Pet Shop Boys' emotional journey at Seville's Icónica Fest

by Fiona Flores Watson

On the sweltering night of last Tuesday (17 June 2025), with temperatures still hovering in the low 30s°C, we gathered in thrall to the greatest British synth-pop duo, who have blazed a trail in the genre since the 1980s. Dreamland is the Pet Shop Boys’ greatest hits tour, and they chose Seville – and Icónica Santalucía Sevilla Fest - for the first European date of this leg; the PSBs debuted this live show in 2022.

I am biased, as I´ll freely admit, but Plaza de España is a magical venue, with its illuminated, curved façade, enclosing the audience – the building couldn’t be better for creating an intimate atmosphere. Last night, the crowd of 8,000 seemed much denser than at concerts here in previous years. With the only seating in the VIP palco (area of raised seats), most people were standing, packed around the main fountain and in front of the stage. Are the PSBs more popular than previous acts I’ve seen here, or has Icónica Fest’s reputation started to spread further and draw greater crowds? Many of the early 2020s editions drew considerably smaller audiences, even though they were internationally known, so I tend towards the latter.

Nottingham boys Neil (Tennant) and Chris (Lowe) are part of my adolescence, as for anyone born in the late 1960s/early 1970s, with their melancholic, heartfelt lyrics, and catchy melodies, with synth rhythms. They sing about what they experienced, saw, felt. Some of their songs are raw and introspective, while others are celebratory, plus everything in between, but always sincere and often ironic. They’ve sold more than 100 million records, and were listed as Britain’s most successful musical duo in the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records. But more than anything, the Pet Shops Boys are one-offs and creatively in a class of their own – there is no one else like them.

The show started off with just Neil and Chris on stage, Chris behind his computer and keyboard, Neil owning the stage. Both wore tall, futuristic masks that resembled tuning forks, designed by the tour’s stage designer Tom Scutt. The only other props were two streetlamps facing each other, providing moveable spotlights. The band went straight into Suburbia: Neil's voice has lost none of its edge, since they started more than 40 years ago. As the singer said, “We’re going to go to a Dreamworld where Being Boring is a Sin” (geddit?). A screen behind them showed hypnotic, colourful graphic patterns, and stick men walking, enhanced by a captivating light show.

We were swept into disco heaven with the U2/Franki Valli mashup, Where the streets have no name (I can’t take my eyes off you). It’s a chorus made for galvanizing audiences into enthusiastic musical collaboration – we all sang along heartily.

After Rent and Don’t know what you want/So hard, the screen rose to reveal backing musicians - two drummers and a keyboard player, who were also backing vocalists, wearing black and silver tasselled suits, Star Trek-meets-Wild West. Neil had donned a matching black jacket with space age silver lapels (and white hat, which he soon removed, unsurprisingly with the high temperatures), while Chris had swapped his mask for more low-key headgear: a baseball cap.

Left to my own devices [I probably would] went down a storm, followed by upbeat, jpoyful Se a vida e. Domino Dancing is named for a Caribbean holiday with no entertainment apart from playing the game, Neil told us; a win was celebrated by breaking out some dance moves. Another favourite singalong moment came in the Elvis Presley song You were always on my mind, with its anthemic chorus.

The screen came down again and Neil had donned a shiny silver coat, with turned up collar, camply reminiscent of Flash Gordon. He looked like a king holding court, totally in his element.

Towards the end of their set, Plaza de España took on a club vibe, for It’s alright and Vocal – house chords and fast beats building to a crescendo as everyone jumped, hands in the air, to the Hi-NRG rhythms. A sweaty pack of 40 and 50-somethings reliving their youth of hauntingly melodic tunes, played by pop stars who (still) know exactly who they are, and what they’re doing.

The PSBs (known as the Pet Show Boys by certain plosive-consonant-averse Spanish) saved the best for last. West End Girls, their debut single from 1984, which topped the charts when it was rereleased in 1985 (which was A Really Big Deal for a new band, all you Gen Z-ers). It took me right back to the choppy hormonal waters of adolescence – a smooth, mesmerising pop song with Neil sporting a smart, suit-type overcoat. To my curious mind, in the 1980s, Soho was an exciting, louche place full of sex bars. In the 1990s, when I studied, worked and lived in London, it shifted from sleazy to hip – an edgy mix of tapas bars, strip clubs, Italian cafés, and drag shows.

And finally, Being Boring, a highly personal song which commemorates a friend of theirs who died of AIDS, and alludes to the pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s. The friend had paraphrased a Zelda Fitzgerald quote on a party invitation: "She was never bored, mainly because she was never boring." A moving yet hopeful song, it was the perfect way to finish this beautifully crafted concert.

It’s worth mentioning that the beer (at Icónica, that is, not in Soho) is pricey – 6 euros plus 1 euro for a reusable plastic glass. I was tickled by the walking Cruzcampo dispenser – a man with a backpack, a pile of glasses, and a hand pump, from whose hosepipe pours Seville’s favourite beer.

Garlochi’s classic Sangre de Cristo cocktail (11 euros), from an appropriately Semana Santa-kitsch kiosk, with velvet embroidery and portrait of the Duquesa de Alba, makes a welcome, though  not inexpensive, change from the corporate refreshment stalls;.there is also  ice-cream for 4 euros (my tip: mango and coconut-lime), while you can also sip a Dewar’s whisky-based cocktail for 10 euros. I didn't have time to check out the extremely pretty vintage pavilion-type bar; one for the next concert.

The following day, I took a taxi across Seville. The PSBs were playing – the driver had also been at the concert. He was still in the zone.

In  case you’re interested, the band is also playing at Starlite Occident Festival in Marbella on 16 July.

Icónica Santalucía Sevilla Festival

Contemporary music and dance festivals in Andalucia