Placebo have always had a strong hold on the UK live music scene. A Placebo tour will normally sell out in less than a week and they are regular festival-favourites who constantly attract a headlining-sized crowd. It's just a pity that a large proportion of those who would see Placebo live are rabid teenage girls: a dangerous breed, who thinks nothing of shredding anyone obstructing their view of demi-god Brian Molko. Vicious pubescents aside, the gig is actually superb.

The band has come a long way since the hedonistic days of its seminal album, and the opening portion of tracks is a testament to this. Pop tunes ‘Infra-Red' and ‘Drag', with their buzz-saw driven courses prove to be fantastic openers, and contrast pleasantly with the disturbingly good ‘Space Monkey,' which if it weren't for bad sound quality, would have been a definite highlight of the night.

The boys show off most of the new album, Meds, successfully underlining the LP's diversity from the chunky ‘Because I Want You' to the "sublime" (Brian's own and, almost, only word of the night) ‘Follow the Cops Home'. However, older tracks do get a look in, as long as they conform to the reinvented stripped-back sound: ‘Come Home' being the true fans surprise of the night, was released from the band's ‘do not ever play again list', and retained all the debauched ferocity that it had back in '97.

In fact, the gig contains very few less-than-satisfactory moments: strong tracks ‘One of a Kind' and ‘Post Blue' were ruined by poor sound mixing, and the retention of the cheesy ‘Special Needs' is beyond my comprehension. Apart from these minor grumbles, tonight's gig is near perfect; even the ballad rendition of ‘36 Degrees' sounds pretty shit-hot.

The evening approaches a spectacular close with a show-stopping (and definite highlight) ‘Running up that Hill', followed by Alison "The Kills" Mossheart dueting on ‘Meds'. The finale was the first jaw-dropping rendition of ‘Nancy Boy' I have ever seen. It nearly pulls down the very bricks and mortar of Ally Pally, potentially destroying the multitudinous screeching female youths: a fantastic night all round.
(4/5)
Photos: Aleksandra Lach  Check for Live Dates