When you ask any Placebo fan what makes Placebo unique they all say the live shows. Placebo have achieved many awards for best live band and best concert. So what is it about Placebo that makes them such an amazing band to see live?
The Setlist?
Placebo often play a very well balanced setlist, usually consisting of current album material, the classic Placebo songs, and of course the cover song. The favourites of course have always been �Pure Morning� �Nancy Boy� �The Bitter End� �Every You Every Me� and the new favourites �Infra Red� �Space Monkey� �Song To Say Goodbye� and �Post Blue�
Drunkenness
This one can be either entertaining or disastrous! We�ve all heard of Brian being too drunk to remember his lines and falling over every few seconds. This is an example of when Placebo drunkenness can be disastrous. However there have been some occasions where the alcohol has made some live performances very memorable. For example the san remo in 2001 proved to be rather entertaining.
The Set
Another factor which makes Placebo great live is their set. They change their backdrop very often and it�s always proved successful. Some of the better sets were the Bercy in 2003 where they had edited their video�s to blend nicely with the song being performed. Very handy if your up the back where I was, you had something to look at. The lighting is always good at Placebo gigs. Wherever the gig is taking place no matter the capacity they always have a great lighting show and a good set.
Stefan�s Dance Routines
This one comes up a lot whenever fans talk about the live shows. Stefan will always liven up any show with his sexy erotic dancing. His most famous one being to �Taste In Men� which he started dancing to in 2003. Now you can usually catch him swinging his hips to anything, and it�s always entertaining to watch.
The Outfits
Placebo are famous for their live outfits. There�s been some dresses, catsuits and the stylish. In the early days Brian would often wear little dresses, this became very popular with the fans, then Stefan began to wear the red dress, a legend of it�s own right. In 2001 Brian often wore his space age suit from the �Special K� video. Steve also has had his styles change over the years. Before he would wear patterned shirts and more recently his pinstripe suits. One thing Placebo fans always mention is Steve and his love of pinstripe.
Expect The Unexpected
No two Placebo gigs are ever the same and you never know quite what to expect. Things can go wrong which sometimes is quite funny, there could be dirty suggestions onstage, special guests, you never know what to expect with Placebo and that�s one thing that we love.
Well that just about sums it up. If you�ve been to see Placebo live then most of this is probably quite familiar with you, heck it is with me and if you haven�t been lucky enough to see them live then I hope this has given you a taster of what you can expect. So here�s to Placebo the greatest live band around and we wish them all the luck for their world tour!
