high and dry II

"i still have an older debt here, a review of the placebo concert. i translated what i posted on the roportal forum.

bucharest, sunday, august 13, anno domini 2006.

on an ordinary occasion, i would've been at home, thinking longingly of those lucky ones who got round to go to the szighet music festival, where placebo, radiohead, deus, the rasmus, iggy pop... would perform. on an ordinary occasion. but this wasn't ordinary. because before performing in szighet, placebo would have a concert in bucharest. thus, instead of staying home and dreaming, the undersigned was in a train to bucharest, reviewing 'homework' in those darned seven and a half hours, with tons of placebo on my player and the sunete magazine in my lap - a special edition dedicated entirely to placebo.

skipping the meet and greet (tnx again *kiss*), 19:00, somewhere near the concert venue. somewhere near, because the place was packed full. skip waiting, queuing, crowds, going forward with the speed of a drunken snail, throwing away bottles of drinks at the entry, the superficial check of the bags. yup, that's it, silly me, i could've taken my camera in spite of what the ticket read, but it wasn't actually mine but a borrowed one and i didn't risk it. finally, slowly but surely the crowd gets in, 5000 tickets, sold out show (i later heard they were actually 6000). now skip again on pepsi cola's exclusivity on selling drinks, skip the fact that i didn't want to have steal-able stuff on me and ended up not having the cash for a t-shirt and let's get to the point.

warm-up by a certain rock dj, ab4 the opening act. i like them, they are sometimes ear scratching, their english is somewhat rusty, but overall ok. they can't complain, i sang :D, songs picked were mainly from their english language album 'broken trust', apart from hol, which, as someone noted, was hol and not cold. i remember hearing born to learn, missing parts, different horizons, rising stars and preferences. anyway, there are tracks on the album that would've been a better choice. all in all, i guess it was the largest crowd they ever played, even if not the most interested one :D

then THEY come on, the gods... "hello, ladies and gentlemen of bucharest... we are the ladies and gentlemen of placebo". crowd gone crazy, i look around during the songs from meds, their latest album, the one promoted through the tour, songs that weren't singles and yes, people sing. the atmosphere is great, meds-songs obviously make most of the playlist, but there are also well known hits, when the roars of the crowd fire up.

the opener is infra-red, one of the best if not the best track of the album... "someone call the ambulance, there's gonna be an accident", well, i at least am high, this is no night to consider sore throats, "i'm coming up on infra-red, there's no running that can hide you, cause I can see in the dark...". next up is meds, another killer track, no it's brilliant, though i somehow miss the chick's voice... "baby, did you forget to take your meds?", nope, that's not the issue, there is no med that can put up with this, and then because i want you. so do we. then the screams get even louder when black-eyedstarts, yep it looks like the right people came to the concert, then song to say goodbye and what can be cooler than spending money on a ticket to hear a dude sing you "you are one of god's mistakes, you're crying tragic waste of skin" to some hypnothizing chords, and no, i am not a masochist, i'm just a darn happy fan.

but it can get better, next is special k, the first placebo song i ever heard, with that wonderful video with the mini-sub. then the inevitable technical problems, "this being a totally live show things are bound to go wrong, and right now they just did", guitars changing, and yes, the show must go on, there starts another special... special needs this time. "just nineteen, a sucker's dream, guess I thought you had the flavour, just nineteen and dream obscene with six months off for bad behaviour" and no, i am not nineteen, but i can rise up to any hysterical bsb-fan or whoever it is they are worshipping these days.

then, again off the meds album there is drag, "you're always ahead of the pack, I drag behind", no you don't, they are really on top and they are here, live, in font of me and i still don't believe it, then every me and every you, people sing it out loud, as someone said, well not some anyone, but the seraph in person, it's the placebo song of which every loser (aka manele listener) knows. of which, yes, but which - i doubt. however, who's there knows and sings. then there's one of a kind, "on top of the world you get nothing... done" and then see you at the bitter end and placebo exit stage. people scream, shout, clap on seats for around five minutes, i still don't know whether what followed was an encore or just the resuming of the concert after technical trouble. fact is, placebo are back on stage, and what can be heard is running up the hill, a kate bush cover. brian introduces the band, after which nancy boy follows, "got the muse in my head, she's universal", yes she is, but placebo leave again.

the public screams again, i am caught somewhere between fear and hope, it can't have been all, but what if...? no, people keep shouting, it can't be over, and this time i'm sure it's an encore, yes, placebo are back, steve, the guitar player heads through the crowd, brian apologises for being late and for the technical problems, thanks the public for their patience and the incredible atmosphere, promises that "they'll be back soon", i know it's a nice thing to say but i can't refrain from hoping, and i still do... next up is twenty years, and yes, after that they are gone for good.

we're off with crowd, out of the venue, we hold each other's hands so we won't get lost, it's six of us, three definitely in ecstasy, two of us haven't come down yet, for sure... if someone asks me how it's been, i still have trouble giving a coherent answer that is not monosyllabic, it's a whirl of sounds and lights, imagines and sensations. it seemed to last forever and when it was over, it seemed it didn't really happen... where were haemoglobin, slave to the wage, english summer rain, pure morning, without you i'm nothing... where were post blue, pierrot the clown, follow the cops back home... there were so many and yet so many were missing :(

what followed was a white night (tnx again for the company :*) and a trip back home by train, half of which i slept through, and half of which i re-listened to the songs in a trance, i still didn't manage to grab a poster but someone took care of me apparently :) but in the station i didn't know that yet, i was looking filled with envy, but also proud at all the people the train spit out at tis destination, posters in their hands. i slept and thought impressions would settle, but it's not the case, proof being that it took me so long to write this review, which i still wouldn't have managed if someone hadn't done it on the forum, and he seems to have remembered everything :)