Placebo
Concert in Belgrade
(September 2)
Review by Rada Djurica

Fifteen years ago, superclubs all over the world burst onto the music scene. Legions of suspicious people would tell you such places had all the atmosphere and innovation of a night locked into a superdrug. At such places, you'd be overwhelmed with the intellectual, forceful lyrics of Goth music or other alternative music.

What is Placebo in all this? Oh, those Gothic kids, eh? I mean, kids to the parents and grandparents, considering that Goth was born in the late '70s and early '80s (Siouxie and the Banshees, The Cure, Bauhaus, Bowie, etc.). Even with Brian Eno, the final efforts of Goth were interesting and obscure.

Seeing Placebo live, you'd imagine, would promise Brian Molko in his characteristic glam rock make-up. Indeed, there was something of that '70s and '80s glam rock gothic gloom. You'd especially expect this if the gig happened in a country such as former Yugoslavia. People in Serbia and Croatia love blasting back into the past.

For this flashback, there was a completely new audience of young people in their twenties or less, still growing up with old hits from The Cure and David Bowie. And a little visit from the modern Goth band Placebo made these people very happy. The biggest sports hall in Belgrade was full of people, young and old. I can only imagine how excited Brian Molko was, standing in front of this Goth audience in a country that just came out of a very bloody civil war.

Placebo's haunting melodies, captured in the tour title "Sleeping with Ghosts," conjure up the band's early sounds. It is evident that the boys have grown beyond their smashed-up pop roots, despite being faithful to the melancholic sorrow which separates them from Brit pop.

"We are something opposite from the Brit pop of today," Brian commented. Of course they are! It is not easy to be a Goth band nowadays, when the club scene and techno music have taken over. Placebo albums may share a similar affliction with techno music: a few great songs as the foundation and few fairly boring ones.

But the spotlight of the gig was on the band’s latest album, Sleeping With Ghosts. Dressed in black and made up to a pale, pale white... So moving, so wonderful, so martyr attractive, a beauty that makes you want to jump on the stage, give Brian a big, big hug and... well, it rings my chimes.

There was never any real doubt that the new Placebo album would dominate the proceedings, with a string of heavy guitar songs demonstrating Placebo's ability to captivate the attention of their audience. Placebo's music is haunting, evoked by the clever cover art, catchy beat and a charming and effective pop feel. Then the electronic beats of the album suddenly take over, smashing the acoustics. The result is soaring, haunting melodies, just as with their previous albums.

Even so, the concert creates a different atmosphere. The bitter end was a spectacular pop-rock song, close to "Slave to the Wage." A charming irony and sexual insecurity characterized Goth's past glory: sophisticated, exotic and yet tasteful. Speaking about glory, the entire gig hung on Placebo's raw and insightful lyrics, combined with Molko's unusual voice.

As a band they looked great. Dressed in black with white face make-up and carefully styled hair, they’ve certainly borrowed more than a passing influence from David Bowie. But maybe Placebo's white faces need a bit more soulful, black energy. No matter how good or bad Bowie influence is, it is fantastic, for a Goth band to succeed in the Twenty-First Century, while dance music is taking over.