On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, Jorge Rafael wrote:
> Neil Tennant came out wearing the most hideous clothes and that awful
> hair-do wig. He also tried to add extra drama to his show by walking slowly
> in that dreaded trench coat down a ramp, that he looked like he was going to
> slip and fall and was walking carefully enough not to make more of a fool of
> himself.
I saw this show in Houston, and although I understand that it may have
been helpful to have already seen the outfits in the release and video for
"I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More," I can't agree
with this. The show was a calculated commentary on the artificiality of
the clubbing world -- the first half, they went through their songs about
irony and alienation while wearing outfits that helped bring that message
home to the audience, while the in second half they played more recent
songs that expressed genuine emotions like hope and love (and
"Opportunities" was now completely un-ironic, a pro-capitalist manifesto),
ending with the sublime cover of Sterling Void's "It's Alright," one of
the most optimistic songs ever written.
I do agree that the artificiality of Neil's movements, and especially his
hand gestures, were a bit grating, especially during "It's Only The Wind."
But he meant well, I think, and simply wanted to add another dimension to
the song.
> To add to the already-done damage, he showed us his racism by having nothing
> but an all black backup vocal group. 5 men who were about 15-20 lbs.
> overweight wearing Jack-La-Lanne's workout clothes in a shocking blue color
> with a white stripe down the sides of the pants and a white horizontal
> stripe across their sleeveless and tight spandex shirts (also in shocking
> blue). Not a pretty sight.
This was the point -- it's the focus on prettiness, surfaces, muscles, and
artificiality that is ruining club culture (perhaps more in gay clubs than
in straight ones, though). They weren't supposed to be beautiful, and
they weren't supposed to be good dancers. They were supposed to be good
singers, who were simply having a good time. And they excelled at this.
--m
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