🔸⭐🔸𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎: 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕🔸⭐🔸

Photo credit: Francesca Bosetti, ferrarip4_5, gabriela_alicja, edit by Marti

𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨:
Nimes is home to one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheaters in the world, with an auditorium for up to 24,000 people. The Nimes Arena is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its origin dates back to the 90th AD. In Roman times, the arena was used for gladiatorial games. Today, in addition to summer concerts, bullfights are also held there. The capacity of the auditorium was reduced to 13,000 visitors.
🔸🎬 𝑨 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒔:
https://bit.ly/3rq1A2o
🔸⭐🔸


So far, Placebo has performed at this historically magical place a total of 3 times: in 2004, 2006 and 2017.
Here are just a few YT videos from those first two concerts, so you can soak up the atmosphere.
🔸🎬 𝑼𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 2004 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅:
https://bit.ly/3pjqJJu

🔸🎶 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈:
https://bit.ly/3o9v3M0


But the year 2017 was exceptional as soon as it was a celebration of the band's 20th anniversary with the best Placebo hits.
🔸🎶 𝑽𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎:
https://bit.ly/3d2FDOQ
🔸⭐🔸

Photo credit: Francesca Bosetti

I have found a great review of the concert for you written by the Italian fan Francesca, whom I share here for you today in an abbreviated form.
Enjoy the evening, dear friends, and I look forward to your memories of this amazing experience.
So - who of you saw Placebo in Arenes de Nimes?


𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃𝟒𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 - 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨

Francesca Bosetti

.../.../ And, by some divine intuition, we immediately understand that this will be an evening to remember. The stage, unlike how it appeared on the photos, is even closer and the risk of a shit figure is no longer a hypothesis but a solid reality.
If Brian, whom I had seen two nights before in Barolo, seemed already in a state of grace, what I am facing tonight makes me seriously think that my singer looks more smiling, engaging, double cheerful, and ultimately, also a lot more sexy.
In the middle of 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, we have a reasonable suspicion that what they spray into the air is not stage smoke, but a very strong and deadly mixture of pheromones and testosterone. .../.../


At 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, a happy confusion reaches heights that no one has touched before: my singer dances, jumps, winks, mishandles guitars with enthusiasm I haven't seen before and once combines a sequence of 8 Breathe at 1200 beats per second, spit out lungs with all bronchi. (The song ends with a long LAAAAAAAAVVVV and a lick of the microphone)..../.../


𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 are dangerously gaining a position in my personal rating.
And it's clearly the hormone that speaks for me, but try to understand that between a particularly heavy sweat (seeing means believing) and an adorable disgusted expression (complemented with our accusation of doing nothing but staying behind a cell phone), the objectivity of a poor fan overwhelmed by tsunami of emotions is reduced to less than the minimum wage.
(The song ends with licking off a drop of sweat from the microphone with the lower lip). .../.../

Photo credit:  Gabriela Alicja

𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 and 𝟑𝟔 𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬, I think they should now be officially archived as weapons of mass destruction. The first, less recited and certainly much more intense than usual, leaves a collective daze on the field while the second, especially the very last asympathetic "Shoulders toes and knees, I'm dirty sex" is certainly responsible for the peak of births that will occur in roughly April 2018.
(Both songs end with two powerful mic licks).


But it is on 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐊 that the real drama takes shape. In the background I see a shady figure wandering around the stage armed with a video camera. I hadn't really noticed it so far, but it's clear that then they're really resuming the show. I distinctly recognize the good Charlie Targett-Adams (formerly responsible for the highly anticipated documentary Placebo: Alt.Russia, soon to be aired on Netflix and whose second part, Placebo: Alt.Vimercate is already in the works) and at that moment I realize that the shit figure could be world-wide.


Still, do you think that could have stopped us?
Absolutely not, our singer tonight is able to make us forget the name and surname even of the closest relatives, let alone the consciousness of perpetuation in something we will be ashamed of until the seventh generation can bring us back to earth.
We certainly realize that those five minutes of preventive shyness were definitely not enough.


We arrive at 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝 and I am honestly exhausted, certainly very happy, but physically, hormonally, and mentally devastated. The debut here is the declaration of war, the embrace of the guitar for the "comfort zone", the "caress" of the aforementioned very happy guitar, which leaves nothing to the imagination. I mean, I definitely need a break. (The song ends with a breathless "end" and licking the microphone as in the manual). .../.../


In a moment we arrive at 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐔𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥] and consequently we know that it is very close to the end. But for the first time I do not experience this moment with regret, but as the culmination of a perfect show from all points of view./.../

Photo credit: Francesca Bosetti 

Brian climbs up onto the stage armed with what appears to be a particularly vintage analog video camera with which he shoots the audience.
I thought I really saw everything, but if someone told me that one day I would end up in Brian Molko's film, I would consider him a fool and give him the name of a good psychiatrist.
I thank all the known and unknown divinities, for giving me a very rare moment of lucidity to have prevented me from making completely crazy faces. Maybe the look wasn't the most intelligent but at least I managed to keep a semblance of normality by masking a sort of inner apocalypse with a slight embarrassed smile.


Now, aside from songs that have deserved a special mention, I actually think I saw Nîmes as the best show of the whole tour. Besides the fact that the question: why wasn't I born a microphone or a guitar? it will haunt me for the rest of my existence, I leave the Arena knowing that I attended an unforgettable concert, and all I have to do is look my comrades in the eye to understand that this time it's not just my impression.


I certainly don't forget that Brian is also a great actor, and therefore much of the joviality, empathy, energy and joy that was shown to us tonight was used and consumed for the footage.. Because it is clear that if you are making a video that will be part, I hope, of a possible DVD you try to give your best (and I'm really sorry to have ruined most of the scenes) but if this is the result, well guys, let's do it way to resume all concerts!
(𝙾𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍𝟺𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐, 𝟸0𝟷𝟽)
🔸⭐🔸

Post by Marti

🔺𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃: 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕🔺

Photo credit: Miguel de Melo, Brixton Academy, October 23, 2017

Two concerts at the 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 on 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕 had to be the final UK dates of the 𝟐𝟎 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒓. But… sadly, several days before Brian got serious voice problems which forced Placebo to cancel upcoming concerts in Portsmouth and Swindon.
The band put out the following statement on their 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆:

📢  "It is with great regret that Placebo are unable to play the upcoming shows at Portsmouth Guildhall on 16th October and Swindon Oasis on 17th October this coming week.
"Brian Molko has been suffering from throat problems which has badly affected his voice. The band were reluctant to cancel dates and let the fans down and pressed ahead with the shows in Reading and Cardiff over the weekend but it was clear that Brian was struggling to sing.
"Brian will now see a specialist in London asap and following that diagnosis, we will make further announcements regarding the shows. […] Placebo would like to apologise to the fans for this disappointment and hope for better news soon."

However, Placebo decided to go forward with the 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 although Brian hasn’t recovered completely yet. Some songs had even to be rearranged to make them easier for Brian to sing… The guys trusted their devoted fans and hoped for their support and understanding… 💓
I found two nice 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐒 of one of those concerts – you can get some more details and feel an atmosphere of that very complicated for Brian concert.

Photo credit: Miguel de Melo, Brixton Academy, October 23, 2017

🔺𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 – 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕🔺
𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑷 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈

It really didn’t matter, dear Brian. 𝑨𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐’𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕”, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. The singer was still recovering from a complete loss of voice that occurred two weeks ago, but, recuperating in major part, he was ready for the band’s London date of the tour A Place for Us to Dream, from the name of their latest record.
[…] Going smoother in tone with Loud Like Love, they built a beating climax, rising up to the strong rhythm of For What it’s Worth. Midway through the gig, I know offered a powerful exchange and crossing of guitars between Stefan Olsdal, who was definitely one of the highlights of the night, and Nick Gavrilovic.

As intense as it could be, the music emanated from the stage with unique energy. The high-pitched voice of Molko more often than not blended and got lost behind the strings – among which to note Angela Chan’s violin – and the keys.
Unforgettable was the rockers’ tribute to David Bowie with Without You I’m Nothing. While the ticking beats of the music flew soft and melodic, footage of the smiley face of the Thin White Duke – who featured in and recorded the song with Placebo in 1999 – was projected onto the background, filling more than simple words would do. […]
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑃 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑦 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝐹𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖, 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 25𝑡ℎ, 2017)

Photo credit: Miguel de Melo, Brixton Academy, October 23, 2017

🔺𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒚 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒐'𝒔 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒈🔺
Ah, one of my all-time favourites again tonight hopefully (hopefully due to the fact that a few previous gigs were cancelled due to Brian having lost his voice a couple of weeks back). As it was, the gig went off without a hitch, albeit with Brian having to perform with less than perfect vocals, having not fully recovered by the time of the sound check.
[…] But the sell-out crowd of nearly 5000 were there for the music, something the band excel at live.
At 8:45 the lights went down and we are treated to the “Every You Every Me (unreleased promo)” video in full on the stage backdrop before the band launched into ‘Pure Morning’. […]

𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘. 𝑯𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕! 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒔/𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎 – 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆!

Stefan and Brian, both dressed in black, took residence at the front of the stage with Stefan mixing up instruments from guitar to bass to keyboards throughout. The set list was a cross section of classics from their back catalogue. The songs were interspersed with projected live feeds of the band, videos (‘Without You I’m Nothing’ was a tribute to the unforgettable Thin White Duke) and strobes. Some of the slower mid-section songs really tested Brian’s vocals, his weakness apparent to all in its flatness.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏.

[…] They return for a two-song encore with Stefan holding aloft his rainbow guitar to mass applause. The backdrop changes to a packet of fags with a Donald Trump effigy and wording of ‘seriously harms you and other around you’ when Brian finally leaves the stage last after a minute fiddling with feedback on his amp – a very R’n’R finish.
So, to summarise – they weren’t at their best (which is understandable), but even like this they were mighty impressive visually. The songs do stand for themselves and the majority of the audience seemed to be having a bloody good time.
(𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑜'𝑠 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑔, 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 25𝑡ℎ, 2017)

Brian asked not to take videos. Basically, he always does but this time there was a serious reason for that. I feel kind of ashamed sharing this video… although to me, it looks and sounds incredibly beautiful and moving…

So please, go watch it only those of you who really LOVE THE SINGER…
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐈 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝟐𝟑 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕
🎶 https://bit.ly/37I4bdj 🎶

Post by Olga