Obscure SPOILER thread - set lists, reviews etc

[DopeFiend]

While older tracks sounded great, they used a very weird synth sound for The way it used to be Chris solo. Or maybe in person it was better?

Yeah, agreed. I also found the computer game sounds at the beginning of Young Offender borderline hilarious.

i started to watch the footage for it, but had to stop. couldn’t get past those cheesy sounds… and i like Young Offender. was hoping they would perform It Must Be Obvious, One and One Make Five, or Hey, Headmaster, but no.

Yeah, sounds like an evacuation alarm.
It's meant to have sound effects from Pacman. I guess they didn't find the source.

[g_m]

Yeah, agreed. I also found the computer game sounds at the beginning of Young Offender borderline hilarious.

i started to watch the footage for it, but had to stop. couldn’t get past those cheesy sounds… and i like Young Offender. was hoping they would perform It Must Be Obvious, One and One Make Five, or Hey, Headmaster, but no.

Yeah, sounds like an evacuation alarm.
It's meant to have sound effects from Pacman. I guess they didn't find the source.

Never knew the were sampled off Pacman! Where's that info from?

[rashomon]

I LOVED those sounds during Young Offender! ... After the sublime Jam and Spoon mix, I think this live version is my favourite with that heavier synth alarm sound - it gave the track more energy.

I would have welcomed a little more experimentation like this on other tracks they played during the gigs as most were very faithful to the original recording

[Morse]

pay no heed ... these obscure concerts are not for beginners

That's pretty much the be all and end all, to be honest.

These concerts were specifically for Petheads given the long 4 year duration of Dreamworld which is largely curated for a much wider audience (plus we've already seen it).

It was nice of Neil and Chris to recognise that, in fairness.

[Fantaroux]

Yeah, agreed. I also found the computer game sounds at the beginning of Young Offender borderline hilarious.

i started to watch the footage for it, but had to stop. couldn’t get past those cheesy sounds… and i like Young Offender. was hoping they would perform It Must Be Obvious, One and One Make Five, or Hey, Headmaster, but no.

Yeah, sounds like an evacuation alarm.
It's meant to have sound effects from Pacman. I guess they didn't find the source.

It reminded me this old remix I made, haha :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8cHv7KJoqk
For sure it inspired them
(I'm kidding)

[Gareth Pugh]

What would be nice is an Onscure 3rd B side collection, with a +2CD bonus version that includes the Obscure gig

Yeah - up for that 100%
Call the standard 2CD release of post-Format B’s ‘Obscure’ and the 4-disc deluxe with the 35 live tracks ‘Completely Obscure’

[Old Soak]

BBC 6 Music have footage of Sexy Northerner, suggesting they may have more?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW8t2NWI ... c4dm9hMG9r

[leesmapman]

That looks like an audience recording to me.

[Kompakt&Bijou]

I attended on Friday and really enjoyed myself. I agree, people were so friendly and there was a lovely atmosphere. I think an alternative title for the show might have been 'Ballad' and it reminded me of Neil's comment that a friend of his came to like Pet Shop Boys for their ballads. It was a like an archaelogical dig into Pet Shop Boys' catalogue, where the experts confound the general consensus that the catalogue is built on intelligent synth pop bangers only to dig down a bit deeper to find a seam of beautiful chilled ballads in the foundations. If this was the only gig of their you ever saw, you'd agree with Neil's friend that they (should be) known as a ballads band.
Highlights for me included 'Miserablism', which felt like a new discovery, even though I bought 'Whas It Worth It' when I was a (slightly miserable) teenager. Listening to it properly at the time might have helped!
The emotional highlight for me was 'King's Cross' - a combination of nostalgia, sadness and proximity to the place itself.

[Richard-Eastham]

I was there on Friday, the only Obscure show I attended. I loved In his imagination. Quite unexpected but it landed brilliantly within the set list. It's been playing in my head ever since.

[petshopgrrl]

Possibly my favourite mini-moment of the week:

https://youtu.be/DTqIafk-Byc?si=Y3dheJmkteTfBrCf&t=6299

Chris’s little skips have been a delight to watch all week! What happened there? Did he have to wait to be unplugged?

[nicmtrt]

Miserabilism!

I never thought of it as a crowd shuffling banger, but it totally is. Especially with the extra house-piano from Chris.

Just release it as a single already!

Nobody in the audience looked remotely miserable at hearing it

Tragic that it's "obscure"

I went back to the sleeve notes of ALTERNATIVE, and that's what Neil has to say about MISERABILISM :
"It isn't a very well-known one. The reason it wasn't a b-side for any of the singles on BEHAVIOUR, was we always thought it might be a single. I still think it's a good song."

Earlier in the interview, he also says :
"In some ways when we started the Pet Shop Boys, this was the sort of music that we wanted to make, very arpeggio, electronic, sequencer kind of music."

[madsnielsen]

Possibly my favourite mini-moment of the week:

https://youtu.be/DTqIafk-Byc?si=Y3dheJmkteTfBrCf&t=6299

Chris’s little skips have been a delight to watch all week! What happened there? Did he have to wait to be unplugged?

He just wanted the music to start again so he could walk off stage dancing.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

What would be nice is an Onscure 3rd B side collection, with a +2CD bonus version that includes the Obscure gig

Yeah - up for that 100%
Call the standard 2CD release of post-Format B’s ‘Obscure’ and the 4-disc deluxe with the 35 live tracks ‘Completely Obscure’

Shut up and take my money.

Retro.

[alternativeformat]

I'll save you a job and send you my Excel file - where do you think I got this from?? Maybe you can do a better job on the pivot table.

It sounds as though the running time was about the same on Thursday as for the other nights. Maybe it was just that they played longer tracks? Requiem is nearly six minutes right there.

Sure, @petshopgrrl, I'd love to see the Excel! And maybe this would be the perfect incentivizing project to get me to understand pivot tables.

I like hearing that about the running times, that Thursday holds up by that standard. If my legs could have tolerated a second night, Friday would have hit more of my hoped-for targets than Thursday did. But I'm feeling very tender about the Thursday night experience, to be in the room with Neil singing the lyrics to all those gentle songs of his (including Always!). Not to mention shouting along to Will-o-the-wisp, Sexy Northerner, etc.

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