Cubism or Dupism?

When I heard there was to be a DVD release of the Fundamental tour I was excited. Then when I heard the DVD was to be the video of the concert in Mexico City, I was disappointed. I was hoping Pet Shop Boys would have filmed one of the 18 US tours. Why they chose Mexico City is a mystery to me. According to the documentary on the DVD extras Neil said "I think the reason we wanted to film the show there is because you get this real warmth from the audience excitement."

I wasn't at all 18 US venues last year. But I managed to make it to three of the shows. St. Louis, Detroit and Chicago. And from what I witnessed, I felt both warmth and excitement. Granted, the venues were smaller than the one in Mexico City. Maybe Neil and Chris believe we in the US don't have the same enthusiasm about seeing them before and after the shows because their security staff tries to keep the fans away from them. For example in Chicago, the theatre security staff kept insisting that both Neil and Chris had both exited the theatre and they said we would be wasting our time to wait outside the stage door exit. After 3 times of telling the waiting fans they were gone, Neil stepped out the door. So maybe the reason we in the US can't express our excitement is due to the fact that their security staff does their best to keep the fans distanced from them. Also, I know for a fact that if I knew which gate they were coming through at the airport and when they were landing, my butt would definitely would have been there to welcome them. Enough of my commentary on the commentary. LOL

I had preordered the DVD as soon as the date was announced. They released the DVD in two limited edition slipcovers. One is a blurry picture of the backside of Chris. The other limited edition slipcover is a blurry picture of Neil. So being the fan I am, I ordered one of each (at different times so I would be sure not to get two identical sleeves). On Monday morning June 11, I log onto the official Pet Shop Boys site and what do I see? It's announced that there will be a US release of Cubism on July 24. Will there be another surprise in July? I can only hope.

I truly believe if both the UK and US DVD's and CD's were released closer together that they would show more sales in the US. We the fans buy a DVD or CD when it's released in the UK rather than to wait anywhere from 2 months to 3 years to get the releases. By the time they release a US version, it's not a new release to us. We contribute to the UK sales and US sales suffer.
I found the performance on Cubism to be fantastic. The quality of the video was superb. The sound quality was excellent! Yet I didn't feel the volume of warmth and excitement of the audience. But I'm only comparing the enthusiasm that I express at their shows. I don't consider waving arms in unison to be excitement.

And since I am comparing things. Neil and Chris have decided to change their website, one cannot even ask questions like we were once able to do on their old website. Oh sure I can write my question and snail mail it across the pond and wait until the next edition of Literally comes out next year in hopes to get a response.

Back in the 90's the official Pet Shop Boys website was unique to most bands websites. They would answer questions from the first 4 or 5 days of the month that were submitted by fans. It was fun, although I recall when they would get rude questions. But most questions were cool because they were the kinds of questions they would never be asked by the media. I know I am not alone when I say I miss those Q & A sessions. I realize it would be difficult to answer questions while touring.

Okay, so that's about it for now.