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Placebo have hinted that they have something “significant” planned to mark the 30th anniversary of their debut studio album.
Read More: Placebo interview: “David Bowie taught me how to be a better person”
Frontman Brian Molko reflected on the band’s early days during an interview with VRT Radio 1 in Antwerp, Belgium. The station recently hosted a special celebration gig for dEUS in the city, where Molko performed live with the Belgian rock group.
He was asked whether he could imagine Placebo taking on a retrospective run of shows for the album’s 30th year, performing the 1996 self-titled record from start to finish.
“Well, we have a 30th anniversary coming up very soon, next year,” Molko replied. “Yeah. It’s the 30th anniversary of our first record. And yes, we will definitely be doing something quite significant to celebrate the 30 years.”
He added: “That’s a bit of a scoop for you.” Watch at the six-minute-30-second mark in the video here:
Earlier in the VRT Radio 1 interview, Molko looked back on Placebo’s “chaotic” early days and their period touring with dEUS in the ’90s. “I think we were as chaotic as each other, as bands,” he said. “We were kind of kindred spirits. It was very cool. I really liked also the ambition that they had.”
Molko continued: “I was obsessed with [dEUS’ debut album] ‘Worst Case Scenario’. To me, it was so much more imaginative and daring and psychedelic and surrealist than any of the other popular guitar records of the time.
“I loved the idea that they had a violin, y’know? Then it was really pushed to the front. And if you come and see my band now – for the past 20 years, we’ve had a violin player. So, it’s definitely an influence.”
Placebo set out on a 20th anniversary tour in 2016, where they revisited older favourites like ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Nancy Boy’ after not playing them “in almost 10 years, and may not play again”.
1996’s ‘Placebo’ received an 8 out of 10 review from NME and reached Number Five in the UK albums chart. The record includes the singles ‘Nancy Boy’, ‘Teenage Angst’, ’36 Degrees’ and others.
Speaking to NME in 2022, Molko reflected on Placebo’s 20th anniversary shows and the 2016 best of compilation, ‘A Place For Us To Dream’.
“We were not particularly comfortable with the prospect of doing a retrospective and retrospective tour,” Molko admitted. “At the time we were on Universal Records, and we had the feeling that we would lose all support from them if we did not embark on this hideously materialistic and mercantile endeavour.”
His bandmate Stefan Olsdal agreed: “That tour lasted for quite a long time, and we started to get this slightly unhealthy relationship with our old material. I started to feel quite disillusioned by the band and what we were doing. I had a crisis of confidence coming into this record. I felt during the last tour that the band was over and that I could not continue with this.”
In a 2018 interview with NME, Olsdal said the anniversary cycle had grown “saccharine”. He added: “We have always been experimentalists at heart.” At the time, Placebo were marking 20 years of their 1998 second album, ‘Without You I’m Nothing’.
In 2020, the band celebrated two decades of their third album, ‘Black Market Music’, with a behind the scenes video series, and last year, Robbie Williams discussed how much Placebo’s ‘Nancy Boy’ had influenced him. The track explores fluid sexuality, gender confusion and drug use.
Placebo’s eighth and most recent album, ‘Never Let Me Go’, arrived in 2022. In a four star review, NME praised it as “a renaissance rock record with an experimental edge”. The band have not performed a live show together since August 2024, according to Setlist.FM.
