As others have said, the 08/20/14 Mönchengladbach show was just magical! It surpassed all my expectations & was so much better than my first Placebo show in 2001, which to be honest, I don't recall a whole lot of because of the obstructed view I had behind tall people! This time couldn't have been more different! In fact, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.
).PNG "Smile!")
We (Tracy/Arcadia, myself & her two friends) arrived at the Hockypark's outer gates around 10:30am to find many of the PFWW crew & other hardcore 'Cebo fans already there. By the time the day was out, I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa (Devil in the Details) along with her mom & sister, Dina (Keeki), Felicia Sexopants), Caitlin (Sorry, I'm totally forgetting your real name which you told me everyone has trouble with, me being one of them!), Frijke (Placebo Love) & Sophie (Evil_Dildo - I hope I got your real name right!
. I know there were others there as well, unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone. It was such a wonderful experience meeting the members I *did* manage to meet, though! I'm often shy meeting new people, so I'm amazed I even met that many of you in the first place! 
We also met a hilarious Italian girl & her boyfriend, but unfortunately for us, they're not on here - though they SHOULD be! They're FUNNY!Other than a few people butting in line when everyone got prematurely excited over what I'm told were security guards approaching (didn't actually see myself what the fuss was all about), the queue was fairly drama free. AND not only could we hear the soundcheck, but BRIAN was at rehearsal, too!!!
I'm used to just hearing guitars, drums, etc. withOUT vocals at soundchecks, so this was an unexpected treat for me. I recorded the audio on my phone, which I'll add links to soon. The past couple days have been so intense, I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. [EDIT] Just checked my videos, and they rehearsed "Too Many Friends" & "One of a Kind". 
Now before I get to the show itself, I want to give Lisa a huge pat on the back for the fantastic job she did on the book we all signed for the band! It was a huge purple book with thick brightly coloured pages of various colours. Lisa, did you, by any chance, take a photo of the book that you could PM me? I stupidly forgot to take a photo while signing it.
Also, many thanks to Lisa, Dina & their mom for translating & arranging accessible entry for me with the venue's security team. You three really went above & beyond for me, and thanks to you, I not only got to use the ramp instead of stairs, I got an accessible spot, which was exactly the spot I was hoping for! [EDIT] And last but not least, thanks to Tracy (Arcadia Rhodes) for inviting me to tag along in the first place with her & her friends for this trip. Europe presents interesting challenges for those like me with low vision, so although I've travelled alone many times here in North America, I could never have done this trip to Europe without you!!!OK, so now for the show itself! Remember that perfect weather we had all day? Well, forget it!!!
Not long after we got on the barrier, it was pouring so much, security actually started handing out disposable rain ponchos to the crowd! It got so bad, some of us worried the show would be cancelled or in the very least cut short, but then someone said that no, they'll just move stuff further back if they had to. Luckily, the worse was over by the time the opener Wild Beasts came on a bit after 7pm & the rain stayed away during Placebo's set, despite predictions of more to follow around 9pm that night. Wild Beasts weren't bad. I felt their sound was a good fit with Placebo. I've certainly seen worse openers, so I was quite happy with them. I enjoyed their retro synth sound, and even the lead singer's goofy dancing, which reminded me of George Michael in the "Faith" video, which in turn then reminded me of my best friend back home who's a huge GM fan, LOL!
About half hour after Wild Beasts finished, Placebo came on & put on one hell of a show! Of the current set they've been playing in more recent weeks, nothing got cut, meaning we got Allergic, One of a Kind AND Begin the end! =) No SWG, but we all know that's been cut out a while now, so I wasn't expecting it at all. As mentioned by others here, Brian also changed up his intro to Space Monkey & he also used his newer intro for Scene of the Crime, which cracks me up every time, so I couldn't help but offer up my hands for viewing before he could even start his little spiel, LOL!
And, I was lucky enough to get one of those little Brian moments everyone talks about! Not only did he see my sign, he pointed at it during the "Rob the Bank of Mexico & CANADA" line according to a few people whispering in my ear, and someone else here (Lisa's mom I think, was it?) even said he was looking my way a lot! Thanks everyone for being so KIND & THOUGHTFUL by filling me in on these visuals that I would've otherwise completely missed! Just knowing that he saw my sign filled my heart with total joy & made my whole night! What else can I say.... Well, the YouTube videos really don't do Brian's voice justice! It was so perfect & clear & beautiful, it was like velvet to my ears! In fact, the entire band sounded great on this night. Loved Stef's rainbow pride guitar & I'm in love with Brian's red & white guitar (that he uses in Exit Wounds, Post Blue, etc...). Also, is it just me, or does the show go soooo much faster when you're actually there? Sure, the queuing couldn't go fast enough, but the show, I feel like I blinked & it was over!!! Where's my four hour dream setlist when I need it, LOL! As I predicted, one show this tour is just NOT enough, so I'll be going to many more now that they're coming this way in a few months!
[EDIT] How ironic, that after waiting so long for them to do a FULL North American tour again, I travel thousands of kilometres to see them, only to find out while I'm on that very same trip, they are finally coming back here, LOL!!! Even started buying my tickets while still overseas! 
Getting back to Stef for a moment... The security guard gave me one of Stef's guitar picks!
Hopefully I'll get one from Brian during the October shows here in North America, so I'll have a complete pair! And last but not least, I'm happy to say, Brian behaved himself with the photographers! He seemed to be in a great mood, so no bottle throwing this show! [EDIT]All in all, it was a wonderful night filled with that exquisite synergy of energy between us & the band Brian so often talks about. My favourite moments of the show were: meeting my fellow PFWWers, Felicia's Brian Coke bottle (a taste of Brian hits the spot every time!!!
), B3 (it's *so* much better live when you're there in the flesh to see, hear & FEEL it!), EYEM (because I still ADORE that song with every inch of my being!), the Canada line of Rob the Bank where Brian pointed at me, the new intros for & the performances of Space Monkey & Scene of the Crime, fucking up the clapping again to SOTC while trying *so* hard to sing & clap simultaneously (Still hopeless at that! ), experiencing the group scream-alongs with Stef just before The Bitter End & Brian also had us do some screaming earlier in the show. Loved singing the chorus of Special K" & "Post Blue" along with & *to* Brian, as I'm sure the entire front row was also doing! And how could I forget BEGIN THE END, Exit Wounds, Meds, STSG, The Bitter End, RUTH & Infra-Red (that's what I get for writing a review after being awake 25+ hours!!! ) Basically, the last nine songs of the set were pure auditory ecstasy!!! Such happy, BLISSFUL memories! [EDIT]My only regret of the day was that contrary to original plans, we didn't go to the tour bus afterwards, which I'm told was just to the left of the reserved seating behind the venue.
But sadly, some of the people we were with didn't care to go to the tour bus, so the only bus we got to see was the sardine can of a public transit bus we all crammed into en route back to our hotel! Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to go to the bus in October, though, so now i have a new dream to hope for! [EDIT]I've since found out from what I consider a reliable source that the bus driver was telling people to go home, as the band wouldn't be greeting fans at all due to the cold weather, not even Steve, so I don't feel so sad we didn't go to the busses now, as it would've been pointless. [EDIT]Below are my video clips & some of the photos. Sorry, they're a bit blurry, but believe me, there were others that were much, MUCH worse!
Also adding in a few more, including one of Brian I missed the first time around, the gig ad-sign, poster/ad & some pics taken while at the barricade before the show... Funny, after all the internal debating I did with myself about how much to film, how many photos to take, etc., I couldn't even bring myself to film an entire song, LOL! The two videos I did film are both less than a minute! Just couldn't go beyond that with Brian standing right there!!! I will try to film a whole song next time, though, but won't push it past that. That beautiful man just makes me so nervous & I don't want to upset him, so I think this is a good compromise. Soundcheck (audio only, of course):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM1WbXz ... FBtQ7gO6yg
Loud Like Love (partial clip):
Exit Wounds (partial clip): Sorry this is so shaky! In addition to being super nervous in front of Brian, I was also taking photos while filming simultaneously, hence the weird zooming! :p
Street sign advertising the show:
Poster-ad outside the venue:
I realize this pic's blurry as hell, but posting it just to show how freakin' HIGH that stage was! Notice the security guard's head at the bottom of the photo & how high above his head the stage goes!!!
#placebogig200814
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