Placebo live in Bologna 2013

𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎?

📢"My grandmother was from Bologna, but we don't have any relatives now."
(𝐼𝑙 𝑀𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜, 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 24, 2014)
Did you know about this kind of Brian’s connection to Italy?😊

Today, I want to tell you about Placebo concert in this beautiful city of Bologna on November 23th, 2013, watch some performances together with you and enjoy a stunning photo taken by photographer Nino Saetti on that day😍
To be precise, the show took place in Casalecchio di Reno, little town very close to Bologna, at the Unipol Arena (previously known as Futurshow Station).

Placebo live in Bologna. Photo credit: Nino Saetti

I translated a nice ✨𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖✨ of this concert titled ‘𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚’ that was published at 𝑳𝒂 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂 a day after the event.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Twenty years of career in one evening. An English band chose the Due Torri [*see a note down below] as the only Italian date to play and sing the most famous songs, from "Twenty years" to "Song to say goodbye", but also those taken from the last album as "Too many friends". Even if you had forgotten to take your meds, as Brian Molko asks himself in "Meds", you can count on the Placebo effect. And it works, and very well.

It's hard to be disappointed if all the songs that have made the history of the British band are in the setlist. Present, close and distant past, all the ages of Placebo are explored, twenty years of career summarized in one hundred and five minutes. From "Twenty years", in fact, the first to deserve the ovation of the ten thousand visitors of the Unipol Arena, which hosts the only Italian date, up to "Song to say goodbye". Which, contrary to what the title promises, is not a farewell but an introduction to a killing sequence that also includes "Special K" and "The bitter end" before the break. Ok, it's a shame that Molko misses the last verse on the way, but he can be forgiven. His performance is flawless characterized by the unmistakable vocal timbre. You may not like it, but in that case it makes no sense to listen to Placebo.

Among the songs from the new album, the most convincing is “Too many friends” (yes, the one where Molko says her computer thinks he's gay). At this point a separate chapter opens. Perhaps it’s kind of sick, as well as useless, to complain at every concert of smartphone screens stretched out to the sky. Once there were lighters, and some even were bothered by them (Noel Gallagher said "Put out those damn lighters, you're not at Elton John’s concert"). Now, there are cellphone pixels. They are not pleasant, but there is a reason for them. Here, it is surprising that relatively few of them light up during a song that is an undisputed hit, as well as the one with the best live impact of the evening, "Every you every me". And then, on "Too many friends" coming next, in fact, they illuminate the parterre like a starry sky. Maybe the first one was the song closest to the heart of the large portion of the audience over thirty, while the next one - of the youngest. But there is a semantic short circuit in that sea of smartphones ready to post the video on Facebook just as Molko sings, in clear controversy with the social networks, "𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 / 𝑻𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 / 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓” that “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚 / 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑰𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆.”

Placebo live in Bologna. Photo credit unknown

At the end of the concert, only one doubt remains: what was the use of the net that was occasionally dropped from above to stand between the stage and the audience? If in the second part of the show it is useful for visuals with projections, in the first it’s not helpful to obscure the view. Like some kind of huge mosquito net. But it’s ok. And when the first Union Jack [flag of the UK] appears in the end, you think about the show that went totally smoothly, probably more than necessary, which seems to be a peace treaty made after a stormy past in Italy (the smashed guitars in Sanremo, the insults at the Heineken Jammin’ Festival). Maybe, yes, Molko's grandmother comes from Bologna. A plate of tortellini makes everyone better.
(𝐿𝑎 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎, 𝑁𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 24, 2013)

*𝑳𝒆 𝑫𝒖𝒆 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊 (‘𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔’)
The Torre degli Asinelli (97.2 meters) is the tallest leaning medieval tower in the world. It was built between 1109 and 1119 and is one of the twenty towers that have survived the centuries. The Torre degli Asinelli has a little sister, the Garisenda tower. The pair of towers is a universally recognized symbol of Bologna for both visitors and locals.

Placebo live in Bologna. Photo credit: Gwen

And now it’s time for some performances. These ate fans’ recordings but it’s worth it to check them out. Running Up That Hill and Post Blue are my favourites of these🥰

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 – 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐚, 𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟏.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
🎶 https://bit.ly/3gGqjZ7

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐚, 𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟏.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
🎶 https://bit.ly/3r2I3Tk

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐚, 𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟏.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
🎶 https://bit.ly/3a40NM4

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐚, 𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟏.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
🎶 https://bit.ly/383yafe

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 – 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐚, 𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟏.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
🎶 https://bit.ly/3oIawvq

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 – 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐚, 𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟏.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
🎶 https://bit.ly/2W8hsFV

Post by Olga