PLACEBO‘s gig at PERUGIA in ITALY on Saturday (March 31) had to be halted for an hour just three songs into the set after security feared that the barriers at the front of the stage could collapse.
After being given the go-ahead to re-start the performance, the band returned to the stage, frontman Brian Molko apologising for being “totally drunk” after drinking “far too much alcohol while we were waiting”. He said earlier as the band took the stage that they were celebrating bassist Stefan Olsdal’s birthday.
According to eyewitness reports from the gig, an apologetic Molko, who on several occasions was unable to remember lyrics and to sing in tune with the band, dedicated ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ to Elvis Presley, saying: “This one’s for the King, Elvis Presley, He wouldn’t have played Perugia.” He went on to dedicate ‘Slave To The Wage’ to Italian porn star-turned-politician Cicciolina.
The gig at Palaevangelista venue, which was cut short to just 10 tracks because of the earlier delay, included two new songs which recently appeared as B-sides, ‘Little Mo’, performed as a ballad with Molko on keyboard, and ‘Leni’, a revved up track with Molko repeatedly yelling “Bitch, Bitch” during the chorus.
One fan at the gig told NME.COM: “After being booed off stage during their appearance at last month’s Sanremo Festival after similar drunken antics, trashing stage etc, this was hardly the comeback gig their Italian following would have hoped for.”
Earlier in the evening, during their soundcheck, the band played a cover of Depeche Mode‘s ‘I Feel You’, which they previously recorded for a fanclub cassette, but it was not played during the gig.
The complete set list was as follows:
‘Haemoglobin’
‘Days Before You Came’
‘Allergic’
[1 Hour Delay]
‘Leni’ (New)
‘Little Mo'(New)
‘Every You Every Me’
‘Without You I’m Nothing’
‘Slave To The Wage’
‘Special K’
‘Taste In Men’
Tracks which were omitted from the set, according to the set-list, were:
‘My Sweet Prince’
‘Commercial For Levi’
‘Peeping Tom’
‘Black Eyed’
‘Pure Morning’
The band are currently on the European leg of their tour, playing Treviso Palasport in Italy tomorrow (April 3).
They then have a 22-date tour of North America and Canada lined up, which kicks off at Toronto Warehouse on April 26. Following that, they have several European festival dates lined up, including T In The Park (July 7) and Reykjavik Festival on June 15.