Photo credit: Alan Rennie |
In the middle of March 2016, βnews had just come overβ: Placebo confirmed their 20th anniversary tour!
ππ«π’ππ§ made quite a promising statement about the forthcoming shows:
π’ββ¦Letβs just say there will be songs in the set that Iβve sworn never to play again. I think itβs time that we purposefully acknowledged what a lot of Placebo fans really want to hear. Theyβve been very patient with us since we rarely play our most commercially successful material.
A 20-years anniversary tour seems like the right time to do so. Thatβs our intention. This tour is very much for the fans and a chance for us to revisit a lot of our early material.
So, if you want to see us play songs like βPure Morningβ and βNancy Boyβ which we havenβt played in almost ten years and may not play again, then youβd better come along to these shows! Weβll have some surprises in there tooβ¦β
(π·πππππππ π , ππππβ 14, 2016)
π’ππππππ§: [β¦] He [Brian] definitely has a troubled relationship with his past lyrics. Because like the line: "A friend with weed is better" on βPure Morningβ. He wouldn't write something like that now, but he did back then. For him it's being able to walk on stage and sing with conviction without smiling or without making up different lyrics, you know.
[β¦]
What we tend to do is cover ourselves with quite a few versions of our songs that we've released. One of our first singles, 'Teenage Angst', has been done in piano format, it's been done in the rock format, and it has this stadium rock format. Then we went back to an electric bass led version. So in order for us to remain interested in our back catalogue we often change them and adopt them to how we feel. Sometimes a song when we record it, it's in an embryonic form it tells you βListen, I'm supposed to be played this way.'β
π―ππ π π πππ ππππ πππππ πππ ππππππππ ππππ?
π’ππππππ§: "Iβm completely excited, excited about playing old songs, I like it. I think I want to see people's reactions as well."
(πΊπππ€ππ π, ππππ‘πππππ 23ππ, 2016)
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Photo credit: natalia_m_n IG |
β¨πΉπ¬π¨π³π°π»πβ¦β¨
π»ππππππ πππππ ππππ πππππππππππππ ππππ, πππ ππππππππ ππππππππππ πππ ππππ ππππ ππ πππ π πππ πππ ππππππππππ, πππππ πππ ππ ππ ππππππππππ πππ ππππ πππππππππ πππ. π«ππ ππππ ππππ ππ ππππππ ππ πππ πππ πππ ππππππππππ πππ πππ ππππππ ?
π’ππ«π’ππ§: I'm sure it helped shape its sonic palette. It was like a kind of rebellion against this more commercial aspect of the band's life. On πππ―ππ« πππ ππ ππ¨, we really had this sincere desire to lay ourselves bare. Every album we've done has been a reaction to the previous one, but on this one I think it was more in response to this rather masturbatory anniversary tour. On the other hand, I also realize that it did our audience a lot of good. It has taught us to accept the euphoria that the fans give us on stage. And this is probably the first time in my life that I've realized that so much, because I've always made music in a very selfish way. It's a necessary means of expression for me. If this tour has taught us anything, it's that there is value in giving pleasure to others, rather than satisfying yourself.
(ππ¦ π πππ #74, ππππβ 2022)
π’βI had reservations coming into this record based on the experience of touring,β says co-writer and multi-instrumentalist ππππππ§ ππ₯π¬πππ₯. βIt felt like we were slowly killing ourselves, and I just didnβt know how much life I felt there was left in the band. My confidence was at an all-time low.β
βWe have a tendency to do a lot that weβre asked to do, regardless of how itβs going to affect our physical and mental wellbeing, so we continued touring,β ππ¨π₯π€π¨ adds. βBy the end of it, I felt like a performing monkey that was being moved around the world; kind of detached from the soul of it.β
(π ππππππ ππ‘πππ ππΎ, πΉππππ’πππ¦ 1π π‘, 2022)
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Photo credit: Evelyn Kutschera |
(ππππ, π½πππ’πππ¦ 17π‘β, 2022)
π¬So, now we know that the whole retrospective tour ended up being mentally exhausting experience for the guysβ¦ However, they tried their best, and most of the shows became an amazing unforgettable experience for the fansβ€οΈ
π¬Thatβs why Iβd like to ask you to share ππππ ππππππππππ, your most beautiful and special memories from Placeboβs 20th anniversary tour!β¨ Letβs create some positive space around those shows to confirm it was still worth it!π₯°
π¬And maybe now, in hindsight, when you know how it felt for Brian and Stef, you can interpret your own thoughts and feelings about the concerts you attended in a bit different way, with more empathy and understandingβ¦
βοΈTo help you dive into the atmosphere of the tour, letβs watch a very powerful and emotional performance of (my personal favourite) π ππππ from π³ππππππ π¨ππππ in πͺππππππ, ππππ.
Pist by Olga