, and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the 18-piece choir the BBC Singers, conducted by Dominic Wheeler. Neil joins the choir onstage and Chris plays “electronics”. The Pet Shop Boys’ interest in Turing was first triggered when Chris saw a Channel 4 docu-drama about him. A man from the future tells the story of Turing’s life and work and is based on the Andrew Hodges 1981 book, Alan Turing: The Enigma. (Hodges has collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on the work, and, as chance would have it, is a Pet Shop Boys fan whose 2008 book One To Nine: The Inner Life Of Numbers includes multiples references to Pet Shop Boys songs and lyrics). Originally it ended with Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s apology to Turing, who was hounded because of his homosexuality and killed himself, but after they finished the piece, the Queen formally pardoned Turing so they incorporated that too. Before A man from the future the evening begins with the first ever live performance of “Overture to Performance”, the orchestral interpolation and interweaving of various Pet Shop Boys songs by Richard Niles, the recorded version of which began the show on the Pet Shop Boys’ 1991 Performance tour. It is followed by Four songs in A minor, four Pet Shop Boys songs – “Love is a catastrophe”, “Later tonight”, “Vocal” and “Rent” — arranged by the film composer Angelo Badalamenti and sung by Chrissie Hynde. The last of these, the only pre-existing arrangement (it was done for Liza Minnelli’s Results) is performed as a duet with Neil. The entire concert is broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
On August 25 the Pet Shop Boys appear as themselves on the long-running BBC Radio series The Archers (it has been broadcast for over sixty years and has over 17,000 episodes); they save the day by stepping in to headline the inaugural Ambridge music festival, Loxfest. On the show, one of the characters, Linda Snell, describes what to expect: “The taller one’s Neil Tennant. He’s the singer. He’s very charming and talkative. Chris Lowe is the one with the dark glasses. He’s a bit quiet – a man of mystery”. Inevitably, her expectations are confounded.
Chris and Neil perform in Budapest, Hungary.
The Boys announce the cancellation (officially a ‘postponement’) of their planned Wotapalava touring music festival.
The Pet Shop Boys headline the Live 8 charity concert in Moscow.
They bring their Fundamental Tour to Liverpool, England.
They perform at the Old Ice Hall in Helsinki.
Neil attends the opening of the ‘Room Divider’ exhibition at London’s Wilkinson Gallery in London. A demo portion of his and Chris’s new ballet score could be heard as part of the show. Neil asks them, in his own words, to ‘turn it up a bit.’
The second PSB/Take That show at Wembley Stadium takes place tonight. This same evening sees the premiere episode of a new three-part documentary TV series on BBC2, Secrets of the Pop Song; Neil is among the participating commentators.
The single ‘Winner’ gets its world premiere on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show this morning.
The Guardian reports that Neil has expressed his support for striking workers at Lambeth College in London by sending the University and College Union (UCU) a photo of him holding up a sign that reads ‘Lambeth UCU — Your fight is our fight.’
After having spent the earlier part of the day in the studio with Stuart Price listening to tracks proposed for their next album (which hasn’t yet been titled Super), the Pet Shop Boys appear as the headline act this evening at House Festival 2015 in London’s Marble Hill Park.