Pet Shop Boys Community

NOTE - I posted this same question on the InDepth podcast thread as a suggestion for a future episode.

How is the PSB live set-up configured?

Using Obscure as a reference (but my question applies to Dreamworld too):

- How were the recorded studio tracks reworked for a live performance?
- Which parts did Chris play?
- Which parts did Clare play?
- How and who decides on this split?
- Drum parts and percussion were played live by Max but not all parts, which parts were his and why?
- Which parts of the rhythm tracks remained pre-recorded and which bit were taken out and swapped for Max’s live playing? How is this decided? Is there a ‘rule of thumb’ here about how to decide this?
- What does Pete Gleadhall do on the night, in the moment? I sort of understand his studio role, but what’s his job (and his assistant’s job) during a live show?
- What appears on Chris’s screen?

I was at the last night of Obscure, and when Neil introduced the band, he said something like: “Here is computer corner, I don’t know what goes on here, but here we have Pete!”

Also, on the final night of Obscure, as Positive Role Model kicked in, Chris was looking over his shoulder to Pete and pointing at his screen. Pete’s head then popped up from behind his monitor and he and Chris exchanged words or looks, communicated somehow. Chris then goes back to his set up, before turning to Pete and giving him the thumbs up. So something went wrong and then was made right. All this got me thinking about how it all happens live, hence this post.

It was a thrill watching Chris play live, close up. If there was one precise moment from Obscure that was the best for me it was Chris playing the four notes with the guitar sound in Why don’t we live together that come immediately after the lines, “I/you may not care” – and he played these on the lower half of his Native Instruments keyboard controller. Meanwhile, the other half of the controller was set for the chimes/bell sounds of the main melody. So that one keyboard appeared to have split sounds for that song. How does this work? I assume the controller is reset for each song? How does this happen and who does this? Is this one of Pete's tasks?

I kept peering at the reflection in Chris’s sunglasses to try to see if I could glimpse what was on his monitor screen but couldn’t see anything. Inscrutable to the end

I am fascinated by all this and would love to know more.

Richard.

I can't help with much of this but I do know that Chris is reading a musical score, travelling across his screen.

Sandy Shaw wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 3:41 pm I can't help with much of this but I do know that Chris is reading a musical score, travelling across his screen.

Yes, that's right. In this BBC Breakfast interview he explains this (see from around 11'40" onwards) that it's all on his screen, as he can't remember anything. Rather brilliantly, he gives the example of Paninaro that although it's only a minor vocal, each word comes up on screen in the right order, much to Neil's surprise and amusement. But Chris says it's only six words, when it is in fact eight - he really can't remember, can he?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbqWdPF5x4&t=694s

It's all on tape I'd imagine....

There's is a big blueprint of how all the various bits of equipment hangs together used as a background in the Dreamworld tour program but it's not the easiest thing to read.

My basic understanding of the whole setup in general is that each keyboard on stage acts as a controller and can be programmed for different sounds depending on the song and different parts of the keyboard can be programmed for different sounds like in the example you gave.

The guts of each track is pre-programmed and probably runs from something like Logic which is what Pete programs and looks after on stage, along with I'm sure a big stack of synth modules and compressors, sequencers and the like which all sync together over midi and a shared time code. And then Chris and Clare and whoever, play the live stuff over all that.

There is a Depeche Mode bootleg of the backing tapes used for the World Violation tour and that's basically just the drum track, percussion, bass and other random noises and is actually quite fascinating to listen to to see just how much stuff they did play live on that tour.

raggatwin wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 5:56 pm It's all on tape I'd imagine....

... but no one will find out

greenmile wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 6:08 pm There's is a big blueprint of how all the various bits of equipment hangs together used as a background in the Dreamworld tour program but it's not the easiest thing to read.

Thanks! I recall that diagram too, and while fascinating was difficult to understand without context, as you say. Made for a great "wallpaper" in the programme, though

raggatwin wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 5:56 pm It's all on tape I'd imagine....

Actually it isn't. In the early 80s, synth bands like Depeche Mode used analogue tape recorders that had the backing track over which one or two members played their live parts. Usually these contained the drums, sound effects and sequenced parts, whereas chords and melodies were usually played live. Sometimes the reel to reel player was prominent on stage even. In DM's 101 documentary Alan Wilder explains how he made these tapes, that they had a copy of the tape running in sync in case the main one failed etc. and demoed some of the parts and sounds he played live.He also explains how it is decided who plays what parts.

Nowadays (since the 90s) it is all MIDI based. The Somewhere documentary shows Pete explaining this. Most of the music is generated live but not played live, with only lead synths played by Chris. I think Pete says something like "90% you hear is not played live". Pete is the programmer who controls all this using a PC or Mac. Since the late 90s, Chris has started playing a lot more live though and they now also use a second keyboardist. Still, the basic track is not played live but MIDI generated, but on the current live videos you can see that Chris plays complex chord sequences with both hands (whereas during eg Performance he did not play anything, only mimed, or played things like the West End Girls one-finger bass part).

I actually enjoy the current live shows much more than the '89 tour and Performance because of this, which were more theatre than live music.

oakey wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 7:58 pm

raggatwin wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 5:56 pm It's all on tape I'd imagine....

Actually it isn't. In the early 80s, synth bands like Depeche Mode used analogue tape recorders that had the backing track over which one or two members played their live parts. Usually these contained the drums, sound effects and sequenced parts, whereas chords and melodies were usually played live. Sometimes the reel to reel player was prominent on stage even. In DM's 101 documentary Alan Wilder explains how he made these tapes, that they had a copy of the tape running in sync in case the main one filed etc. and demoed some of the parts and sounds he played live.He also explains how it is decided who plays what parts.

Nowadays (since the 90s) it is all MIDI based. The Somewhere documentary shows Pete explaining this. Most of the music is generated live but not played live, with only lead synths played by Chris. I think Pete says something like "90% you hear is not played live". Pete is the programmer who controls all this using a PC or Mac. Since the late 90s, Chris has started playing a lot more live though and they now also use a second keyboardist. Still, the basic track is not played live but MIDI generated, but on the current live videos you can see that Chris plays complex chord sequences with both hands (whereas during eg Performance he did not play anything, only mimed, or played things like the West End Girls one-finger bass part).

I actually enjoy the current live shows much more than the '89 tour and Performance because of this, which were more theatre than live music.

It was am in joke I thought

They have a rack of MacBook Pros running Apple MainStage, which is a sort of version of Logic optimised for live performance. I’m pretty sure it’s all plugins nowadays and that there are no hardware synths or samplers in the rig anymore.

Pete started programming the Obscure shows back in mid-October.

Yeah, much of the keyboard playing is live. The Dreamworld set up has Simon, Clare and Chris Lowe on keys.

It is interesting to look at Chris' hands to see what parts he's playing.
Sometimes he'll be playing a part of the song that I tend to ignore, which makes me notice it more and in turn appreciate it more.

DopeFiend wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 11:45 pm Yeah, much of the keyboard playing is live. The Dreamworld set up has Simon, Clare and Chris Lowe on keys.

It is interesting to look at Chris' hands to see what parts he's playing.
Sometimes he'll be playing a part of the song that I tend to ignore, which makes me notice it more and in turn appreciate it more.

^* this

I could watch his playing all the time, it is a pity that they don't too often show his playing from his POV during the live video recordings.

Chris' playing is so different from what eg Vince Clark or Dave Ball do/did in stage (only controlling and fiddling with knobs, not sure how much of that is "actually" necessary, but maybe they do live what Pete does for the PSB) or Nick Rhodes and JM Jarre (who mainly mime keyboard parts during live shows). The latter can actually play well, as documented on the Oxygene live in your living room DVD.

I absolutely love Chris playing It's a sin on the big harmonium in the ball room in the A live in Pop documentary.

I’m pretty sure, from the odd glimpse we see in filmed performances, that Chris is reading from Logic Pro’s sepia-tinted ‘Score’ window. I assume the whole show is a single Logic project, or maybe a Logic project covering a number of songs. I imagine at the start of the show, someone (Pete?) starts playing the Logic project, which may be MIDI synced with other equipment. I was watching the Inner Sanctum Blu-ray the other day and from the few shots I saw of Chris’s screen, a two-pane score view is clearly slowly scrolling over the course of the show, which matches with how Logic’s Score window can be set up.

You can split the keyboard easily in Logic (and in any other DAW) so that notes played in different registers trigger different plugins. You can also automate it over time so that plugins, patches and effects change over the course of the project/concert. This would mean Chris can just concentrate on playing.

Sandy Shaw wrote: Wed 17 Jun 2026, 3:41 pm I can't help with much of this but I do know that Chris is reading a musical score, travelling across his screen.

Chris is definitely playing something live, because he took a wrong turn at one of the Obscure shows and everyone started laughing (him too).

It's a very interesting question, and in terms of drums/percussion, it seems to very much be snares/handclaps, hats and occasional toms that are played live; so I'd imagine the backing tracks will include kick drum, various other percussion (e.g. shaker), and maybe even snares/hats lower in the mix. Would be fascinating to hear the backing tracks on their own.