Pet Shop Boys brought out Johnny Marr to perform some rarities and deep cuts at a recent show at London’s Electric Ballroom last night (Wednesday March 8). Check out footage and the setlist below.
The gig took place at the Camden venue last night as part of the run of ‘Obscure’ live shows the band announced last year – which will see them play a five-night residency at the intimate venue and play exclusively deep cuts and rarities.
The shows kicked off earlier this week, and saw Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant break out the first ever live performances of 1986’s ‘Jack The Lad’, 2012’s ‘After The Event’, 1996’s ‘Hit And Miss’, 2002’s ‘Always’, 2020’s ‘New Boy’, 2009’s ‘King Of Rome’, 2024’s ‘Love Is The Law’, 2006’s ‘The Performance Of My Life’, and more.
Other songs that made the setlist included the first renditions of ‘To Face The Truth’ and ‘One in a Million / Mr. Vain’ since 1994, the first performance of ‘Your Funny Uncle’ since 1991, and ‘The Theatre’ making its way onto the setlist for the first time since 1997.
Last night, the gigs continued, and while the setlist predominantly followed that of the previous ‘Obscure’ shows, Pet Shop Boys did mix things up by bringing out Johnny Marr as a special guest.
He was introduced to the stage after the night kicked off with ‘Through You’, ‘Will‐o‐the‐wisp’, and ‘Two Divided by Zero’, and joined Pet Shop Boys for the first live rendition of ‘The Truck Driver and His Mate’ since 2002. That song was released back in 1996 as part of the duo’s sixth album, ‘Bilingual’.
Another song from that album, ‘Up Against It’ was also played with Marr on the night – marking the first time ever it has been played live – and the former Smiths icon also stayed to help perform ‘I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today’ as well. The latter is from Pet Shop Boys’ 2012 album ‘Format’ and had not been performed live before.
“Love and thanks to Pet Shop Boys for inviting me to play last night,” Marr wrote on Instagram, sharing a photo of him on stage with Tennant and Lowe. He also shared a photo taken before the gig, telling fans that he was “on my way” to see the electronic duo.
The rest of the show saw Pet Shop Boys break out more deep cuts from across their career, including ‘King’s Cross’, ‘Sexy Northerner’, ‘Young Offender’, ‘Why Don’t We Live Together?’ and more.
Check out more footage from the night and the full setlist below.
Fantastic PSB ‘Obscure’ gig at the Electric Ballroom last night. Johnny Marr turning up for a bit was a bonus as well. pic.twitter.com/bf7xftJfPQ
— Mick (@nalaknip) April 9, 2026
Pet Shop Boys’ setlist was:
‘Through You’
‘Will‐o‐the‐wisp’
‘Two Divided by Zero’
‘Jack the Lad’
‘The Truck Driver and His Mate’ (with Johnny Marr) (First time since 2002)
‘I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today’ (with Johnny Marr) (Live debut)
‘Up Against It’ (with Johnny Marr) (Live debut)
‘Hit and Miss’
‘Always’
‘One in a Million / Mr. Vain’
‘Sexy Northerner’
‘Young Offender’
‘It Couldn’t Happen Here’
‘New Boy’
‘King of Rome’
‘King’s Cross’
‘Love Is the Law’
‘Why Don’t We Live Together?’
‘The Performance of My Life’
Encore:
‘Your Funny Uncle’
‘The Way It Used to Be’
‘Later Tonight’
‘I Dream of a Better Tomorrow’
This is far from the first time that Johnny Marr has joined forces with Pet Shop Boys. Back in the late ‘80s the three of them came together to form the new wave supergroup Electronic, and dropped the debut single ‘Getting Away With It’ in December 1989, before releasing a self-titled debut album in 1991.
Marr has also collaborated with the duo on multiple PSB releases too. These include playing guitar on ‘This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave’ and ‘My October Symphony’ from their 1990 album ‘Behaviour’, featuring in the aforementioned 1996 song ‘Up Against It’, playing on seven tracks from 2002’s ‘Release’, and also working on various songs from the 2009 record ‘Yes’.
Marr joined the band on stage at Royal Albert Hall in 2017 too in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust, and also introduced them before they received the Godlike Genius Award at the NME Awards that same year. During his speech at the latter, he credited them with “changing pop music, over three decades, with hit after hit after hit” and “bringing romance, glamour, style, high art to the wonderful thing that is pop music.”
In 2024, Marr also brought out Neil Tennant for his gig at London’s Eventim Apollo, as part of the ‘Spirit Power Tour’. There, they broke out covers of David Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’ and Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’.
Pet Shop Boys released their 15th and latest studio album, ‘Nonetheless’, in April 2024 and it was given a four-star review from NME, which hailed it as “the sublime sound of pop’s standard-bearers continuing to hone their craft”.
The band’s Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe then spoke to NME about how the LP was their “queer album” and went on to release a remix album, ‘Disco 5’, featuring Noel Gallagher, Sleaford Mods, Paul Weller and Primal Scream.
As for Marr, the guitarist and songwriter recently announced his biggest-ever solo show. He’ll be playing at Manchester amphitheatre Castlefield Bowl for a special homecoming performance on July 9, and it is said to coincide with “a major year of exciting new activity”. Tickets are on sale now, and you can buy them here.
