On April 22, the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven is performed in London for the first time in fourteen years, in a sold-out month-long run at The Union Theatre. (It will return for a further five weeks beginning on October 21.). For this revival, at the Pet Shop Boys’ request, the musical’s original final number, “Positive role model”, is replaced by “Vocal”.
On August 15, the final date of the much-extended Electric tour – which began in March, 2013 – takes place at the Flow Festival in Helsinki. The tour has visited over forty countries.
On December 2, the Pet Shop Boys appear at MAMA – the Mnet Asian Music Awards – in Hong Kong. They are given the Worldwide Inspiration award and play a lengthy live medley, joined for their final two songs, “What have I done to deserve this?” and “Vocal”, by the K‑Pop artist f(x). At the organisers’ request, they wear the Electric tour straw jackets for, possibly, the final time.
BPI awards a U.K. gold record to Please.
The Various video collection is released.
George Michael visits with the Pet Shop Boys at Sarm West studio and plays them some tracks from his upcoming album, Older.
Chris and Neil perform a charity concert at the Camden Barfly in London. Dubbed ‘Two Men and a Powerbook,’ it’s their first full show with no other musicians accompanying them either onstage or backstage.
They take part in a public Q&A session hosted by the Popjustice website at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Comedian David Walliams completes a 24-hour marathon live stunt for the Comic Relief charity, during which he serves as the host for a series of recreations of classic TV game shows with various celebrity guests. The last of them, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, includes Neil Tennant among the guest panelists. It proves to be a very ‘charitable’ day for Neil, as he later attends the Winter Carnival at The Ivy private club to benefit the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), a charity that supports homeless LGBT youth. The Pet Shop Boys donate a limited-edition vinyl copy of PopArt signed by both Neil and Chris, which is among the many items auctioned off to raise funds.