🟨𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑: 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂🟨

Let’s continue talking about Placebo album covers and today, it’s 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂’𝐬 turn.
I hope you don't mind that I swapped this one with 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 which we've alreadt discussed

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg, Black Market Music cover, Discogs / edit by Olga

🟨In 2016, when ranking Placebo records in the interview for Vice, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 rated their third studio album 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 (2000) as his least favourite.

𝐍𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐲: 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆?
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨: I guess I put it there because I think it's the record that suffers most from having a blanket sound. We do our best to not make records that do that. It's part of our modus operandi. But it also happens to be the first time we also had a number one album, and in typical Brian Molko style, I put it at the bottom. [Laughs] I think it's a real somber record, so it doesn't really conjure up euphoria, which I suppose is what I look for in music. It was recorded during the height of our party phase, and once we had recorded all of our instruments, we had turned the studio into a place to have guests. So we spent a lot of time entertaining people while our producer spent a lot of time working on the album alone. I think if we'd been a little more involved, then perhaps there would be a little more light and color. It's quite a monochrome album for me. It's a very deep wood color, with stripes of gunmetal grey when I picture it.

𝐍𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐲: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓.
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨: Yeah, and perhaps that's it. Perhaps the whole package is a little too gothic for me. I like to try and make an album with light and shade, and this one has the least.
(𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠: 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜 𝑆𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜’𝑠 𝐸𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐿𝑃𝑠, 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 13, 2016)

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg

🟨As you may guess, it’s impossible that Placebo would choose a meaningless random image for their album cover. Back in the days when the record was about to be released, the guys had quite an interesting idea behind 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 artwork. However, in the end, it has just not been understood fully by the fans and critics. “𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓-𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒛𝒆𝒅,” as 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 admitted later.

𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 [𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄]?
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: Musical instruments, but very specific, very, very old and very, very heavy.
(𝐹𝑈𝑍𝑍, 𝐽𝑢𝑙-𝐴𝑢𝑔'00)

"While the band is at the height of his media exposure, Placebo removed for the first time any human presence (and charm) to his artwork.

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg

"These are things journalists noted but not musicians" says 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐. "It was a visceral reaction to our past imaging. When we saw this music box mechanism, we just said yes, believing it showed the origin of the recorded music, there was nothing psychological ... In retrospect I think we over-analyzed, we just tried to be smart."
"But this cover sucks so much! " 𝑶𝒍𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒍 complete."
(𝑉𝑂𝑋𝑃𝑂𝑃, 𝐽𝑢𝑛-𝐽𝑢𝑙'09)

🟨Sleeve photography was done by the talented 𝑲𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈. Together with 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒔, Mr. Westenberg was also responsible for the whole art direction on the album.
Captivating images of Brian, Stefan, and Steve Hewitt used as the booklet photography became quite iconic and loved by all Placebo fans.

Post by Olga

🟪𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖, 𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗗𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟲 (𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗧)🟪

🟪Today I’d like to share an 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 (an excerpt of it as it’s way too long in full) from the early days of Placebo’s career🟪
It’s caught my attention because of the PLACE where it was done - 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒕 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐, “surrounded by an impressive city skyline”, on a beautiful September evening...✨
⭐️Not long ago I told you about 𝑷𝑨𝑻 𝑷𝑶𝑷𝑬, a great photographer who took many brilliant pictures surely recognizable for every Placebo fan. If you missed that post, you can take a look now.
➡ https://bit.ly/3dkEtBo

Photo credit: Pat Pope

🟪Back to the interview, Brian talked to the 𝑴𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓 journalist right after they all, with Stefan and Robert Schultzberg, did a photoshoot with Pat Pope. Below, I’m adding that very image where Placebo look like "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒚𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌" in Stefan's opinion😃
Brian sounds smart, straightforward, and witty as always, and British press seems to be pretty much impressed by the rising stars. Enjoy reading, soulmates!
𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔, 𝑶𝒍𝒈𝒂💗

🟪▪️𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐀𝐋▪️🟪
“We’re the Boyzone of indie rock,” states 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒍𝒅𝒔𝒂𝒍, Placebo’s nine-foot-high Swedish bassist. He’s examining 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚’𝒔 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐-𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕 particularly taken by the one where he and drummer 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒛𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈 look on doe-eyed as singer, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐, a slight, black-haired Marilyn/Courtney hybrid, 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆. Oh, every inch the teen idols. But Stefan’s joking of course. Placebo are a serious band. They’d never ever align themselves with such banal, fifth generation nonsense and lowest common denominator product.
… As Brian later spits, “We’re hyper self-critical and have a very low boredom threshold. It seems the possibilities are endless. We don’t just want to be a guitar band. Fuck that. Fuck it.”

⭐️𝑪𝑶𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑰𝑫𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬? 𝑰 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑲 𝑵𝑶𝑻…
In a decent world, it wouldn’t be necessary to explain why Placebo are the most exciting and potentially most important new band to leap above the parapet this year. You’d just listen to the record, see them live, laugh with hysterical relief and then instantly demand that every billboard in Piccadilly Circus be given over to their cause. […]

⭐️𝑩𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑵
“You were the one who wrote that I should be called velvet.”

𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔-𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒕 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐. Robert and Stefan dislike interviews, and so stay inside and read the papers. Out here, surrounded by an impressive city skyline, wasps attack as the last of the sun floods down. And, well, this next bit is essential, I’m afraid. I just can’t pretend it’s John Power or Mr Ocean Colour Scene sitting lumpenly opposite me.

Believe me, I tried. Tiny with Louise Brooks bob, Brian’s wearing a furry black coat, shimmery pink lipstick and silver-glitter nail polish. Behind huge sunglasses, his eyes are heavily shadowed with grey. He looks like he’s just stepped out of a Pierre-et-Gilles photo fantasia, heart-breakingly beautiful, with the kind of charisma usually half-glimpsed behind tinted limousine windows. OK, I might be susceptible, not coming from the pace where beautiful and charismatic pop stars roam free - but then neither do the hoards of “TOTP” kids who are soon going to be pinning their daydreams to him and the band.

Right…

Velvet? Aaaaaaargh, yes. I did write that maybe fate could have named you better.

Photo credit: Pat Pope

“I asked my friend Bill if Brian was a nerd’s name in England. He didn’t want to tell me, but I’ve gathered it is. People started sating ‘My dad’s called Brian.’ And unfortunate choice on the part of my parents.”

It does depend on the Brian, I suppose…

“Well, yeah, Brian Jones… Who else?”

Er, Brian Blessed? Brian the snail from “The Magic Roundabout”?

“What’s he like?”

Cheery, chirpy. Bt of a lad.

He looks askance over the top of those film-star sunglasses, pink lipstick shimmering in the sun.

“Oh yeah - that’s me in a nutshell.”

⭐️𝑳𝑳𝑶𝑹’𝑵’𝑲𝑪𝑶𝑹’𝑵’𝑺𝑮𝑼𝑹’𝑵’𝑿𝑬𝑺
So yes, it kind of goes without saying that Placebo aren’t Yob Rock. Nor, despite Brian being a loss to the cause, are they Romo, and as you’d expect from a Swedo-Lux concern, they can’t be held in the village greens of Britpop. The spectre of American alternative looms quite large - Sonic Youth, Pixies, Rodan, even Smashing Pumpkins (only with triple the intelligence and none of the bombast, stars and not dollar signs in their eyes).

But Placebo do no fit. An art rock band doused in pop, a thoroughbred Trojan horse, everything you could want form a band - only backwards.

What does fit Placebo’s splendid isolation is the fact that their new single is called “𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭”, a dreamy rush of existential doubt that manages to grasp all the pitilessness, defiance and vulnerability of those hormone-crazed days without sloshing about in self-pity. The title even seems mocking… [...]

DO you feel you’ve grown up yet?

“𝑰’𝒎 𝟐𝟑 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒌𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏, 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 100 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒍𝒅. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 - 𝒂 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, I don’t know, things don’t surprise me as much as I imagined they would. Maybe I’m just a fast learner. […]

⭐️𝑺𝑬𝑿
“Kinda guy that mates for life/Gotta help him find a wife/We’re a couple when out bodies double…

Photo credit: Corinne Day

Priests and parents would probably not favour “𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲” as a positive role model, yet “Nancy Boy” is one of the best songs on “Placebo”, a thrilling blowsy glam-punk come-on that flirts with Suede’s “The Drowners” across a crowded room. It is,, to Brian’s delight, the song that most often wins over hostile audiences, despite being the most ambiguous, licentious lyric they have.

“After doing that song on the ‘White Room’ I thought ‘𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝑽 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒈, “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒔”!’ I’ve also been on ‘The Big Breakfast’ singing ‘𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆’.” [...]

You know the way you look is going to affect Placebo’s initial appeal?

“I hope so. Otherwise it wouldn’t be worth all the money I spend on facials.” He raises his hands in the air. “That’s a JOKE. The thing is, I often get mistaken for a girl. At first I felt flattered because I reckoned it meant I was quite pretty, then I thought, ‘if it’s that easy, maybe I should play around with it, bring it into the world of the band.’ Placebo’s music is full of ambiguity. It doesn’t offer answers, just questions.”

He smiles. I still can’t see his eyes.

“I mean, you don’t do it without hoping that in some way or another it’s quite sexy - but you never can tell.”

As disingenuousness goes, this is like Liam Gallagher saying he’d like to be famous, but isn’t sure if anyone’s, like, hat bothered about him. I’m impressed.

“𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. When they can’t put their finger on you, that’s when you’re at your most dangerous, and I guess I like that position - not being able to have a finger put on me. So to speak.”

Not looking like your average happy shopper, don’t you get hassled all the time?

“Not really. Maybe it’s because I walk around in my own little dream world. When I’m with girls though, we both get it. I was walking round Ladbroke Grove with a girl a week ago and two blokes came up to us and said, ‘Are you looking for cock?’ that wouldn’t have happened if I looked more like a bloke. What it does is five me insight into how horrible and infantile and offensive men can be. It gives me a kind of anti-role model, encountering male attitudes in the street, in bars, that I find completely repulsive. It shows me what I’m not and keeps me in check as a man.”

Photo credit: Robin Francois

How do you feel about joining the pantheon of pansexual pin-ups?

“Hey, why not? 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒖𝒎 - 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. They don’t mean anything to me - they never have.”

OK, there are people who find this assumption of fluid sexuality irritating. As former MM writer, the late Kris Kirk, wrote about Morrissey six years ago in “Gay Times”: “if he’s straight he should stop feeding off us. Write about heterosexual culture, defrauding on the mortgage repayments and going to football matches.”

Maybe I should have rudely demanded to know exactly who Brian’s sleeping with, asked for ratios and percentages - yet it’s totally unnecessary. The day 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕 𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 came out with the old “bisexual who’s never had a homosexual experience quote” and pinned himself into a corner, was the day my love for Suede died a little. Brian is sexual, period. He’s also clever enough to know that in pop, 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓.
(𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑟 "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙", 𝑆𝑒𝑝'96)

Post by Olga

🔶🔸𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄: 𝐏𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐄 & 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘🔸🔶

Today, I’m introducing you to another great photographer who worked with Placebo, 𝑷𝒂𝒕 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒆. Recently, he went through his many-years-long music archive and launched a project to get his photography book published. Unfortunately, it was after having some serious health issues that he came up with this idea…
But let’s start with some basic info.

Photo credits: picture #1 - Scarlet Page, others - Pat Pope / edit by Olga

🔶𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐄 (born 1966) is a British music photographer. During his career he worked on tour and at the studio with many notable bands and personalities as 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆, 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒚. 𝑳𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝑭𝒐𝒐 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝑷𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑬𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔 to name a few.
🔸Pat Pope captured a lot of key moments of the early careers of some famous bands of the 90s and on. Quite often, Pat became 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 with musicians which definitely contributed to the results of his work and helped revealing more of artists’ personality. This concerns Placebo as well: 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒆 recently shared a lovely 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 taken by her in the mid-90s. The capture is brilliant - Pat "𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓"😉

🔸Photographer’s work has been used for the packaging of the 𝑺𝒖𝒆𝒅𝒆’s self-titled album (1993) and The Fat of the Land, 1997 album by 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒚. His 2001 photograph of 𝑫𝒊𝒅𝒐, taken in Madrid, is in the collection of the United Kingdom's National Portrait Gallery.

You can check out some of his amazing images on the website:
➡️ http://www.patpope.com/


🔶A few years ago Pat suffered a huge stroke and although he has recovered incredibly well, he no longer has the power of speech. But one thing does still speak for him - his amazing archive.
Pat has initiated this book project on his own. Determined to show the world his best moments, he has chosen every image himself. Although his friends and family are helping with making the book a reality, Pat has argued every single point. This book is all him from beginning to end.
(𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑔𝑜.𝑐𝑜𝑚, 𝑃𝑎𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑒’𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘’𝑛’𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑦)


𝐏𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐-𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐
➡️ https://bit.ly/3awthAe

Photo credit: Pat Pope

𝑰𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔…
📢"Dear everyone,
I don’t know how many of you know this, but I’ve been ill for the last few years. I fad a huge stroke which sort of messed my life up. I now have aphasia (no speech) and one side of my body doesn’t work too well. That said, a lot of good people look after me and I haven’t lost my mind! I’ve been putting my time to good use creating a book of my music photography archive with the help of my brother.
Now we’re asking everyone to support the publication of the first issue. It’s actually a wonderful book, totally edited and created by me. There are over 150 people and bands in it. If you were into music in the 90s and onwards, you will love this record of these times. Please have a look at it and see if you can support the project – and please pass this on to anyone who can help make it a reality.
With huge appreciation,
Pat"
(𝑃𝑎𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑒’𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 @𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑦𝑒007, 𝐴𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑙 12𝑡ℎ, 2022)


🔶𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐆𝐞𝐭
What you get is a first edition of a truly unique book - look at the list of contents below. You also have the option to order a unique limited edition print from a selection chosen by Pat himself. These images are not in the book, they are from the archive. However, there’s no Placebo print to choose.

Photo credit: Pat Pope

🔶𝐖𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤?
All of these pictures are unique to Pat Pope, many of them never seen before. Lots of early and crucial images from the bands that made the music of the 90s - and before and after.
𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑖 𝑁𝑜𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒 — 𝐴𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑥 𝑇𝑤𝑖𝑛 — 𝐴𝑟𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦𝑠 — 𝐴𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑢𝑟𝑠 — 𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑦 𝐵𝑖𝑟𝑑 — 𝐵𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑛 𝐵𝑜𝑦 — 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑦𝑠 — 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑘 — 𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑦 — 𝐵𝑒𝑛 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝐹𝑖𝑣𝑒 — 𝐵𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑂𝑟𝑡𝑜𝑛 — 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑔 — 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑠ℎ — 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑛 𝑅𝑦𝑑𝑒𝑟 (𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒) — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 — 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑟 — 𝐷𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑛 — 𝐺𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝐶𝑜𝑥𝑜𝑛 — 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝐸𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑠 — 𝐵𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑜 𝑇𝑜𝑚 — 𝐵𝑢𝑠ℎ — 𝐵𝑢𝑧𝑧𝑐𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑦𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑠 — 𝐶𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑤𝑠 (𝐶𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑎) — 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 — 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑡 — 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 — 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 — 𝑅𝑒𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑡 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖 𝑃𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠 — 𝐶𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑒 — 𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑡ℎ — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑦 𝑊𝑎𝑟ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑠 — 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝐵𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑒 — 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑦 — 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝑀𝑐𝐴𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡 — 𝐷𝑒 𝐿𝑎 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑙 — 𝐷𝑒𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑦 — 𝐷𝑖𝑑𝑜 — 𝐷𝑜𝑑𝑔𝑦 — 𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑑 𝐵𝑦𝑟𝑑 — 𝐷𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 — 𝐸𝑐ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛 — 𝐸𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑦 — 𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 — 𝐸𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎 — 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 — 𝐸𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 — 𝐹𝑎𝑡𝑏𝑜𝑦 𝑆𝑙𝑖𝑚 — 𝐹𝑜𝑜 𝐹𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 — 𝐹𝑢𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛’ 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠 — 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑔𝑒 — 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 — 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒 — 𝐺𝑖𝑙𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡 & 𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒 — 𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑒 — 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎 — 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝐽𝑜𝑒𝑙 𝑂𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 — 𝐻𝑒𝑛𝑟𝑦 𝑅𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑠 (𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐹𝑙𝑎𝑔) — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒 — 𝐼𝑐𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑏𝑒 — 𝐼𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑 — 𝐽𝑎 𝑅𝑢𝑙𝑒 — 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 — 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙 — 𝐽𝑖𝑚 𝐽𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑐ℎ — 𝐽𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝐸𝑎𝑡 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 — 𝐽𝑜𝑛 𝐵𝑜𝑛 𝐽𝑜𝑣𝑖 — 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒 — 𝐾𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑒 — 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑒𝑜𝑛 — 𝐾𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑟 — 𝐾𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑒 — 𝐿𝑎𝑚𝑏 — 𝐿𝑒𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑡ℎ — 𝐿𝑒𝑚𝑚𝑦 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐸𝑛𝑑 — 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑝𝑖𝑔𝑠 — 𝐿𝑜𝑢 𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑑 — 𝐿𝑢𝑐 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛 — 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 — 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑛 — 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑂𝑤𝑒𝑛 — 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡 — 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑟𝑦 (𝐴𝐵𝐶) — 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 — 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐 𝐴𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 — 𝑀𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎 — 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑘𝑜 — 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑦 — 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑒 — 𝑀𝑦 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 — 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝐼𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑎 — 𝑁𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝐶𝑎𝑣𝑒 — 𝑁𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑎𝑤ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑦 — 𝑁𝑜 𝐷𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡 — 𝑂𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 — 𝑂𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 — 𝑃 𝐽 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑦 — 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖 𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑡ℎ — 𝑃𝑖𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑠 — 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 — 𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑦 — 𝑃𝑢𝑙𝑝 — 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑂𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝐴𝑔𝑒 — 𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 — 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑 — 𝑅𝑒𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 — 𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑓 — 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎 — 𝑅𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐸 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 — 𝑅𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑠 — 𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑡 — 𝑅𝑜𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡 — 𝑅𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑧 — 𝑆𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 — 𝑆𝑒𝑥 𝑃𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑠 — 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 — 𝑆𝑘𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝐴𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑒 (𝑆𝑘𝑖𝑛) — 𝑁𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 — 𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 — 𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑠 — 𝑆𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑒 𝐸𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑠-𝐵𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑜𝑟 — 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑠 — 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑟 — 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑠 — 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑 — 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 — 𝑆𝑢𝑒𝑑𝑒 — 𝑆𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑟 — 𝑆𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 — 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑠 — 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 — 𝑇𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏 — 𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 — 𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑠 — 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑛 — 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑠𝑜𝑛 — 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑖 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑠 — 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 — 𝑉𝑖𝑐 𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠 — 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 — 𝐴𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙 — 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑦


🔸If you’re interested in pre-ordering the book, please take a look at the crowdfunder page. 𝑬𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 is set for July 2022.
➡️ https://bit.ly/3PW6Rc5

Pist by Olga

⭐️📸𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄: 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐁𝐘 𝐊𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆📸⭐️

In my previous posts, I’ve already talked to you about some great photographers who worked with Placebo during their career. Today, I’m going to introduce you to another one, 𝑲𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈.
The series of iconic Placebo photos, one of which is shared below, were taken by Kevin in London on 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖.

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg, 1998

💥There’s a specific reason I decided to talk to you about this picture now. On 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐, Kevin Westenberg’s photography 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 entitled ‘𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐗’ runs at 𝑨𝒈𝒏𝒆̀𝒔 𝑩. shop on Marylebone High Street in London, and this photo, beautifully framed, is proudly presented to the audience😍


As for his work with Placebo, the photographer recalled:
📢"In their time, one of the most exciting LIVE bands around. Not Britpop. Not RAWWWWK. Some sort of hybrid which manifests through Brian especially when he opens his mouth in interviews. That stage presence and energy radiating from these guys was infectious. This was and still may just be reflected in their fan base who are rabid in the best way possible. I was hired numerous times over the years not only by the music press but also by Hut Records and by the band themselves. The goal always was to elevate the imagery as high as possible given the budget limitations and the limitations of my own skill set from back in these days of chaos. Over the years, we didn’t always get it right due to various extenuating external events but when it worked well, It was absolutely great. Always happy with those times. This is essentially a microcosm of what my job was, creating these icon moments to have the public notice and then purchase the music. Of all the shots we took over the years, this set were for me, peak Placebo. This series were the most direct, graphic and memorable of all. This was part of the massive shoot we did for their album ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ which was a breakthrough.”

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg, 1998

⭐️Indeed, it wasn’t Kevin Westenberg’s only photoshoot with Placebo. For example, he did a perfect job for 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 album and singles sleeve artwork. Also, you should remember some great pictures of 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 wearing his ‘𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’ top from the same time.


I hope it’s going to be interesting for you to learn more about the artist.
⭐️𝐊𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆, an American-born, London-based photographer, is renowned for his provocative, electrifying images of world-class musicians, artists. and movie stars for over 25 years. His technique of lighting, colour, and composition has helped to produce his own unique visual style. This electricity, however, has its origin in Kevin’s lifelong romance with the adventure of rock and roll.


▪️Meeting Elvis Presley on the film set of ’It Happened at the World’s Fair’ at the age of 4, ensured that Kevin would always be deeply moved by music and musicians. He grew up listening to the fabulous artists of the 60’s and 70’s as The Stones, The Who, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Marley. Westenberg joined his generation in the psychedelic exploration of music, life, and light. A decade of passion and decadence helped inspire a photographic style. Architecture school brought a new dimension to his life and after 8 years, he gained a master’s degree. But British punk in the early eighties was irresistible to him and he moved to Europe. He bought his first camera in Denmark, started practicing on fashion models in Barcelona and then, moved to London where he’s been based since 1983.


▪️Westenberg is self-taught and learned his trade working for New Musical Express and Melody Maker mainly throughout the late 80’s and 90’s documenting amongst others the UK Britpop bands. The breakthrough came in 1993-1994 with the release of Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales and Mary J Blige’s Share My World. These two album covers changed the perception of Kevin’s work worldwide and thus began a run of 20 years of commissions and great opportunities.

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg, 1998

▪️For the last 25 years, he created stunning photographs of Radiohead, White Stripes, Jane’s Addiction, Sting, Bjork, Nirvana, Jeff Buckley, Nine Inch Nails, The Pixies, Michael Stipe, U2, Mary J. Blige, R.E.M, Black Sabbath, Massive Attack, BB King, The Rolling Stones, PJ Harvey, Marilyn Manson, Placebo, Oasis, Tom Jones, Soundgarden, Bon Jovi and Coldplay among many others.

▪️Also included are hundreds of album, single, magazine and book covers from all over the world.

▪️Kevin has also worked with creatives from the performing arts such as David Lynch, Luc Besson, The Coen Brothers, Billy Bob Thornton, Sean Penn, Jean Luc Godard, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Tom Stoppard, and the late Alan Rickman.
(𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒: 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑣𝑒.𝑐𝑜𝑚, 𝑠𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠.𝑐𝑜𝑚)

⭐️𝑨 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒉𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏...⭐️
📸“𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐗, the new exhibition, serves as a reintroduction of the Westenberg oeuvre of images for a new audience at the special invitation of the French clothing line Agnes B. Sixteen years after ‘Idyll Worship’, Westenberg’s debut exhibition, introduced the work to the world, Technological advancements of scanning and modern printing methods, have now been implemented to create a whole new series of photographs from across all eras. Coming soon to the Agnes B Marylebone shop arranged over three floors in the heart of London. Additionally, the never before seen Polaroid’s, add a new depth and historic appreciation of the work and it’s place within the history of Rock & Roll.”


📢𝐊𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠: “Unveiled here for the first time, the full poster image for the upcoming collaborative exhibition at the Agnes B. shop in the heart of Marylebone, London. The main image of the 30 Polaroid’s, which I’m calling the Polaroid’s Wall is a new addition to the repertoire of images. Thousands of polaroid’s which I had kept in shoeboxes from the very beginning were scanned and edited down to these 30. There was no one particular reason for these 30; just to provide an overview of the variety of artists I had the pleasure of working with over the years. […]

Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg, 1998

📢𝐊𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠: “The [opening] night was indeed a full circle experience given back in mid-80’s I started my photo life in a tiny one room studio flat on Marylebone Lane, now long gone. The photos themselves fit in perfectly with the clothing and general atmosphere even better than I and the staff expected. We’re all thrilled.”
(@kevinwestenberg IG)


If you live in London or are lucky enough to be accidentally visiting the city these days, don’t miss the exhibition! And share your impression with us!😍
I wish I could attend it myself.


⭐️I think, listening to the song from the same era as the photoshoot can make your read more pleasant. So, I’m choosing 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐄 from 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐈’𝐦 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, "a thrilling record […] made by freaks, for freaks.” (𝑁𝑀𝐸, 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 1998)
This performance was recorded at the Octagon Centre, Sheffield, UK, on October 17th, 1998.
❓Is there anyone of you who’s been at this show, by the way?


𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐞, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖
➡ https://bit.ly/3MTDlBq

Post by Olga

🔹𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀: 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍🔹

🔸𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠,
𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛'𝑠 "𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔" 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑐𝑒.🔸

Photo credit: Helena Berg, edit by Marti

'𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤': 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧.


“Suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 and 45,” says (rapper) Professor Green with a tremble in his voice. “Someone could be hurting inside, but if they don’t tell you about it you might never know. We must get men to talk.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)


In November 2015, an exhibition of five famous London photographers was held in London on the occasion of International Men's Day.
⭐𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆 and ⭐𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 are the names that are best known to us.
And what is it all about?
It's a long story.


If we remember correctly, two charity Placebo concerts took place in the English university town of Leeds. The first was in 2013 and all proceeds went to the Mercy Center in Bangkok and also in support of the Samye Ling Buddhist Temple in Scotland. In March 2015, the band donated all proceeds from the concert to ⭐𝐂.𝐀.𝐋.𝐌. - "𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲".

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

🔹💬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌:
“CALM is a charity that’s close to my heart because depression is a condition which I suffer from myself,” Molko told NME.
“There are various forms of help out there.
It’s a disease like any other. Depression and addiction are both recognised by the World Health Organisation as diseases. If someone had MS or cancer, you would listen to them. There’s still a stigma attached to depression, and a lot of men in particular feel that it’s a sign of weakness to talk about it. What we’re trying to do with CALM is remove that stigma in society.”
(𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝑁𝑀𝐸 𝑂𝑐𝑡. 2017)

Exhibition poster

🔹💬 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌:
He highlights the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which ‘is leading a movement against male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK’.
“I’ve been to very, very dark places,” he states, “and I know people who have committed suicide. It’s horrible, and I just want people to know there are other options.” .../***/
“So as a first step, if there’s no one else you can turn to, these charities are there. It’s incredible just to talk to someone who will listen and can empathise. It can do you the world of good if you’re in a dark place.” .../***/
Loneliness, he says, like addiction, does not discriminate.
“It happens to the whole spectrum of people.”
(𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑂𝑙𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑙, 𝐹𝑦𝑛𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠, 2018)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

However, this second concert was even more special thanks to the after-party DJ show, which Brian and Stefan attended to the delight of their fans.
Read an excerpt from an article in which the ambassador of the charity C.A.L.M. the English actor 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 explains the whole situation:


🔹💬 „It came about after a CALM event I’d organised in Leeds in March. Placebo kindly agreed to dedicate the Leeds show of their tour to help raise awareness of CALM, and I put together a secret after-show party in collaboration with the uni.
Both Brian and Stef from the band DJ’d, and have been amazingly supportive. I was so grateful for them getting behind the charity and their continued efforts.
Helena [Berg, acclaimed photographer responsible for much of rock band Placebo’s artwork during their 20 year career] had heard all about the event and CALM via Brian, and asked to be put in touch with me to discuss her ideas; she talked about getting a load of photographers together to do something for the charity, as the cause really resonated with her."


◾ 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐴𝐿𝑃𝐻𝐴?
...A culture where the expectation of the stereotypical ALPHA male is relentlessly reinforced...
„The predominant model of the alpha male; strong, stoic and unfeeling, still persists in popular culture and reinforces a concept of masculinity that is pervasive and insidious – one that doesn’t allow for anxiety, vulnerability or dialogue.“
„In 2014, 4,623 men took their own lives in Britain. That works out to more than 12 deaths a day, and accounts for 76% of the total suicides in the UK in 2014. In fact, suicide is the biggest killer for men under 45 in the UK.“◾
(𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑀𝑍𝑂𝑁𝐸 2015)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑎 𝐵𝑒𝑟𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚.. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑀 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.


🔹💬 To photographer and Alpha curator Helena Berg, finding out the disturbingly high rate of male suicides was a call to action.
“I was so shocked and wanted to help,” she says. “I contacted four fellow photographers and we set out to interpret different parts of the male emotional experience. We called the project Alpha to reflect the cultural pressures put upon men to live up to the stereotypical “alpha male” model ... and we concentrated on emotions that would lead a person not to speak, like anxiety, depression and loneliness."
Berg herself concentrated on feelings of isolation, by photographing men under ice and water.
“Not as a reference to drowning,” she swiftly clarifies, “but to illustrate immobilisation and the feeling of ‘being frozen’, which many depressed people experience. I used Perspex on top of the subject [Placebo’s Brian Molko] for the illusion of ice and to create photos that are haunting and tranquil at the same time.
Alpha was timed to open on International Men’s Day, says Berg, “to highlight this gender disparity issue, where three times as many men are taking their lives as women."
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)

Placebo in Leeds 2015. Photo credit: Stan 

𝐴𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑠: 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛:
🔹💬 Music photographer Scarlet Page, daughter of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, has taken arresting portraits of Gary Numan, Frank Turner and Professor Green which have a strikingly blurry effect.
“No image manipulation has gone into any of the photos,” Page explains. “I used a special lens which gives a very shallow depth of field and keeps the eyes sharp,” she says.
“I went to Gary Numan’s soundcheck at the Forum and we took some shots outside in-between chatting. All three men have been touched by depression in some way ... I wanted them to be quite expressionless, so no conclusions were made when looking at them. I think there is a softness and vulnerability to them.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑁𝑜𝑣. 2015)

🔹📸 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
https://bit.ly/3FVLyCY
🔹🔹🔹

𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆:
𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆: 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.

Post by Marti

⭐𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐕 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑⭐

You may like it or not, but with the upcoming Placebo album, we can see some of the newest band’s images distorted one way or another. But it’s not the first time Placebo go for unusual visual effects, is it?

Photo credits: Nadav Kander (2005); Kander’s notes - Jake Hicks Photography / edit by Olga

Today, I want to talk to you about 𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐯 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, a prominent photographer whose pictures are behind a brilliant artwork for 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒: the album and singles’ covers became doubtlessly recognizable and truly iconic. (Here, we must not forget a digital artist Antony Crossfield as well!)
On Nadav Kander’s Instagram account, there’s an image used for the 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 single cover with the following words:
📢 “Always loved working with the band Placebo. I was just thinking of Brian Molko so posted this. He’s always thinking about what’s next. How we can push this further.” (𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑣 𝐾𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝐼𝐺, 𝑁𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 3𝑟𝑑, 2018)

Now, I’d like to pay your attention to probably less known series of photographs for 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐒 taken by 𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐯 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. Placebo let his distinctive personal style be revealed in those images to the full – which is a great sign of respect for the artist.

Widely regarded as one of the finest photographers of our time, 𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐕 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 is renowned for his uncompromising and evocative images which cut to the heart of the human condition.

“𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅. 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍. 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒙𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌; 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏.” – Nadav Kander

Photo credit: Nadav Kander

🔸Nadav Kander is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. Kander has produced a number of books and had his work exhibited widely. He received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2015, and won the Prix Pictet award.

🔸Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, when he was two, his parents moved the family to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he would remain for the rest of his childhood.

🔸Kander’s introduction to the possibilities of photography came during his formative years through his father, an airline pilot who had purchased an Iconoflex and captured hundreds of photos of the family’s road trips. At the age of thirteen, Kander purchased his first camera.

🔸He left school in his late teens, and, as was mandated for all white male citizens in South Africa, was drafted into national service. He chose the airforce and was fortunate enough to be employed in a darkroom, printing aerial photographs. It was here that his ambition to become a photographer was truly established.

Photo credit: Nadav Kander

🔸In 1981, then aged 21, Nadav Kander left for London where his photography career began in earnest.
Renowned for his portraiture, he has photographed some of the most prominent figures from across art, sport and politics. The series entitled Obama’s People includes fifty-two portraits of the (then) President and his most trusted staff and members of the administration.

🔸Kander is best known for his Yangtze - The Long River series, for which he earned the Prix Pictet Prize. Dense architecture gives way to mountains in the upper reaches towards the river's Tibetan source. The photographs are dominated by immense architectural structures where humans are shown as small in their environment. Figures are dwarfed by landscapes of half completed bridges and colossal Western-style apartment blocks that are rapidly replacing traditional Chinese low-rise buildings and houseboats.

🔸Nadav Kander’s works are now held in the permanent collections of, amongst others, The National Portrait Gallery, in London; Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Photography and, The Art Gallery of New South Wales.
(𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠: 𝑊𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟)

You can see more of Nadav Kander’s work on his website:
https://www.nadavkander.com/

Post by Olga

🌟⭐𝐀 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐔𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 – 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬 ⭐🌟

🔸I personally find the cover of 𝐴 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑈𝑠 𝑇𝑜 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 quite powerful. The story behind this photograph is a bit unexpected and I am not surprised Placebo decided to use to illustrate their 20 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟. What this picture is about ?🔸

Photo credits: Maud Maillard (Brian & Stefan) / Richard Lam (cover) / edit by Laetitia

⭐𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅⭐
💠In June 2011, the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins were playing each other in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Canucks' defeat sent the team's fans into a frenzy and ended in a 𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑣𝑒𝑟. The police had to intervene to contain the chaos that had settled in the city. Among the people present were also passers-by who just wanted to go home. And among these people was the couple featured on the cover of 𝐴 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑈𝑠 𝑇𝑜 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚.

This photo was taken by photojournalist 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗺 who was covering the event that night. The photo became known around the world as '𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒐𝒕 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔 ', because it had a worldwide impact due to the striking contradiction between the two situations.

This couple (𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠) were not participating in the riot. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were stuck in the street as the police launched a charge. Alex was pushed by a police officer and inhaled tear gas and fell to the ground. She began to shake and panic. As a result, Scott leaned over her to try to calm her down in kissing her.💠

Photo credit unnkown

🔸According to 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗼, this picture represents "𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑜𝑠, 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟."

From my personal point of view, this photograph totally fits the world of Placebo, which always strives for the best in tormented songs. Light in the darkness. It was a genius idea to choose this photo to illustrate the 20 years of Placebo.The band has been through so much and has always overcome the problems they faced within the band. The picture can be seen as a mirror to Placebo's career.

Photo credit: Natalia

"𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑜𝑠"... isn't that what we, fans, feel when we press the 'Play' button? Through the lyrics, 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 has very often sung about the anguish, the pain and we all felt that it was directly addressed to us. We find sublimity in sadness.

Also, about this couple being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't help but think of 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛'𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑢𝑥𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑔 where they were bored and which later inspired 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛.

It's not surprising that this photo caught the eye of 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 , who said in an interview in Hungary (2016):

💬 "𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑜𝑠. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟".

As 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑜𝑡 𝐾𝑖𝑠𝑠 ends happily, Scott and Alex are still together today and raise a family in Australia, I'd like to share the song 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, which fits the cover too I think and which is the last song of this wonderful musical retrospective. 🔸

💕🎶 🎶https://bit.ly/3ofNf7b🎶 🎶💕

Post by Laetitia

💥💥𝑬𝑿𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾: 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎💥💥

✨𝑬𝑿𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡, who has taken the newest photographs of Placebo, is known for using interesting creative techniques for his images. He kindly shared some details of his recent work with Brian and Stefan

Photo credit: Mads Perch 

🌟𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐇: "𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀"🌟

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: Hi Mads, nice to meet you online  New photographs of Placebo are amazing. Did you have the concept about this photo shoot in advance or did you take part in creating it with the band/management?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: I was planning the art work in advance with Art director Phil Lee at Untold Studios who commissioned me for the job. I had been working with shooting through distorted plastic sheets before so it felt like a great opportunity to use a previously explored concept in a new way with a great band!

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: Like a band with a rich and long history, Placebo have had a lot of different photo shoots and images. How did you want to show them now? What was the most important thing for you?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: I guess the most important thing for me was to photograph them in a new and interesting way. My work is often based around creating more conceptual images made using in camera techniques, and it was great to work with Brian and Stefan who were really into the concept which Phil and I had planned prior to the shoot.

Photo credit: Mads Perch

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: I have noticed that you have used some creative techniques for your photographs. There is some magic in them. The picture of Placebo for Beautiful James looks fantastic. Was that your idea to use this technique?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: Thank you! Phil, the art director, saw some work I had done with textured glass before and thought it would be a great fit for the band. So that is really how it all started. The concept was presented to the band and the guys were really into the idea. We spent a whole day in a studio and did a lot of experimentation with different glass, and textures, and colours – all created in a camera. It was a great shoot day and we got a lot of strong images out of it.

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: What can you say about working with Placebo for this photo shoot? What was the most interesting in your mutual work with the band?
𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡: The guys were great, one of the nicest bands I worked with! They loved the concept and gave Phil and me plenty of time to experiment and get what we wanted. I am hoping to be able to share some more images from the shoot soon!
(𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡, 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 30𝑡ℎ, 2021)

Post by Olga

🔷🔹𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄: 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐁𝐘 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀🔹🔷

“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚-𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚”

Dear soulmates!
Today, I want to tell you about a great French photographer 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚 who worked with Placebo on the early days of their career. In his 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 for 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕, he shared some memories on photographing the guys.

Photo credit: Richard Bellia, 1997

🔷Born in France in 1962, 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚 has photographed the world of music since 1980.
"I turned to photography at the age of 18. There was a camera lying around at a friend’s party, I took it, I took photo after photo and when my friends saw the result, they all said, ‘Your photos are really great!’ and I told myself that was what I should do." In October 1980, during a Cure concert, Bellia decided to become a rock photographer. In 1985, Bellia settled in London and quickly began to work for the famous Melody Maker magazine. This new contribution sparked an interest from the French press and Bellia became a regular correspondent specializing in the British music scene.

⭐️"Photography is both a passionate and professional discipline. It is a means of earning money and getting closer to music. Being in the front row, blending your creativity with that of the artist you photograph…" - 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚
(𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑙 𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑦)

⭐️You can watch a little video about 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚’s exhibition of music photography in Athens in 2018:
➡️ https://bit.ly/2zR9UA5

Photo credit: Richard Bellia, 1997

🔷And now, here’s the most interesting part for us: Bellia’s memories on working with Placebo.
📢𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚: For the first time I photographed Placebo at a concert in Paris at a venue called Élysée Montmartre (April 21, 1997). And there I photographed them twice. The day before in the office of Virgin, Champs-Élysée, Paris, and the day after in front of the concert venue, before the concert in the afternoon.

For the very first time I photographed them on the Champs-Élysée, in the Virgin records office. It was a very nice light through the window, and the back, in the corridor, the electric lights lit. And I figured out that I could take a photo partially of the day light and partially of the electricity. And I said: 'This is going to look…' I used an English expression that you, probably, know. It's 'arty-farty'. And I said: 'This is going to look arty-farty'. Brian thought it was so funny that it was a nickname that he gave me. And when we ever met he called me 'arty-farty' because it was so funny. Now I think we met once more in Switzerland at a festival several years ago.

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: This photo shoot with soap bubbles… Did you take this picture after your meeting with the band at Élysée Montmartre?
📢𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚: It was the second time when I met Placebo at the festival in France called Eurockéennes. It's a very important festival in France in July. It was 1997. Technically, I remember details about that very well. I was carrying myself some light equipment and then by accident it all fell down and stopped working on the first day. So on the second day I checked the telephone book and I checked in this regime photographers who made weddings or studio photography. I explained to one of the photographers from a rock magazine that I had this problem, and he said that the magazine had the equipment and they were really happy to help me. I used the equipment that the magazine lent for this day. I think that I knew instantly that the photography I was taking would have a very good dynamic because I could see it when I was taking the photo. And also the specific camera I used helped me making adjustments so that is why the sky was very dark at the back. I was very happy to see that the band was lit and the sky at the back was also very blue added to this dynamic of the photo ending.

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚: Who made up this idea with soap bubbles?
📢𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚: It was for the promotion of the festival. They had to produce bottles of bubbles and they gave them for free to everyone so it was very normal, everyone did it and used them for photos.
(𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡, 2018)

Post by Olga

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧’𝐬, 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖

𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔!
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 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝐬𝐭, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖.
To tell the story, I picked up two excerpts of the 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐒 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.

13 December 1998 - Whisky (Los Angeles, CA, USA). Photo credit:  K. Bernard

🌟𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎🌟
𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑲𝒊𝒏'𝒔, also known as 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑲𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍, was a music club owned by American hard rock band 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡, opened in December 1994 in their hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. The club was named after Aerosmith’s famous song "𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑲𝒊𝒏" 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.

📢Now, let’s start from sort of a diary of a short Placebo US tour back in 1998 published in 𝑸 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒆.

𝐓𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟏, 𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐁𝐂𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭: 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.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥: 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...

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨: 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.
(𝑄 "𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝐼𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎", 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 1999)

Placebo - The Black Sessions (Paris, France), October 27th 1998. 

📢Later, 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.

𝐀: 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...

𝐁: 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.
(𝑆𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠 “𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜”, 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 14, 2003)

Placebo  - Rolling Stone (Milan, Italy), November 20th 1998.

Here you can see 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 of the concert at Mama Kin’s signed by Stefan and Steve for the fan😍
https://bit.ly/3kjoi5p

🎶𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓🎶
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

As there's no good photos from the mentioned concert I picked up some picture of other concerts in October and November 1998.

Post by Olga

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐚𝐭 𝐙𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜̧𝐨𝐢𝐬

𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐
"In the beginning of their career lots of people thought that Placebo was a fashion phenomenon of that period. Nevertheless, they succeed to stay afloat and develop their talent in the long-term listening to emerging trends and, at the same time, keeping their authenticity."
(𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐̧𝑜𝑖𝑠, 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡, 2017)

Photo credit: Robin Francois

𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔!
Today, for my 'story behind a picture' series, I've picked up a photo by 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒏 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄̧𝒐𝒊𝒔, a great French photographer that worked with Placebo several times since the early period of their career, both doing photoshoots and taking concert pictures.
Lately, we talk a lot about 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 because of the anniversary of this great album. So I hope you enjoy some more info and beautiful Brian's photo from that time.
On March 20 and 21, 2001, during BMM tour, Placebo played at 𝐙𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 - 𝐋𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 where they’ve been photographed by Robin François.
I’ve found an 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 with Brian, Stefan and Steve Hewitt from the very same time, March 2001, on NRJ LIVE Radio France. It seems it was also added as a CD to one of the issues of a French music magazine from 2001.
https://bit.ly/3edxINh

Photo credit: Robin François

𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎
The 𝐙𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 - 𝐋𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 is an indoor arena in the 19th arrondissement in Paris. It was built in 1983 at the site of the former music hall, Pavillon de Paris, by architects Phillippe Chaix and Jean-Paul Morel. The capacity of the venue is about 6,300 people. The construction of the arena was initiated by Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, to maintain the rock and roll scene to Paris.

Over the years, a lot of French and international artists have played the venue including Johnny Hallyday, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Vanessa Paradis, Janet Jackson, Sigur Rós [one of Brian's favourite bands], Pantera, Blur, Amy Winehouse, Nightwish, Björk, just to name a few.

The 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐞's 1993 live album 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔 was recorded at the venue as well as live albums by Simple Minds, Muse, Evanescence, Morrissey, The Hives, Archive, and some others.

Photo credit: Robin François

As we’re back to 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 time today again, what is your favourite song on the album? One of mine is Passive Aggressive, so please join me in listening to it today.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 - 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟏
https://bit.ly/3h1LqEj

Post by Olga