Of course, we all know that Brian Molko has his quirks, like everyone else. I have always admired his eloquence and obvious intelligence, not to mention his stage presence and musicianship. However, since the last time I worked at a Placebo gig, Brian seems to have become disappointingly fond of making diva-style demands…
Placebo,
Festival Hall, February 22, 2010
Prior to the show, staff working on doors were given a briefing, describing ‘things that the singer doesn’t like, and some he is afraid of.’ We were told that the show would be halted if any of the items posted on the sign given to me to post on the door were spotted in the audiece by Brian:
The ‘plastic dolls’ in question were defined as inflatable dolls, allegedly common at Placebo shows. We were also warned that ‘lots of people will come dressed as animals,’ which I doubted. It proved to be untrue, and I wondered where this information is sourced. KMW, for all their criticisms, probably wouldn’t be behind such tales, and I wondered if Management just enjoys the gasps of exasperation from a select few members of easily impressionable staff. Either way, to my disappointment, and not surprisingly, nobody arrived dressed in an animal costume, though one guy had an enviable skull necklace. Few patrons also had much to say about the strict conditions of entry. One girl complained that her camera cost ‘over one thousand dollars,’ and therefore could not be expected to be placed in a cloak room. She scoffed at me and stormed off when she produced the compact digital camera and I mentioned that the same model is readily available for well under three hundred dollars any number of retail outlets. The other objection of note was a girl who, when told of the conditions, said simply ‘Oh, that’s okay,’ and tossed her own digital camera into the bin. My security guard, Chi, snapped it up quickly. She was also somewhat confused by a disposable camera that someone tossed away. Apparently, she had never seen a camera that uses film before, which I found a little hard to buy.
The band sounded good, and played a great set for singing along to. It was perhaps not as exciting as the last show, since it didn’t have the weird psuedo-encore with electronica, but I guess that kind of gimmick loses something when it happens again and again. The majority of songs were also from recent albums, though most fans know not to expect Pure Morning any more, but most of the favourites were there, and Placebo were successful in their effort to make me want to buy Battle For The Sun.
LiveNudeDann 