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| Photo: Patrick Gunning |
Placebo, Wembley Arena, London
Published on 4th January 2017 in Live Reviews by F.O.T.F
I fell in love with Placebo six years ago, after listening to Every You and Every Me for the first time, and after seeing its accompanying video, the Cruel Intentions cut.
Slowly, but surely, my love for Placebo grew; I became completely fascinated by their sloppy sadness, painful lyrics and cathartic sound.
By Brian Molko’s dresses, smokey eyes, nasal voice, by his mysterious demeanour and saddened self, by the alluring dynamic he shares with Stefan Olsdal. I found comfort in their verses and listening to their music represented a healing process for me.
So, naturally, as any respectable, head-over heels fan, I trembled when the Placebo 20 tour was announced. Placebo 20 is their anniversary tour, which marks and celebrates 20 years of their existence as a band. It features old hits, which they hadn’t played in years, anniversary merchandise and the launching of the “A Place for Us to Dream” album. It gloriously ended on the 15th of December, at the Wembley Arena, in London.
Their last 2016 gig was wonderful, really. When it ended, I heard happy sighs around me, as well as the over-repeated sentence: “This was amazing. Their best show in years, maybe.” And so it was. Even though, personally, I think I’d love any Placebo gig, even if they messed up everything, this one was different. I could feel their energy pulsing, flowing through each of us, and all I could do was dance my heart out, scream and happily giggle. Brian was a total sweetheart, making jokes and whole-heartedly smiling to us.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him and Stefan; Molko was swirling, moaning on Devil in the Details and applauding us, the audience, in-between song-breaks. Stefan was his ever composed self: a slender figure, mastering piano and his rainbow-coloured bass with delicacy. This iconic duo, combined with Fiona Brice’s marvellous violin, Matt Lunn’s powerful drumming (what is it with those Placebo drummers, hmm?) and Nick Gavrilovic’s rock star moves are truly a force to be reckoned with: I felt their every single sound, lyrics and movement with my very core and I was in tears by the end of the concert. It was as if they breathed life, and fire, through us.
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| Photo: Patrick Gunning |
The show was opened by Minor Victories, a band I hadn’t listened to before; they were quite lovely: hazy vocals, cool visuals, dreamy piano notes, and, overall, a beautiful sound.
Then, there was Placebo, who started off at around 20:30 and ended at almost 23, with very short breaks between the two encores. They began with Placebo 20’s trailer: a collection of snapshots and videos, gathered throughout the last two decades, which can be found on their Facebook and Youtube pages.
Then there was the usual “no phones” announcement (Brian’s known to hate phones, but people popped few pictures here and there – including me; I’m sorry, Brian, I had to – it was for the article! -, but there was a clear difference between regular concerts and this one, as far as phone usage is concerned; which was cool, as you didn’t have to look at Placebo through the lens of somebody else’s device). Then, a tearful tribute to Mr. Leonard Cohen, who regretfully passed away this year, followed: “Who by fire” was played, while pictures of Mr. Cohen were projected on screen. Then, there was the “Every You and Every Me” clip, recently released this year – which is when everyone went crazy.
And when they finally walked on stage, everyone went crazier. They started off with Pure Morning (a song Brian, some years ago, swore to never perform again) and went on to play older jewels such as “I Know”, “Lady of the Flowers”, “Infra Red”,“Nancy Boy” and “Twenty Years”, which, intertwined with newer hits, such as “Exit Wounds” (a personal favourite), “Too Many Friends” or “Loud Like Love”, created a beautiful contrast. We cried on Lady of the Flowers, swayed on Space Monkey, jumped on For What It’s Worth and head-banged on The Bitter End. They were a wonder, and the arena was packed; in-between song breaks, Brian would stop to thank us for coming to celebrate with them, and we would scream, cheer, clap as loud as we could – and we got really loud. Each time he looked almost admiringly to us, my heart melted.
I had a sign which read “We love the song, we love the singer” (an allusion to the I Know lyrics, which are “I know you love the song, but not the singer”; there was this amazing tribute in Moscow, some years ago, when almost everyone in the audience held this sign while Placebo played I Know), which Brian noticed in a song break (I wasn’t terribly hard to observe, as I was the only one stubborn enough to bring a sign in THAT crowd). He mouthed “thank you” to me, twice, and then made a little bow. How sweet is that?
Anyhow, they were a joy. After the first encore, there was this extremely touching moment, in which almost everyone in the arena raised up their phones, lights on / lighters up, while calling for Placebo. Hundreds of bright lights. Stefan was the first to walk back on stage, and he looked astonished. He bowed and applauded the audience, which was even more touching.
They ended the show with a wonderful, slow “Running Up That Hill”. I left the concert voiceless, trembling and with an enormous smile plastered on my face.
They’ve already started announcing dates for 2017, and I’d highly recommend going to at least one of their gigs, Placebo fan or not. I know I will.
Sources: flickofthefinger.co.uk http://bit.ly/2k9cnbs
Guest Review from: Tea Nicolae
Photos: © Patrick Gunning
