THE climax to the Pet Shop Boys' epic Edinburgh Hogmanay show a few months ago was briefly fluffed - because keyboard player Chris Lowe happened to forget the chords.
"I famously have a very, very poor memory", Lowe has acknowledged.
His memory lapse occurred at the duo were bringing their concert to an end with one of their best-known songs, Being Boring.
Throughout every date of their lengthy tour last year, Lowe had successfully remembered the chords he plays at the song's piano and vocal conclusion - though he did forget them once during a dress rehearsal for the American leg of the tour.
In an interview published in the 2023 edition of their book, Annually, Lowe said that as he played the song at Edinburgh he became increasingly aware of a looming problem.
"I was thinking all the way through the song, 'I can't remember the chords!" He hoped they would come back to him in time, but they didn't.
The Annually article continues: " ... As Chris played something unexpectedly dissonant, he leant back and started laughing, then spoke to Neil, who seemed to be trying to control his own laughter.
"'He can't remember the chords', muttered Neil to the crowd, before waving goodbye. 'Thank you very much! We were never being boring! Particularly at the end...'"
Read more: Edinburgh Hogmanay 2022: Pet Shop Boys headline Concert in the Gardens
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Though no-one has since mentioned the incident to Tennant or Lowe, both musicians took an interesting view of it.
Said Tennant: "Actually, it's one of those things, which a mistake always produces, where you get the real us for a second. Which you don't otherwise get. So maybe it works quite well".
Added Lowe: "Yeah. I think it's probably the only time in the entire show that you saw any of our true personality".
The Pet Shop Boys had previously played the Edinburgh end-of-year showcase at Hogmanay in 2013 - an earlier scheduled appearance, at the Hogmanay of 2006, was cancelled with less than four hour's notice because of dangerously high winds.
Tennant said the Hogmanay 2022 concert "worked out really well. It drizzled the whole day and night but it didn't seem to put anyone off. And it's actually quite a nice way to spend New Year's Eve. It gets you out of having to organise your own party! So it was fun".
According to the Annually publication, the band has in early 2023 begun work on a new album, which is expected to be released next year. A career retrospective, “SMASH – The Singles 1985-2020” , will be released on June 16.
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