We’re used to see our favourite band performing in front of a huge excited crowd. But can you imagine Placebo playing for twenty people?.. And no, it wasn’t at the very beginning of their career when they’ve been completely unknown.
I’m gonna tell you about such a concert in Placebo history, of course, from the only point of view of experience (never a shame!) which probably every band have to go through to become massive.
The gig I’m talking about took place at ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง’๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐๐๐๐.
To tell the story, I picked up two excerpts of the ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ where Brian, Stef and Steve shared their memories of that day. But first, I’d like to mention some facts about the venue because it was the one of a pretty interesting history.
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| Photo credit: David Corio |
๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐'๐, also known as ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐, was a music club owned by American hard rock band ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ก, opened in December 1994 in their hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. The club was named after Aerosmith’s famous song "๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐" which appeared on their 1973 self-titled debut album. The song was written by lead singer Steven Tyler. It was a live staple of Aerosmith concerts throughout the band's career and appeared on several live albums.
Later, the club was owned by House of Blues and renamed into Lansdowne Street Music Hall; closed in 1999.
๐ขNow, let’s start from sort of a diary of a short Placebo US tour back in 1998 published in Q magazine.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ (๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฌ): Up a 9.30am for our flight to Boston. Watch The Truman Show on the plane. There's a 50-year-old queen on the plane, worn by years of flying, called Jeff. He is always there for us when we need him. Americans always probe us, so we turn the tables. Jeff is a gentleman so we take him up on his offer to hear his life story.
Arriving in Boston we go straight to a motel for two hours sleep while the crew set up the gig. We are haunted by Jeffs. We then go to the venue and are on stage at 10pm US time. After three weeks in Europe our body clocks are pointing at 4am. The venue is as far removed as possible from anything we're used to. There are no lights and no dressing room. We decide to enjoy it anyway.
๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ (๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ): We've jetted to the US to start a round of shows and promos to back up the release of Pure Morning. We weren't really meant to go over to the US until the New Year, but some of the most important radio stations have jumped on the track and we're plunged into the nightmare scenario of trying to "break America". Radio stations are all powerful and to be successful in the States you have to play their game. Tonight is the first time on this tour that we play to a crowd that only really knows one of our songs, such are the perils of a successful radio record. We also say hello to our haven for the next few days - our giant silver tour bus. Those bunks will never be so comfortable as they are tonight...
๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ (๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ, ๐ฏ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ): The venue for tonight's gig - Mama Kin - is owned by Aerosmith but is a bit of a toilet. We have to play with Rancid, which we're not happy about. Everybody is a Rancid fan and so we end up playing in front of about 20 people, after having played in front of two thousand in Paris. We have serious jetlag and feel decidedly inhuman.
(๐ "๐ต๐๐ ๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐", ๐๐๐๐โ 1999)
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| Photo credit unknown |
๐ขLater, in 2003, while touring the US again, Brian was asked about the concert at Mama Kin’s, in comparison to their recent shows in America, by Anais of Suicide Girls.
Anais: How do you find the US tours now vs. 1996, 1998 etc.? I mentioned to you that I was there in Boston, first gig off of the European...
Brian: At Mama Kin’s?
A: Yeah, twenty of us...
B: The Mama Kin’s culture shock. Yeah, yeah.
A: You did have a few devoted fans there but out of twenty it had to have been a culture shock.
B: Yeah, from three thousand people to twenty. It was a bit much. We weren’t really prepared for it at that point. We’d just done kind of the biggest tour in our lives which took us up to an eighteen-thousand-person gig in Paris, you know, which is really intense. We had been touring since March and so by the seventh month I started to really sort of buckle a little bit under the pressure. Really feel the weight of expectation. I was getting tired. So even though these were kind of like the biggest shows of our lives, with a massive crew and three big visual screens and lots of projection, it was very show biz. Towards the end of it I kind of, I lost a little bit of a connection with the audience and it was kind of bringing me down. Coming here, it’s been so refreshing. It’s been like learning the ropes again. It’s been a long while since we’ve done this kind of tour and I think it’s going to turn us into a better band. We’re finally getting energy again. We’re feeling such immediate energy. You can see the whites of the eyes of the people in the audience. You know, you stand on the barrier and they’re trying to unzip your fly, you know stuff like that, it’s much more punk rock. We’re really, really enjoying it. It’s fresh. It’s brought a real freshness back to Placebo. I’m having a great time. It’s taken a little bit of readjustment but we’ve thrown ourselves kind of head long into it and are going back in time and learning again. Learning what it feels like to do these kind of shows, learning from them. I think it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened.
A: Yeah, I do have the say the show other night, aside from Portland's lethargic audiences, that was one of the best shows I have seen of you.
B: Oh that’s cool. Yeah in? Portland the audience was amazing. Seattle was six hundred and five people, you know, and it just, it ranks in my top five gigs of all time. I had the most amazing time that night. I crowd surfed for the first time in years. It was electric.
A: Yeah Portland audiences can be snotty. I have a problem with that. There’s a cartoon slashed down the middle, LA and New York. It’s a guy in LA saying Hey how are you doing? and there’s a thought bubble above his head, Hey, Fuck you, and the New York side is Hey fuck you, and a thought bubble above his head Hey, how are you doing? That for me explains a lot of East Coast and West Coast. Well, my experiences with it.
(๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐ “๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐”, ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 14, 2003)
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| Photo credit unknown |
https://bit.ly/3kjoi5p
๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ถ
Brick Shithouse
Allergic (To The Thoughts Of Mother Earth)
You Don’t Care About Us
Bionic
36 Degrees
Without You I’m Nothing
Every You Every Me
Bruise Pristine
Nancy Boy
Pure Morning
Post by Olga
