Pandemonium

Jeremy, didn't it seem like another lifetime when we went to see Pet Shop Boys' Pandemonium Tour at the Greek Theatre? And that was around two weeks ago. It was a hot and humid Indian Summer's evening. Our timing was perfect. We made it to the Redwood Lounge and just had enough time for a drink and barely a second at the mediocre buffet. Then the show started. I'm sure it reminded you of how weird LA music fans can be. Similar to the phenomenon of Latino Morrissey obsessives in Southern California, the mix at the show consisted of drunken sorority girls dressed up to the nines which gave us a good chuckle and a nudge but mostly it was the bears and otters that I was most fascinated by... especially the one standing to your right.

But the show. What a show. We were wowed. We were giddy. The Greatest Hits Tour. The Greatest Art Installation. It was a proper show. True entertainers, Neil Tennant and Christ Lowe are masters at bringing together the high and low, the refined and camp, all with a fun sense of irony. The production value was like no other. It was a visual homage to the masters of contemporary art and their eccentricities. I saw obvious references to Gilbert and George, Derek Jarman, Ellsworth Kelly, Rei Kawakubo, Warhol, Albers, Hockney, Richter and Archigram. Phew. That's a nice nod to a major list.

 

Josef Albers, Study for the homage to the square

 Gilbert and George, Existers (1984)

 Gilbert and George, The Wall (1986)

Ellsworth Kelly, Colors on a grid, Screenprint (1976)

Rei Kawakubo's CDG Spring/Summer 09

David Hockney, Mother I, Yorkshire Moors (1984)

Archigram, Instant City Airships (1968)

 

Gerhard Richter, for the Köln Cathedral (2006)

 

Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage