Over the past 20 years the Pet Shop Boys have earned a reputation for their bombastic live shows.

For Electric, which launched in Brighton last night, this had translated into a retina-searing light and lasershow.

Rather than the stacks of white boxes which characterised their last Pandemonium tour, the focus on stage had turned on to video projection. The pair performed the opening medley of One More Chance and Elysium’s A Face Like That behind a gauze screen, creating a strange disconnect with the audience, while for the rest of the show there was an assault of imagery behind them.

More frustrating was a muddy sound, overpowered by a rumbling bass which eliminated the light and shade in Chris Lowe’s orchestration, and occasionally left singer Neil Tennant lost in the mix or shrieking over the top.

The pair knew what the crowd wanted to hear, even if the once arch Tennant had begun to sound a bit overly enthusiastic between songs – even describing the crowd as “really lovely” at one point.

Despite having released two new albums less than 12 months apart, they dug deep into the back catalogue for renditions of early hits Rent, West End Girls and Go West.