Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden13th November 2009
United, Expartriate, Placebo
Personally I haven't listened to PLACEBO for a long time, after listening to Placebo's new record as well as some older ones, I knew that this was a band that I really wanted to see live. There was some trouble with making it happen but in the end my friend Evelina and I stood outside of the venue Annexet together with a lot of other people in the cold waiting for the doors to open.
I had not been to this venue before and due to my natural curiosity I looked up some information about it on the internet. The venue is allowed to have 3950 people inside at an event like this one but even if the venue was filled with people while Placebo played I don’t think there were that many people there. The venue itself was simple and not that interesting but you came very close to the pretty low stage and that was cool. This evening there were not one but two pre act´s – Swedish United and Australian Expatriate.
United
United are Gogo (vocals & guitar), Bruno (bass), Lez (guitar), Erik (synthesizers & keyboards) and Mogge (drums and percussion). United is a Swedish band with members from different parts of Sweden who play alternative rock. http://www.myspace.com/united
Music and performance
United came on stage to a crowd that first had been waiting and waiting outside in the cold, to get into the venue and then the crowd rushed to the stage to wait for the main event Placebo. It was no easy task to open up to this crowd that mainly stood with their arms crossed while the band played. United tried but I think that they could have tried harder to warm up the audience, their music sounded pretty good but the band did not in my opinion even try to connect with the audience, the band members mostly just stood there starring down into the ground without looking up.
Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 4
Sound: 5
Light: 5
Total: 4.7 / 10
Expatriate
Expatriate are: Ben King (vocals & guitar), Cristo (drums & percussions), Damian Press (guitar & keyboard) and Dave Molland (bass). Expatriate is an indie rock band, formed 2005 in Sydney, Australia. After a lot of touring and success in their home land the band got Riverman Managements attention who wanted to take them on and managing them. In 2008 the band relocated to Berlin, Germany. At the moment the band has just gotten their début album “In the Midst of This” out in Europe and are currently as special invited guest out on tour with Placebo on their winter production tour. http://expatriateband.com / http://www.myspace.com/expatriateband
Music and performance
Expatriate surprised a lot of people in the audience I think, after the first pre act people did not really seem up to listening to another one before the main event. BUT the band came on stage and simply kicked of their set with a passion that reached out to the audience and captured. I like the way the band interacted with the audience, they really did their best to charm the crowd in front of the stage. Their pop-rock sound made people move to the music and since I had listened to the record a couple of days before the show and recognized some of the songs and I really liked the way my favourite song on the record “Gotta Get Home” sounded live. Before the last song “Are you awake?” the singer Ben King said “buy our records so we can eat” and told the audience that they would be at the merchandise stand selling and signing copies of their album after Placebo show. He also told the audience that they could dance to the song if the felt like it and that was charming I think. All too often the pre act is not much to cheer for but I really enjoyed Expatriate and think that their songs are good on the record and even better live. This is a band to keep your eyes and ears on in the future I believe.
Setlist
1. Miracle Mile
2. Blackbird
3. Aviation at Night
4. Gotta Get Home
5. Crazy
6. Shooting Star
7. Get out, Give in
8. Are You Awake?
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.7 / 10
Placebo
Placebo are Brian Molko (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards), Stefan Olsdal (bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Steve Forrest (drums, percussion, backing vocals). Placebo is an alternative rock band formed in London 1994 and the band has released several never dying songs through the years. “Battle for the Sun” is the bands sixths studio album; it was released the 5th of June 2009. http://www.placeboworld.co.uk/home.php / www.myspace.com/placebo
Music & Performance
When we came into the venue I noticed that there were a white sheet hanging from the ceiling and covering up the back part of the stage. I have seen this done before so I understood that Placebos gear probably was set up behind it all the time through the two pre acts shows. This is in my opinion a very smart idea because then you shorten the waiting between the pre act and the main event. The stage crew cleared the front of the stage pretty fast and then when the light had dimmed out into darkness the white sheet dramatically fell and there were Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Forrest on stage ready to kick off the show with “For What It´s Worth”. Talk about a good song to start with, this is a song that I really like with it´s cool lyrics and music. The audience went wild pretty much from the minute the band stepped on stage until the end of the concert. The set was a good mix of new songs from the latest album “Battle for the Sun” and some older songs.
A building pressure from behind let us know that more people were coming into the venue once the main event Placebo started their set and it was pretty cool to see all the people that had came to see and be part of the concert. “Every you every me” got the crowd moving and I really like the live version of this song with the great guitar/bass part in the end of – it´s simply amazing. At “Special needs” the audience sang along so loud that they almost drowned out Brian’s voice and I can imagine that he found it cool that they audience knew the lyrics that well.
Brian Molko talked some about their work against human trafficking – what he called modern slavery in Cambodia and asked the audience “please go to www.mtvexit.org and see what we can do”. (MTV EXIT is a campaign to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking.) Brian also said that before they did the concert at the temple of Ankor Wat in Cambodia they had to change and rebuild their songs to make them work there. Then the bassist Stefan Olsdal sat down by a keyboard that had been brought on stage and Brian said that they were going to play “Because I Want You” in “Cambodian style” and the song was very beautiful and strong this way.
During the concert the band let their music pretty much speak for them, they did not talk much between the songs but the crowd was really into the music; moving, dancing and a couple of times Stefan Olsdal got the crowd moving and waving their arms in the air. This was the first time I saw Placebo live; I really enjoyed the show and would love to see this band live again. I really enjoyed Brian Molko´s voice on the calmer songs “Twenty Years Ago” and “Song to Say Goodbye”. At the end of the set came a song that has been on my mind ever since the concert – “Infra Red” and the last song was “Taste in men” and I think that was a good way of finishing a great evening with. I kind of hate when a band finishes off their set with something sad and calm because that pretty much kills all the energy that you build up during the set.
Setlist
01. For What It´s Worth
02. Ashtray Heart
03. Battle For The Sun
04. Soulmates
05. Speak In Tongues
06. Follow The Cops Back Home
07. Every You Every Me
08. Special Needs
09. Breath Underwater
10. Because I Want You
11. Twenty Years Ago
12. Julien
13. The Never-Ending Why
14. Blind
15. Devil In The Details
16. Meds
17. Song To Say Goodbye
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18. Bright Lights
19. Special K
20. The Bitter End
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21. Infra Red
22. Taste In Men
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 9.4 / 10
All pictures by Helena Torstensson
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