Pet Shop Boys' Chris Lowe shares his excitement at performing in Blackpool & Radio 2 in the Park Preston

The iconic synth-pop group The Pet Shop Boys will be headlining the Sunday night at Radio 2 in the Park taking place in Preston next weekend.

Before that, the group - made up of Chris and Neil Tennant - will also be heading to Chris’ hometown of Blackpool for an exclusive show at Funny Girls.

Ahead of their Lancashire gigs, 64-year-old Chris took the time to chat to celebrity reporter Aimee Seddon all about his homecoming shows and what it was like growing up in Lancashire, take a look at what he had to say below:

How are you feeling about headlining Radio 2 in the Park to Preston?

“Well I'm just hoping the weather’s gonna be alright because it could be miserable! But no it should be really good. We've done it at Hyde Park before, which was good so yeah we’re hoping it's gonna be a lot of fun. 

“We’re also doing a warm up beforehand in Blackpool, which we’re really excited about. We’re playing Funny Girls two nights before and I’m looking forward to doing that a lot because I’ve been to Funny Girls quite a few times and to appear on that little stage will just be quite something.”

Why did you decide to do a warm-up gig?

“We do warm-up gigs before festivals quite often and they're a lot of fun because we do them without any of the costumes, the videos and everything. It's basically just us on stage and Neil chats a lot to the audience, talks about the songs, so it's just intimate and they're really enjoyable little gigs to do. You get to see the real us behind the masks and all the rest of it.”

What memories do you have of Funny Girls?

“I first went to Funny Girls when it was really tiny, on the corner of Queen Street, and it was just Betsy Legs Diamond and Zoe DJing. Betsy used to spin around and I don't know how her head didn’t hit the ceiling, it was tiny and I used to think ‘she's gonna knock herself out.’ Zoe was always hilarious as well and actually I was having a birthday party in London, and I asked if she would DJ for me so we’ve had a friendship since the very early days. 

“Then I’ve just seen Funny Girls grow and grow. They took over that block, and then ended up in the old Odeon Building and then it became this huge thing with all the choreography and the amazing sets. When we were up for Christmas, we'd always go and see the Christmas Show and the standard of production was like seeing a West End Show. So yeah whenever we’re in Blackpool, we always go to Funny Girls.”

Do you have memories of visiting Preston as well?

“I've got friends in Preston so yeah I used to go out in Preston quite a lot and I've spent an awful lot of time at Preston Station waiting for the train to London. It’s one of the coldest stations in Britain, I don't know why that is but I’m always freezing and asking ‘why am I wearing a t- shirt?’ I also played tennis at Fulwood Tennis Club when I was little.”

And how will your Radio 2 gig in Preston be different to the Funny Girls show?

“Well, it's the full Dreamworld show so there's all the video projection, the masks, the costumes and we're going to get a surprise guest but we haven't found one yet! So it will be as big a surprise for us as well as the audience if anyone actually does pop out, but we are aiming to get someone to duet on one of the songs with us.” 

Being from Blackpool, does it feel different performing in your hometown and then wider county? 

“Well we love performing up north because the audiences are just amazing. We played at the new Co Op live Arena in Manchester a few months ago and the audiences up north just really go for it and enjoy it. We also supported Take That when they did that huge tour, and we would get there quite early so we would see the audience arriving and some of them would be a little worse for wear, peaked a bit too soon. 

“There was a very funny time when we were walking down the street in Manchester, and this couple came up and asked for selfies and we said ‘sorry, we don't do selfies’ and then the husband said to the wife ‘well would you with a face like that?’ and she said ‘is that because you’re such divas?‘ So yeah the atmosphere at the gigs up north are always just fantastic, we're looking forward to it.”

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with The LEP’s free emailsor the Blackpool Gazette’s free emails

Do you get more nervous performing in front of local crowds? 

“No, we've been doing it for so long now and we’re well rehearsed. If things go wrong, which they don't very often, I actually quite enjoy it because it makes it different. We have had occasions where the computers have crashed and things like that or the biggest one was at Glastonbury where the screen didn't go up, so we were stuck behind it -it was a real Spinal Tap moment. Neil managed to run to the front of the stage but I knew I wouldn't have time to get to the keyboard, so I was clambering to get to my backstage keyboard and he was just on the stage on his own, not knowing if the screen was ever going to go up. Luckily, they managed to fix it, and the show carried on as normal but things like that are exciting because you don't know what's going to happen next.”

How did growing up in Blackpool help shape you into the musician you are today? 

“I never thought I was going to become a pop star but when I was at [Arnold] school, I learned the trombone. I was in a brass band - the Norman Memorial Youth Band-  and I learned trombone because my grandpa used to play trombone, so he sort of taught me how to play. I also had piano lessons so I was in the school orchestra and the school dance band, and then we formed a little breakaway band called One Under The Eight and we used to play all the Working Men's clubs. We were members of the musicians union so we used to get the union rate which was great when we're at school. 

“So I was introduced to all of that but I also spent a lot of time going to clubs when I was in Blackpool, and it was the height of disco at the time so I’d go to like Man Fridays, the Adam and Eve, and I’d just hear disco music all the time. I remember at a school disco first hearing ‘I feel loved’ by Donna Summer and thinking ‘wow, that's an amazing record’. I completely missed the Northern Soul scene somehow but actually I'm probably quite glad because I think if I discovered Northern Soul, I probably would have failed all my A levels and not gone to university. 

“I then worked summer jobs - in the Dixieland show bar, for instance, when ‘Oops, upside your head’ used to come on, and the whole place turned into some sort of West End musical with all the bar staff dancing and everyone doing the rowing - David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes  was also a big record at the time. So something about growing up in Blackpool, the nightlife being such a big part of the town, you're very aware of music and the enjoyment of going out on a Friday and a Saturday night and how important that is. That must have had an influence and started my interest in music.”

Do you still get to visit the Fylde Coast often?

“I'm here now. It’s the light switch on tonight isn’t it? I do the Ride the Lights a lot as well, the last time I did it, someone came up to me and I was like ‘how on earth did you recognize me from these 100,000s of people cycling up and down the promenade?’ It's not very common that - I've gone to great lengths to be anonymous - but the Ride the Lights is absolutely fantastic. If you're lucky, you can get yourself behind someone's cycling with a massive sound system playing house music, and you just follow them all the way!”

So do you still have family in Blackpool then?

“Yeah, we're all up here for the moment. My mum's having a little garden party tomorrow afternoon, so we're praying for good weather.”

What else did you like to get up to when you’re back?

“We’ve started playing padel at Lowther Gardens in Lytham, then there’s Notarianni’s Ice Cream - we’ve been going there since we were children-  but I don’t go into town much these days.

“A friend of ours also runs a bar on the promenade near the wedding chapel and gosh the kebab shop on Harrowside does the best kebabs I've ever had, I always have one of those!

“Then the Inn at Whitewell is always magnificent - I told Neil about that - and I like cycling along the promenade, that’s what I do more than anything really.”

Join our new WhatsApp Community to get the latest news and top stories from across Lancashire directly to your phone.

Now your Funny Girls gig has sold out but some Sunday tickets are available for Radio 2 in the Park so why should people grab them? 

“Because they'll have a really good time. It's a great show, you get everything, the whole production. The last time people got to see this was the Royal Opera House in London and as I said, we're hoping to have some guests. Let us know if you have any ideas about who you'd like to see us perform with! But yeah I think it should be a lot of fun, let’s just pray for the weather!”

Do you have a final message for people in Lancashire?

“It is the country's best county, isn't it so enough said, really. But yes, I just look forward to seeing you all in a field in Preston!”