Placebo Live, New Album, Summer Festivals
Battle for the Sun - Sixth Studio Album, June 2009
May 17, 2009
Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal, and new drummer Steve Forrest, collectively known as Placebo, played an intimate gig to a mere twelve hundred people at the 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire last Tuesday 12th May 2009.
New Songs from New Album
As expected, the band performed many songs from their upcoming album, due to be released on June 8th 2009. These included the first single to be lifted from Battle…, For What it’s Worth; a fast-paced, uplifting, and catchy sing-along track that carries that Placebo signature sound. Also performed live was the new album’s title-track. The song Battle for the Sun was released as a free download to Placebo fans via the band’s website, Placeboworld, back in March, as a taste of their new material. It was also the first official track to feature brand-new twenty-two-year-old drummer, Steve Forrest.
Classic Placebo
As well as performing new songs, Placebo treated their fans at London’s show this week to a handful of classic Placebo tunes. These were the moments that truly swept everybody off their feet. The band played picks dating back to their second album, 1998’s Without You I’m Nothing.
The song Black Eyed, from 2000’s Black Market Music, filled the small venue with a high spirit that makes live music so special. From the same album, Special K was performed. This is one of Placebo’s highlights and there is nothing comparable to having a handful of people that know and love a song so much sing in unison while the band responsible play it live. It was one of the evening’s defining moments.
Sadly, Placebo performed nothing from their self-titled debut album, released in 1996 – not even Nancy Boy, which is by-far a classic rock and roll song with raw and bluntly-beautiful lyrics, and the kind of crunchy, darkly-rhythmic guitar-riff and hypnotic drumming pattern that so profoundly make up great rock songs.
Diverse Placebo Fanbase
The audience at the show varied widely, representing Placebo’s diverse fanbase. There were sixteen-year-old boys and girls, who would only have been toddlers at the time of Placebo’s arrival on the popular music scene back in the mid-nineties, as well as older fans, some of them in their fifties or more.
And not surprisingly, gay followers, both men and women, showed their support on the night. Indeed, a large group of gay men near the side of the crowd never came alive with such joy and ecstasy, openly singing along as loud as they could, until Placebo performed Taste in Men, from Black Market Music. The song is another classic among many in Placebo’s career.
Special Emotional
It is always an exciting time when Placebo release a new album. They play a special role in the lives of so many. Their music and lyrics are truly exceptional. The songs often come from a dark place, and are sometimes full of self-loathing.
And although some songs are happy and vibrant in pace and mood, on listening to the lyrics, they are often an acceptance to something not so positive, like a position of inferiority – Black Eyed has this feel, and certainly Drag, from Meds (2006), delivering the lyrics, “You’re always ahead of the pack. I drag behind. You possess every trait that I lack, by coincidence or by design… I drag behind,” all to a happy upbeat sound and vocals.
Brian Molko said of the new album, “We’re really excited about the new stuff. We’ve turned another corner and we’re in a brand-new place.”
Placebo’s intimate gig in London this week was a warm-up ahead of their summer festival appearances, including the Reading and Leeds festivals, and a European summer gig tour.
The new Placebo album, Battle for the Sun, is released on June 8th. It is a much anticipated addition to the career of one of the greatest bands ever.
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