MUSIC: Placebo to play all their old hits

PLACEBO will be heading out on a world tour in October to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their platinum selling debut album ‘Placebo’.

The first leg of the ’20 Years of Placebo’ tour kicks off in Denmark on October 13 and runs through to Wembley Arena in London on December 15 with a stop off in Dublin on December 10 when they play the 3 Arena.

The band have promised a set list spanning their whole back catalogue.

Brian Molko teased: “Let’s just say there will be songs in the set that I’ve sworn never to play again.

“I think it’s time that we purposefully acknowledged what a lot of Placebo fans really want to hear.

“They’ve been very patient with us since we rarely play our most commercially successful material.

“A 20-year anniversary tour seems like the right time to do so,” he added. “This tour is very much for the fans and a chance for us to revisit a lot of our early material. So, if you want to see us play songs like ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Nancy Boy’, which we haven’t played in almost 10 years and may not play again, then you’d better come along to these shows! We’ll have some surprises in there too.”

Formed in London in 1994 by singer-guitarist Molko and guitarist-bassist Stefan Olsdal, the band were soon joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was replaced in 1996 by Steve Hewitt. Hewitt parted ways with the band in 2007 and was replaced the following year by Steve Forrest, who left the band in 2015 to pursue his own musical career. Not long after the departure, Matt Lunn joined as the band’s current drummer.

Placebo are known for their androgynous image and musical content. To date, they have released seven studio albums, all of which have reached the top 20 in the United Kingdom, and have sold around 11 million records worldwide.