It’s been almost ten years since Placebo’s last New York City area show – a particularly damp and miserable Autumn day in 2014 on Governor’s Island. Since then, the band released its 2022 studio album Never Let Me Go and returned, this time, to Brooklyn for two sold out performances at Brooklyn Steel. A much more comfortable experience, if I may say so. But while the short set in 2014 was catered to a festival-going crowd and the casual fan, this year’s tour set list digs in deeper with about half of the band’s remarkable 22-song setlist coming from Never Let Me Go, and other deeper cuts. It’s definitely not the usual tour formula for a band to favor the brand new material this heavily on a tour, but I certainly appreciate it.
In their almost 30-year career, Placebo has managed to stay solidly consistent. The new music sounds fresh without abandoning the overall dark, glam rock vibe they’ve cultivated since their 1994 inception. I consider myself a casual fan, popping on a few tracks on a playlist from time to time, and while I generally enjoy most of the band’s music, it’s Placebo’s raw edge on the live stage where they really shine. That kind of energy cannot be captured in a studio recording. It’s even difficult to capture on the page because, this isn’t your usual kind of rowdy, high energy performance. There’s a contained, subtle beauty to it that makes Placebo such an amazing band to see live.
So really it is no wonder that both Brooklyn dates have been completely sold-out months in advance.
And despite having to gently remind the audience to tuck away their phones during the nearly 2-hour performance, it’s clear that guitarist/singer Brian Molko and bassist Stefan Olsdal were having fun. Does this mean we won’t have to wait another ten years before seeing Placebo again? I don’t know. I hope not. But in the interim, I encourage you to catch them on one of the remaining US dates this spring.
Remaining North American Tour Dates:
April 27 – Toronto, Canada
April 29 – Philadelphia, PA
April 30 – Boston, MA
May 2 – Washington, D.C.
May 3 – Washington, D.C.
May 5 – Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta GA
May 8 – Dallas, TX
May 10 – Tempe, AZ
May 11 – Los Angeles, CA
May 13 – Sick New World, Las Vegas NV
May 14 – San Francisco, CA
May 16 – Portland, OR
May 17 – Seattle, WA
May 19 – Salt Lake City, UT
May 20 – Denver, CO
Placebo Setlist:
01. Forever Chemicals
02. Beautiful James
03. Scene of the Crime
04. Hugz
05. Happy Birthday in the Sky
06. Bionic
07. Twin Demons
08. Surrounded by Spies
09. Chemtrails
10. Sad White Reggae
11. Try Better Next Time
12. Too Many Friends
13. Went Missing
14. For What It’s Worth
15. Slave to the Wage
16. Song to Say Goodbye
17. Come Undone
18. The Bitter End
19. Infra-red
Encore:
20. Shout (Tears for Fears cover)
21. Fix Yourself
22. Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover)
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