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For being one of the most achievable yet under-celebrated rock bands on the scene for the past 19 years, Placebo’s choice of venue could not have been a better fit for expressing exactly what they stand for.
The small Liverpool hall spilled good fashioned intimacy as children, parents, teenagers, couples and 40+ supporters pooled into a side entrance of a University performance hall.
Excited fans waited impatiently through an average support band for the headliners to take centre stage. Major fans edged their way through gaps in the crowd to settle their spot for their entrance.
Yet, despite lack of contact with the audience and a seemingly dull performance, frontman, Brian Molko’s, charisma saved the band. The dark, sensitive shadow remained a mystery to his own performance but still managed to keep the audience in awe. It all seemed too easy. Effortless on the border of boring. A substitution for a real ‘show’ was replaced with an exhaustive 90 minute set seeing popular songs like Infrared and the infamous Kate Bush cover Running up that Hill. The crowd was tame with only an occasional fist pump and stray dancers.
However, the hypnotic trance cast over the room was impossible to resist as people huddled as far back as the exits and oozed over the overhead stall balcony.
Credit goes to capturing such a vast range of admirers under the same spell as even crowd maintenance were drawn in by such a strange yet neat act as every soul clapped after each song was played.
Even greater things may be in store for Placebo as Monday 16th March shows their entire back catalogue go live, worldwide, for streaming for the very first time.
More treats may be in store for fans leading into 2016 as Placebo celebrate their 20th anniversary.