๐ธFirstly, I found an amazing interview that Brian gave at the Sonic Bang Festival in Bangkok in 2013 and that I will share with you next time.
The interview mentions that Placebo performed in Bangkok for the third time.
๐ธAnd then I read a couple of loving and very funny articles earlier this year, where Dave McLean of Riverman Management was interviewed about two sequels to his film Schemers, which are being prepared for filming.
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐น๐บ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐บ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฝ๐จ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐จ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฒ.
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| Photo credit: Kevin Cummins, unknown / edit by Marti |
“I actually call it the Oasis diet because I lost 12 kilos while I was promoting them.
“Why is the film called Knitted Smoke?
My dad once said: ‘Why you doing that festival, son? It’d be easier knitting smoke!’
I thought that just nailed it!"
(Dave McLean, The Courier Jan 2021)
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| Photo credit: Kevin Cummins |
๐ธ*๐ธ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ธ*๐ธ
๐ ๐๐จ๐ง’๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ"Years later, I met a drinks promoter in Bangkok called Cyril Legrande. He said: “I really want to put on a festival. I’ll sponsor $2m providing you book Oasis.”
We got Oasis, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand and Ian Brown. Then I got a fax:
“The sponsorship has gone down to $1m.” Then another: “$500,000.” The Thai promoter said: “You’ll have to cut the band fees – is it absolutely necessary to have Mr Franz and Mr Ferdinand? Can’t we just have one?” ๐๐๐
Then he added: “You need to guarantee that Oasis turn up, or else you will have to pay their $500,000 fee.”
This was when Oasis were renowned for cancelling.
I woke up the next day and thought: “I’m going to have to sell my house.”
When they walked out on stage I leapt in the air with ecstasy. My girlfriend went: “I never knew you liked Oasis so much … ”
(Dave McLean, The Guardian Sep 2020)
๐“The gig happens, the crowd turns up, it’s a big success,” adds McLean. “I kept going backstage to see if everything’s okay because at that time they were a bit frosty, anything could happen. So when they went on stage I jumped up and punched the air singing ‘you gotta roll with it!’
My partner said: ‘I never thought you liked Oasis that much!’ She never knew that I’d guaranteed £500,000 of my own money. I actually call it the Oasis diet because I lost 12 kilos in six weeks while I was promoting them.”
(Dave McLean, NME Sep 2020)
⭐๐ธ⭐๐ธ⭐
Do you like Dave's memories?๐๐๐ฅฐ
The festival was organized despite all the possible problems and the first year was really unforgettable.
A few mentions that could be found on the Internet:
๐ Held at Lakeside Muangthong Thani, an expansive carpark site situated about a 30-minute drive from the Bangkok city centre, the festival boasted a bill that read like a who’s who of British indie rock.
On the first day last Saturday, Britpop giants ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ headlined a bill that also included Scottish art rockers
๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ณ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐, ex-Stone Roses frontman ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง
and Belgian experimentalist outfit ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ. It was some feat pulling together such an indie treat. Day two saw art-school punks the Futureheads and Mercury Prize-nominated quartet Maximo Park sharing the bill with indie heavy hitters
๐๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ and ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ. Not too bad either.
Although there were some teething problems for the organisers (Riverman, Matching Entertainment and Pernod Ricard), which is understandable as it was the first time they had attempted to stage an event of this magnitude, the festival was generally very well organised. Logistical support from the Thai government was a big plus.
Headliners ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ worked hard to get the crowd going but as much as ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ tore into a nearly indie metal-sounding set, the night really belonged to Snow Patrol and their singer Gary Lightbody who sang beautifully throughout with soul and emotion.
(Live4ever.proboards.com Feb 2006)
⭐๐ธ⭐๐ธ⭐
๐ด๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ 2006, ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐๐๐.
๐At dusk between the crowded market stalls of Patpong, Bangkok's touristy red light district, Placebo are brandishing copies of their new album for the first time. The band are more incredulous than proud, however, as they have just handed over 100 Baht (Pounds 1.45) each to buy some illegal bootleg CDs from a street vendor.
Meds, the fifth Placebo album, is not due on shelves anywhere until next month.
"Hey, this is us! This is our new album," Brian Molko, the band's diminutive singer and guitarist, berates the Thai teenager sitting behind dozens of racks of counterfeit discs. The stallholder looks nonplussed, scrutinising the unofficial sleeve artwork, cobbled together from magazine images. Looking back in turn at Molko's mascara-lined, milky-blue eyes, the improbably tall bassist Stefan Olsdal and the lank-haired drummer Steve Hewitt, confusion turns to astonishment as he realises who his latest customers are.๐
Molko might have been expected to throw a tantrum at the stall, given his reputation as the bisexual ringleader of a drug-fuelled glam-rock'n'roll circus...(...)
But, ten years on, Placebo prefer to laugh off their black- market encounter. Over drinks in a bar where bored-looking Thais in bikinis dance for sex tourists, Molko checks the spelling of his lyrics on the bogus sleevenotes. "You have to have a sense of humour about it," he chuckles, "I mean, did you see the look on the guy's face?"
Hewitt, a straight-talking Mancunian, is more forthright. "It's like someone shagging your missus, it feels that personal," he fumes.
"I've not even held the finished thing in my hand and already you can get it here. That makes me really irate."
Molko shrugs. "It's something that would have really bugged me a few years ago but now I try not to let it," he says, further confounding his reputation as a drama queen.
"What's the point of trying to stop something you can't control? When the album was leaked on the internet (there have been 26,000 illegal downloads since), I got really upset that day - you are minded to get very vengeful - but you have to move on."
Although Placebo are content to celebrate long into the night, confirmation of how much they have calmed down comes as their afterparty, fuelled by alcoholic drinks company sponsors, is suddenly hijacked by a teetotal Ian Brown.
Silencing the DJ with a show of Mancunian bravado, the former Stone Roses singer loudly protests that he has lost his favourite pair of camouflage-print sunglasses, which - after much effing and blinding and threats to strip-search everyone - turn up in a fridge. Brown switches back into amiable mode as if nothing has happened and the party goes on.
"And you were expecting me to be a diva," Molko jokes, while remaining conspicuously out of harm's way.๐
⭐๐ธ⭐๐ธ⭐
Unfortunately, I won't show you much from the band's concert itself, because the only recording is not in good quality. But that's the way it goes sometimes. Even so, it does not make this topic less attractive.
๐ถ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ - ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ (๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ค๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ค ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐๐.๐๐.๐๐)
https://bit.ly/3dfswLr
⭐Anyway, you can enjoy my collage of photos from this event.⭐
Post by Marti
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| Brian with Oasis singer Liam Gallagher. |
The festival was organized despite all the possible problems and the first year was really unforgettable.
A few mentions that could be found on the Internet:
๐ Held at Lakeside Muangthong Thani, an expansive carpark site situated about a 30-minute drive from the Bangkok city centre, the festival boasted a bill that read like a who’s who of British indie rock.
On the first day last Saturday, Britpop giants ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ headlined a bill that also included Scottish art rockers
๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ณ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐, ex-Stone Roses frontman ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง
and Belgian experimentalist outfit ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ. It was some feat pulling together such an indie treat. Day two saw art-school punks the Futureheads and Mercury Prize-nominated quartet Maximo Park sharing the bill with indie heavy hitters
๐๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ and ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ. Not too bad either.
Although there were some teething problems for the organisers (Riverman, Matching Entertainment and Pernod Ricard), which is understandable as it was the first time they had attempted to stage an event of this magnitude, the festival was generally very well organised. Logistical support from the Thai government was a big plus.
Headliners ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ worked hard to get the crowd going but as much as ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ tore into a nearly indie metal-sounding set, the night really belonged to Snow Patrol and their singer Gary Lightbody who sang beautifully throughout with soul and emotion.
(Live4ever.proboards.com Feb 2006)
⭐๐ธ⭐๐ธ⭐
 |
| Photo credit: Kevin Cummins |
๐ด๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ 2006, ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐๐๐.
๐At dusk between the crowded market stalls of Patpong, Bangkok's touristy red light district, Placebo are brandishing copies of their new album for the first time. The band are more incredulous than proud, however, as they have just handed over 100 Baht (Pounds 1.45) each to buy some illegal bootleg CDs from a street vendor.
Meds, the fifth Placebo album, is not due on shelves anywhere until next month.
"Hey, this is us! This is our new album," Brian Molko, the band's diminutive singer and guitarist, berates the Thai teenager sitting behind dozens of racks of counterfeit discs. The stallholder looks nonplussed, scrutinising the unofficial sleeve artwork, cobbled together from magazine images. Looking back in turn at Molko's mascara-lined, milky-blue eyes, the improbably tall bassist Stefan Olsdal and the lank-haired drummer Steve Hewitt, confusion turns to astonishment as he realises who his latest customers are.๐
Molko might have been expected to throw a tantrum at the stall, given his reputation as the bisexual ringleader of a drug-fuelled glam-rock'n'roll circus...(...)
But, ten years on, Placebo prefer to laugh off their black- market encounter. Over drinks in a bar where bored-looking Thais in bikinis dance for sex tourists, Molko checks the spelling of his lyrics on the bogus sleevenotes. "You have to have a sense of humour about it," he chuckles, "I mean, did you see the look on the guy's face?"
Hewitt, a straight-talking Mancunian, is more forthright. "It's like someone shagging your missus, it feels that personal," he fumes.
"I've not even held the finished thing in my hand and already you can get it here. That makes me really irate."
Molko shrugs. "It's something that would have really bugged me a few years ago but now I try not to let it," he says, further confounding his reputation as a drama queen.
"What's the point of trying to stop something you can't control? When the album was leaked on the internet (there have been 26,000 illegal downloads since), I got really upset that day - you are minded to get very vengeful - but you have to move on."
Although Placebo are content to celebrate long into the night, confirmation of how much they have calmed down comes as their afterparty, fuelled by alcoholic drinks company sponsors, is suddenly hijacked by a teetotal Ian Brown.
Silencing the DJ with a show of Mancunian bravado, the former Stone Roses singer loudly protests that he has lost his favourite pair of camouflage-print sunglasses, which - after much effing and blinding and threats to strip-search everyone - turn up in a fridge. Brown switches back into amiable mode as if nothing has happened and the party goes on.
"And you were expecting me to be a diva," Molko jokes, while remaining conspicuously out of harm's way.๐
⭐๐ธ⭐๐ธ⭐
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| Placebo in Bangkok, 2006. Photo credit unkown |
๐ถ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ - ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ (๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ค๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ค ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐๐.๐๐.๐๐)
https://bit.ly/3dfswLr
⭐Anyway, you can enjoy my collage of photos from this event.⭐
Post by Marti
