[ HOME ]

iNTE

iNTERViEWS

PLACEBO + THE FAINT.
AT SHEFFIELD OCTAGON. 03/ 04/ 03.

After weeks of waiting the day of the big Placebo gig had finally arrived. After a 3 hour journey followed by a 3 and a half hour wait in the queue outside on arrival, the doors of The Octagon finally opened at just gone 7.30pm. A stampede soon followed as dedicated fans pushed their way to claim the much sort after front row position. Something I only just managed to do.
Before the main attraction, we travelled back to the 1980�s and the electronic era with support act The Faint. To begin with I thought they were taking the piss but evidently not. These guys were deadly serious. It was hard to tell which bits were actually been performed live and which bits were pre-recorded samples. Their second song sounded like their first, their third like their second, their fourth like their third. Every song sounded the same. They offered little variety. The Faint are totally different from any other band around at the moment and because of that I think these guys and their stage show will take off. They got a mixed response from the crowd. The girlies to the left of me were dancing and having a great time, the girlie behind said that she had seen worse, the girlie to the right seemed to be neutral, I nearly fell asleep.
After a 45 minute gap between bands, the lights went down, the crowd went mental, I woke up and Placebo appeared on stage, launching straight into �Bulletproof Cupid�. These five guys made a lot of noise. Having two extra members providing extra keyboards, bass, guitar and backing vocals made a big difference to the overall performance. Placebo live are better than ever before.
Brain is as popular as ever. Despite ruining his hair by having it cut off, everyone still loves him. People treat the guy like he is God. Everytime Brian came close, the crowd surged forward to try touching him. Some where lucky, others just had their video cameras taken away by him. Unlucky if it was you with the camera. Nice try though. No bootlegs tonight please.
Due to that war that is taking place, latest single �The Bitter End� has been taken off radio playlists. Brian demanded that the war be brought to an end as soon as possible, not so �The Bitter End� gets played again, but because he believes that the war in general is wrong. The track led straight into the classic �Every You Every Me� which provided a much needed break from all the new material we were been bombarded with. Not that the new isn�t good or anything. It didn�t mean it like that. The new stuff is fantastic but it�s always great at a gig when a band plays a track that everyone is familiar with and that everyone can sing along to. A track like �Black Eyed� for example. It went down really well with the capacity crowd, which was made up of people from all age groups.
A clutch of slower, more chilled out tracks came next including the songs �Lady Of The Flowers� and �Without You I�m Nothing�. Rumoured next single �This Picture� closely followed before they concluded with �Special K�.
The encore was amazing. Three classic singles in a row. The tracks in question been �Taste In Men�, �Slave To The Wage� and �Pure Morning�. �Nancy Boy� was not performed and it�s highly unlikely it will be for some time. The band are bored of the track apparently.
With that I thought the gig was over but I was wrong. There was still more to come. The second encore began with �Centrefolds� which featured Stefan playing the keyboard. A new version of �Teenage Angst� followed. Don�t know what you guys thought but I really liked it. The 22 song, one hour 45 minute set drew to a close with a cover of the classic �Where Is My Mind?�, originally recorded by The Pixies. And that was that. Or so I thought. It seemed the best part of the night was yet to come.
After pushing my way through the make shift market stalls, outside the venue, where all the dodgy t-shirts etc were been sold, I went to take a look near the Placebo tour bus, just to see what was happening like. There were between 30 and 40 people hanging around waiting to meet the band. I thought I might as well join them.
As time went by, the number of people waiting fell. At midnight there was still no sign of the band. Their bus driver informed us that they definitely weren�t on the bus which ment the chances of meeting them were still high. To get to their bus they would have to get by me.
At 1am only about 10 of us remained. At about 1.40am I suddenly turned around to find Steve standing behind me. This was it. I was about to meet one of my favourite bands. Steve was wearing a hoodie with the hood up covering his hair. I let the other 6 or 7 fans chat with him first before I took my turn. He was really nice but seemed in abit of hurry to get into the tour bus. Not before signing my CD and ticket though. Got a photo taken with him too. He asked me if I had enjoyed the gig and actually seemed interested in my answer. I asked where Stefan and Brian where. They were in the nearby Fuzz Club apparently.
So as Steve retired for the night, we were left waiting for another half an hour, until just after 2.10am at which point, in the distance and walking towards us, we saw a certain Brian Molko. Oh my god. I couldn�t believe it. We walked up to him and were told by one of the tour crew he was with not to mob Brian. He said that Brian would talk to us all in his own time. Brian was still carrying a drink he must have got from the club and was wearing a black hat. When my turn to get stuff signed came I didn�t really know what to say to Brian. I was really nervous. It was just a case of me telling him the gig was great etc etc. Brian said he was glad I enjoyed it and that in his opinion, it had been one of the best gigs they had done. He liked the venue and liked the club they had just got back from. They were up dancing apparently. Not sure what songs they were dancing to though.
While this was going on Stefan arrived so I went over to him. He said that he saw me getting crushed down the front. I felt real special knowing he had recognised me. I said something to him about having bruised ribs and he said having broken ribs is one of the most painful things that can happen to you. He seemed a little drunk bless him. He didn�t stay talking to people for long but before leaving said he looked forward to seeing us again.
When I went to re-join the group surrounding Brian he was talking about the war. I asked him if he was going to the war march on April 12th and if he had been to any of the others. He said that the whole band were on the Febuary 15th march and that he would like to go to the next one but wasn�t sure if he had a gig that day or not. He thought the Torquay gig was on that day. I said to him jokingly that he should get a helicopter to take him from the protest to the gig. This led him to talk about the fact that been in a band isn�t all about going out, getting drunk every night and flying about in helicopters. He said that the following day was their first day off in 3 weeks and that �Been in a band isn�t all fun. It�s a lot of hard work�. He mentioned that the band would be touring constantly for the next 18 months. I asked if the rumours about them playing Reading and Leeds were true. They are. He spoke alittle about the time they played Glastonbury too. They won�t be playing there this year.
At some point either somebody offered him a fag or he offered them one, can�t remember exactly. I mentioned that I had never even tried smoking. He looked really shocked and asked if I used drugs or drink. I said I didn�t. Again he looked shocked and asked what I did for fun. I basically said that music is my life. He asked if I was into movies. I said I wasn�t. Apparently I�m the only person he has ever met who isn�t into movies. He seemed really shocked about the whole thing. When he has the time, Brian tries to go to the cinema 3 times a week. He really likes the cinema atmosphere. Brain asked what else I liked doing and said something like �What do you like to do? Swimming? Football? Masturbation? Everyone likes to masturbate don�t they?�. I couldn�t believe I was with Brian Molko talking about masturbation. It was very sureal. It hasn�t quite sunk in yet that I�ve met Placebo and spent around 20 mins talking to Brian. He is such a loverly guy. Very down to earth and very intelligent. He has a really nice voice too and is about the same height as me. Stefan is quite abit taller than me. Hope whoever took the picture of me with him got all of Stefan in the photo. I tried taking some photos just of Brian on his own while I was stood with him and stuff. He wouldn�t let me and seemed to be getting alittle annoyed. He said �If you want a photo, that�s fine, come and pose with me but don�t take photos of me on my own�. Those may not be his exact words but he said something along those lines.
After around 30 mins hanging around with Brian we said our goodbyes and prepared to leave. He said he would see me again in Nottingham and shook my hand. Before leaving I gave Brian a flyer for my website. He said he would try visit it and recommended to me a site called suicidegirls.com. He wouldn�t tell me what was on it though. After checking when I got home I found it featured photos of naked goth girlies. As we left, Brian was still talking with people. What a guy. It was a great end to a great night. One which I�ll remember for a very long time.

BY MR MARTYN. APRIL 2003.

iNTE

iNTERViEWS

iNTE

iNTERViEWS

home : interviews : gig reviews : cd reviews : movie reviews : forum : features : links : mailing list : contact : help us

iNTERViEWS

iNTE

iNTERViEWS