The Year It Was Placebo’ed

Courtesy of Silver Rocket

After 9 major cities in 7 countries over two continents in two weeks we could have done with a better start to the day in question.
We’d prepared flying around doing endless promotion for the next single Special K, and were worn and talked out. Some days you wake up on the wrong side of bed, but this one did not seem to even wake up at all. It all seemed like a very strange and intense dream, a day which when looked back on doesn’t feel like it happened

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BRIAN MOLKO

Doctormusic

Once again floating between darkness, energy and pure emotion Barcelona, Pabellón Vall d’Hebrón. 27 March 2001. Who says glam’s dead? They themselves may say it although they prove themselves wrong. These boys grew up with Ziggy Stardust on the brain and formed a rock band. Hence Placebo were born on raw hits such as “Nancy boy” (notably absent tonight) or the brilliant “Come Home”. Brian Molko has been dazzled by David Bowie with his sparkling and sordid melodies. They have supported him live and they too have shown their bright guitar sound, their lyrical anguish and their sexual ambiguity. But that was some years ago and the band settle their glam vs rock dilemma right here on stage, “what we are doing now is rock ‘n’ roll in the true sense of the word”. This is shown with a mighty and compact dose of fury opening fire on “”Haemoglobin”, “Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth)”, “Pure Morning” and “Every You, Every Me”. These are combined with other dramatic cuts which take them to the peak of heart-rendering lyricism with “Without you I’m Nothing” or “Peeping Tom”, the best ballad from “Black Market Music”. The applause they receive from this song makes it clear that their second album has been the record most warmly received by the press and public. This is perhaps because it is the most dramatic, as is seen above all on “My Sweet Prince”, in which Molko plays at being a true fallen angel, breaking the poignant silence to ask for help.

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BRIAN MOLKO

Q Magazine 10/2000

He’s the little Placebo perv with a guitar called “ My Bitch”, a voddy and Red Bull in his fist and carbonara sauce on the back ring. But how will the blighter respond to the age-old enquiry…..

How the devil are you?
B.M. Quite tired. I got in from Copenhagen yesterday. I’m on this mad promotional trip at the moment, and in desperate of a day off.

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PLACEBO’S TEENAGE ANGST

Their aim is to up the androgynous sexrock quotient in the charts. They travelled from Luxembourg, America and Sweden to play their exotic hybrid of glam. metal and pop. Their name is PLACEBO. and Britpop they are not

“W E’RE the Boyzone of indie rock,” states Stefan Oldsal, Placebo’s nine-foot-high Swedish bassist. He’s examining the polaroids of today’s photoshoot particularly taken by the one where he and drummer Roben Schultzberg look on doe-eyed at 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.
I mean, indie rock. They’re not having that. As Brian later spits: “We’ re hyper self-critical and have a very low boredom threshold. lt seems the possibilities are endless. We don’t just want to be a guitar band. F*** that. F*** it.”

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