There's
only two bands playing this evening, and first
up tonight are a band called Toy. s I hear it
they haven't been around all that long, in short
they are sort of toned down version of Placebo,
so you can see why they're on this tour.
Their opening song is all instrumental, it's not
bad and I certainly enjoyed the synths on it,
but my gripe was that they played pretty much
in the dark for it and the next few songs weren't
much better. The vocals are bit on the bland side
they are ok but nothing special. They do have
an interesting sound as you can easily pick out
each instrument which is nice as normally you
can't hear what's what, just a coherent song,
they have sort of a garage band feel to them,
I'd say they're still in the early days of developing
their craft and really need to polish a decent
stage show and have a few killer songs to really
get out there, but they're not doing too bad for
themselves, if they're touring with Placebo. A
work in progress.
Despite me being a long time fan of Placebo this
is only my second time of seeing them, they are
to say the least one of my favourite bands, top
5 easily. Brian Molko, has one of those distinct
voices that is a joy to hear.
They
open their set with 'B3', it's a solid opener,
but it really kicks off for me and for most of
the crowd with, 'For What it's Worth', it's a
really bouncy song with a solid catchy riff, it
really is a great song. This is followed up by
'Loud by Love', it's a really decent start to
Placebo's set in which the crowd is now sufficiently
warmed up as the support act didn't quite do it
for them.
Tonight's set is certainly well placed they know
how to make a decent nights worth of entertainment
when they play the likes of, 'Twenty Years', the
superb 'Every Me Every You' then taking things
down a notch or two with 'Too Many Friends', 'Scene
of the Crime' before kicking it up again with
'A Million Little
Pieces', not up in pace but it's a great sounding
song, especially the intro, it has a touch of
epicness about it. The middle of set is in a dry
patch that continues with 'Speak in Tongues',
they're superb songs it's just the pace is down,
but there is still a way to go yet.
Things get a kick in the arse again with 'Rob
The Bank', 'Purify',and the superb 'Space Monkey'.
There are a fair few songs in tonight's set from
the latest album 'Loud Like Love', there's the
title track, 'Purify', 'Scene of the Crime', 'Too
Many Friends', 'Rob The Bank', 'A Million Little
Pieces', 'Exit Wounds', these songs make up a
sizeable chunk of their set not too many bands
do this you might get two or three, but to have
as many as 7 is quite astonishing really.
'Blind'
takes things down a bit again before the final
new song of the night 'Exit Wounds', of the new
songs played tonight I haven't heard any of them
before this evening, as I'm yet to get the new
album but they have impressed but definitely require
a second and third listening to really grasp them
fully. Exit wounds is definitely a typical placebo
song, quite dry but does have its heavy moments.
Meds is up next and it really gets the crowd going
again mind you I'd say the crowd have been hanging
on every lyric sung, but they really sing On This
one.
The
best songs of the night come in the last 8 songs,
these songs are easily worth the price of admission
alone, starting off with 'Meds', which is followed
by 'So Get to Say Goodbye', the superb 'Special
K' and the brilliant 'The Bitter End' to close
out the main set these are the top of the list
songs only topped by the next 4.
After a short break they open the encore with
'Teenage Angst', Kate Bush cover 'Running up That
Hill', probably one of the finest covers ever
and one of the few to surpass the original in
every way and make it their own. The final two
songs of the night are 'Post Blue' and what seems
to be a tad heavy, 'Infra Red', two brilliant
songs and two of my all time favourites to close
out a really excellent set. While I would have
liked to have heard 'Pure Morning', I can only
imagine that the band are sick of the song and
as such it's absent from live performances.
Toy 3/5
Placebo 5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
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