Background and recording
The performance recorded for the album took place at the Mermaid Theatre in London on 8 May 2006, as an exclusive for broadcast on BBC Radio 2's Sold on Song programme on 27 May. Attendance, totalling 600, was by invitation or through competitions held by Radio 2 and the band's official website. [3] The event was hosted by the BBC's Stuart Maconie. [4]
The 27 May Radio 2 broadcast included an interview conducted by Maconie, but excluded four songs from the running order ("You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", "After All", "Numb", and "Dreaming of the Queen"). The full concert was later broadcast on BBC 6 Music on 28 August. [4]
The concert was a launch event for the Pet Shop Boys' new studio album, Fundamental , released on 22 May 2006. Trevor Horn, the producer of Fundamental, was the music director for the concert and also produced Concrete. [5]
Due to the presence of the orchestra, the setlist was composed to consist of songs originally recorded with an orchestra. Consequently, in addition to an extensive selection of songs from Fundamental , various non-studio album tracks were chosen, including the arrangement of "Rent" from the Liza Minnelli album Results , originally arranged by Angelo Badalamenti; "After All", the portion of the band's Battleship Potemkin soundtrack that accompanies the Odessa Steps sequence from the film (performed with the scene projected on a screen in the background); "Friendly Fire", from the Closer to Heaven musical; and "Nothing Has Been Proved", the theme song from Scandal , also arranged by Badalamenti. "West End Girls" and "It's a Sin" were the only exceptions to the rule, and were reworked to integrate the orchestra. [6]
Neil Tennant introduced the songs with anecdotes, which appear on the album. [7] Special guests sang lead vocals on three of the songs. Rufus Wainwright performed "Casanova in Hell" from Fundamental. Frances Barber, who had played the lead role in Closer to Heaven, sang "Friendly Fire". On "Jealousy", the earliest song written by Pet Shop Boys, Tennant recited the opening quote from Shakespeare's Othello , and Robbie Williams sang the rest. [6]
Opera singer Sally Bradshaw reprised her vocals from the 1988 hit, "Left to My Own Devices". Other guest musicians included Anne Dudley on piano, Steve Lipson and Phil Palmer on guitar, and Lol Creme and Sylvia Mason-James on backing vocals. [6] [8]
Critical reception
In a four-star review for MusicOMH , Michael Hubbard stated that Pet Shop Boys "have redefined what "live album" means" and added, "What's also clear from hearing this record is that to dismiss Pet Shop Boys merely as an '80s electropop duo would be to give them scant justice. Concrete feels like a contemporary classical cultural study". [7] Cam Lindsay of Exclaim! commented, "the first live album by pop music's most stylish duo is an extraordinary achievement in capturing the artist in their element". [13] In a review published on Blogcritics following the US release in 2011, Michael Melchor wrote: "Much of the recording — due in part to [Trevor] Horn's trademark pristine production and in part to the fact that the Pet Shop Boys sound already lends itself well to that — sounds wonderful. This makes a strong case for one of the best-sounding live albums ever, as every note, instrument and nuance are loud and crystal clear". [14]
David Jeffries of AllMusic gave the album three stars, noting: "With a generally deadpan singer and another guy behind a bank of synthesizers, the Pet Shop Boys just aren't built for live albums, even if the songs are exquisite, there's an orchestra behind them, and some very special guests appear. While the duo can deliver in a live setting, the experience relies heavily on the visual". He concluded, "While that's probably not enough to keep everyone occupied, fans and fetishists will embrace this curio". [12]
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