Inner Sanctum (Blu Ray, DVD + 2CD Set) [Blu-ray] [2019]

This efficient, and economical value for money package contains two full shows from the 2016-2018 "Inner Sanctum" Tour, with a full length 105 minutes headline set from London, and a brisk hour long festival show in Rio. The video content is duplicated on BluRay and DVD, alongside a two disc audio CD set inside a four fold card package. (There's no point duplicating the Rio show on CD, as it contains no songs not played on the London CD's).The show (and oh boy, is it a show) has demonstrated the band have become that most unlikely of things ; a compelling live act. It may be, to all intents and purposes only two people (One of whom does not leave his keyboard all night) but if you think of them as constant anchor points, the rest of the show is a bold, outlandish exploration of pop music that glows and shimmers. Taking a cue from seaside pantomime hall tradition, “Inner Sanctum” is a celebration of near enough everything and a representation of all of it – joy, sadness, heartbreak, and 808’s – as a day-glo childs version of the world.onight is a show that is bookended by “The Pop Kids” as a song and a philosophy, a selection of the best bits, and where, thankfully, the Pet Shop Boys know what people want and aren’t afraid to provide it. Sure, you can’t get every hit single they have ever done, because they have so many of them (60 or so, over the past 32 years), but also, all the songs you could reasonably hope for are here. Also, unlike many bands, the selection of songs offers something from near enough every period of the bands career. There’s no revisionist rewriting out of history a certain mis-step. Even 2002’s first major shocker in “Home And Dry”, and the less than adored album “Release” which saw the band moving away from their strengths to produce a more guitar based pop tone, is represented – albeit in a form that resembles the more minimal ‘ambient’ mix from the 12” single and evolves into a selection of bouncy remixes – makes the song sound more contemporary and modern.The staging, as such, is minimal, but also, wonderfully irreverent. The band take the stage with two huge disco balls that rotate and carry projections, before the walls collapse, extra musicians appear, weird circles fall from the ceiling, lights flash, video projections encompass the arena, and on my god, more lasers than an 80’s Pink Floyd stadium show. And a fleet of dancers in flouroscent inflatable suits dancing like huge, sentient disco jelly babies. It’s glorious, and never boring. And of course, the sounds match it.What it is, from the opening “Inner Sanctum” to the final arms-aloft-disco-frenzy of “Always On My Mind” is a modern resetting of the bands work over the past three decades. By careful juxtaposition, songs like “Vocal” become a manifesto about the nature of pop music, popular culture, and most importantly, as with all great art, communication of common sentiment between people. I like the singer. He’s lonely and strange. Every track has a vocal, and that makes a change.Even opening with “Inner Sanctum” works as a declaration ; here is a look inside the machine, here is an insight into a life made of Pop and Art. To some extent, this feels like the bands Super Tour, but also, an Ultimate tour. They might never have been more Pet Shop Boys than they are being right now. And whilst on the face of It, a 64 year old singing songs of heartbreak starting in 1983, and a 59 year old former architect plugging away at a huge keyboard rack sounds quite dull, the band stay the same in the heart of it all, like a Disco Gilbert & George, as the world – a huge lightbulb if you like – changes around them. And, perhaps surprisingly, everything comes out of those boxes live ; eagle eye punters on the final night will have seen the bands engineer/technican/general Yoda, Pete Gleadall, fiddling with boxes and reloading programmes and sequences in “Love Is A Bourgeois Construct” – and you wouldn’t’ve noticed. The narrative structure of the show, which opens in a search for hedonism, finds love, and ends in heartbreak and redemption, sounds corny, it works as each song sits next to the other in a way that makes sense. “Love Comes Quickly” sounds enormous and beautiful, and then “Love Etc.,” comes, and makes you realise that oh yes they did this song as well! And then another… And this one! And it’s all gorgeous and fun. And eminently danceable.And on the face of it, the bands universal appeal is that they know what it is like to be an individual in an identikit world full of individuals. As a confused 14 year old stuck in a life that never fit my soul, not sure who I was or what or how to make sense of the world there is no way to explain how "It's A Sin" helped me become myself in 1987. Songs pursue the element of identity and expectation, from the cornerstone “It’s A Sin” to “Go West”, both of which deal with the need to belong, and the trials and tribulations of being true to yourself in a world that demands conformity. To an extent, the bands visual identity has often addressed this ; from the use of uniforms and disguise, to rub out the individual in a self-constructed identity of ones own marking, which is a way of both revealing and concealing at the same time. Little is known about the personal lives of the band – which is, as it should be, mostly – but what this does is allow the band to become who they choose to be ; Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs prime pillar of self-actualisation – instead of who the world forces us to be or who nature makes us to be. Complete self-control.The show ends with a reprise of “The Pop Kids”, and the curtain coming down on the evening. It’s a perfect ending : classic, traditional, yet utterly unusual for the pop format the band work in. Unlike so many of their peers who saw their powers visibly wane with time, Pet Shop Boys again stated – as if it were ever needed – their supremacy over the medium that propels them from mere musicians into artists dabbling in all mediums, and somehow making it all work as a cohesive whole, a self-contained artistic statement. It’s a Pet Shop Boys world, and tonight we lived in it.

Content is superb. I saw this tour when it came to the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool and had been waiting/looking for a Blu-Ray release. Perhaps would like to have seen it in 4K but that’s just me.The packaging this 4-disc set comes in however is truly awful! Looks pretty but that’s it. Not functional at all. 1st... you have to find the disc you want to play. No indication (that I could find) as to which is the blu-ray. Then trying to get them out of the sleeve is impossible without touching the playing surface. I prefer not to get finger prints on the playing surface of discs. Not a practical design at all, and doesn’t really fit in on the shelf with the collection.5 stars for the concert and the bonus Rio footage... 3 stars for the packaging.Tip: Things don’t have to be different just for the sake of it.

The Inner Sanctum - which is the SUPER tour that has been round the world between 2016 and 2018, and is the usual visual extravaganza that we have come to expect from Neil and Chris. Chris was as aloof as ever behind his array of technical wizardry, without missing a beat. Neil's voice still holds up through the variety of songs - old and new - which start off energetic, work towards a middle calmness, before ramping it up again towards the end. I not sure this format worked exactly as the crowd seemed a bit low through the middle section, but once West End Girls hit the stage, everyone went wild for it. Balloons in the sky, Lasers, lights, and an audience that know every inch of every lyric make for a truly immersive experience, than anyone who was there will want to remember, and anyone who wasn't there won't want to miss. Even better it comes with a free CD of the Royal Opera House performance. Packaging may not stand up to the test of time (or constant disc removal), but really, the content is the important part.

In current times when you can't go to a concert (and the concerts I have tickets for have been rescheduled and then rescheduled again), so this is as good as it gets. Hook it up to a Blu-ray player, 65" UHD TV and a good surround sound system as just go for it. It's as close as you can get to being there and watching them live.Great picture quality and great immersive sound.Absolutely Brilliant. Bopped around the room and sung my lungs out ...

This is a stunning set. The show from the Royal Opera House is terrific: the light show and visual design look amazing and the performances are first rate with an impressive choice of songs. The video manages to successfully capture the atmosphere of the evenings. The Royal Opera House was the perfect venue for the shows and compliments the shows well. Picture quality and sound are very good on the blu ray. The bonus Rio show is on a huge stadium scale but misses the intimacy of the London show. It’s also heavily edited and the picture quality is not as good. The sleeve design compliments the contents very well but unfortunately corners have been cut by X2 and bargain basement cardboard has been used that makes the packaging look tacky. At £20 this is a bargain but be warned Amazon also has the same product listed for £40.

Fantastic concert and performance.I purchased this as I was unable to attend the concert in person in 2018, having seen this DVD I so wish I could have made it.Awesome visuals, clever reworking of the songs and you can see how much the crowd are enjoying it.I think few bands have such a repertoire of songs that so many people can recognise and know all of the lyrics to as what the pet's have managed.I have all of the pet shop boys live shows and this is my new favourite, only Pandamonium comes close.If you are a fan, you need this, if you have a projector and surround sound it's awesome.