Showing posts with label Loud Like Love Tour 2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Loud Like Love Tour 2014. Show all posts

Friday, 17 April 2015

Placebo @ Los Angeles, CA, USA, Club Nokia, 10/24/14 (#placebogig241014)

Mixed emotions were abound for me during this last show of the North American tour. First, the good: I had the perfect spot in front of Brian. :love: While I'm almost always on his side of the stage, this was only my second time being directly across from him, as opposed to being just slightly off to one side or another. The band was fantastic, Brian seemed to be in good spirits & acoustics were decent. The setlist returned to its normal sequence with B3 getting things started & Post Blue back in the encore, which I think I actually prefer, though the previous night's alternate setlist in San Francisco was a much appreciated surprise!  :) Initially, my impression of Brian in LA was that he seemed relatively quiet compared to other shows, using his usual scripts between songs with the only departure being when he was about to say it'd been a long time they'd played there, but then he realized it had only been a year! BUT then I remembered his Spanish, which sadly I don’t speak, so if you only understood the English, it might seem like the usual scripts, but for those lucky bilingual audience members, he said a bit more. Not sure if it was just a Spanish translation of the English stuff or if there was more to it. Do any Spanish speakers know? For those who saw them at the beginning of the LLL tour, though, the usual scripts were plenty, as he spoke even less at the start of the tour, so it’s all relative. :) Whatever the case, he sounds so very beautiful speaking Spanish! Almost as good as when he speaks French!  ;) Speaking of languages, I loved the fact he spoke both German AND Spanish during Song to Say Goodbye, using Auf Weidersehe one line & then 
Hasta luego the next. :)

One of my favourite moments was Brian's reaction to the crowd during Meds! He had the biggest grin on his face, as he soaked up all our love & attention!  <3 Admittedly, I was hoping they might've done something different during this last show but I'll take whatever I can get at this point!  ;) I’m just so grateful they came over here & did the shows they have. Many of the songs took on double meanings for me as I sang them back to Brian...one…last…time. I'm really going to miss them. Another little gem was during the intro to One of a Kind, I could’ve sworn he pointed to the three of us girls up front, including the girl in the chair, myself & not sure if the third one was Susannah or the girl beside me But it was nice either way. :) And last but certainly not least in terms of highlights, was running into Nick afterwards, where he posed for photos along side Soul.mate_USA & myself & he signed one of my many BFTS album covers. :)

Despite the venue’s no-cameras policy on their website, security was so scarce up front that i probably could have gotten away with taking a few pics with my new camera, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, given who was standing right in front of me!  ;) I came real close during the encore while he was kneeling, but my camera widget decided to malfunction, so after a few seconds, I gave up & opted to just enjoy the moment of those last few seconds with him instead. <3

It was great finally meeting Soul.Mate_USA, DaniBrooke, and PFWW lurker Mokikinnetic (Michael) who also happens to be one of my fellow Canadians from the previous night's show (I will forever have his parody of TMF stuck in my head!!!  :hahaha:).   aAlso, a very special thank you to Ironmoko, whose directions re: getting into the venue proved invaluable. I seriously would never have found it without your directions! In fact, your info literally saved me from having the cabbie drop me at the wrong venue! I was really bummed not to have met you! Perhaps next tour, eh?  Last but not least, many thanks to Soul.mate_USA for helping me get safely to a cab after some much needed post-show dinner!

Venue staff were extremely helpful, ensuring both myself & the girl beside me who was in a wheelchair got down safely into the pit. To say that venue is a nightmare is an understatement! Put into one word, CONFUSING is what comes to mind! Someone likened it to an airport, but it’s much much worse! At least airports have good lighting! If an airport & nightclub were to have a love child, this would be it! :p

Despite the challenges of the venue, this was a perfect way to end the North American tour! Now let’s just hope we inspired them to come back in much sooner than seven years!!!

My BFTS CD cover signed by Nick in LA, plus my signed stuff from SF & Minneapolis, SF setlist...and THE PEN... :squee:

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Placebo @ San Francisco, CA, USA, The Masonic, 10/23/14 (#placebogig231014)

Feeling totally exhausted but have to put something down in writing while it's still fresh in my mind, so here goes!

Got there just before 5 pm to find about 50 people in line! That is the most I've seen so far during this tour! Met some nice people but never did find BangBangLou. I did, however, meet three other Canadians, all from Western Canada! One was even from my province! By some miracle, I still managed to get barrier, just left of Brian despite getting there so late with so many people in the queue!

The show itself was incredible! They started off with POST BLUE! Yes you heard correctly, POST BLUE OPENED THE SHOW, swapping places with B3 which then became part of the encore!!! Other than that, the setlist was the same as always. I was hoping they might give us a surprise, but alas it was just a swap. What wasn't the same as always, however, was that Brian treated us to several spontaneous comments again! There were some technical challenges to which he jokingly blamed on Steve, saying that he's always telling Steve to stop playing so hard but he never listens! He also told us about how he walked around San Francisco & went to the bookstore earlier that day and spent way too much money! And at another point he said he was wondering what else would break next! And when people out front were shouting various things at him, he commented that he couldn't hear us unless he took monitors out of his ears! Another really nice touch was towards the end he thanked not only the good people of San Francisco, but those of us who traveled from far away to see the shows! And if that wasn't icing on the cake itself, we got to listen to him speak Spanish on several occasions!  [EDIT] Possibly the BEST spontaneous Molko moment of the night came when Brian haas killing time yet again during technical issues. Someone shouted “You look great!”. Then another shouted “Nancy Boy”, to which Brian inquired “Are you calling me a Nancy Boy?” He went on to say that he was totally fine with that, that the song was all about reclaiming the term! It was such a great moment of the night & this tour. He really does SHINE when he decides to be spontaneous! If only he did this MORE often!!! It was moments like this that made the SF, Boston & NYC the BEST shows for me this tour, with Chicago being in there too for my own personal reasons (i.e., my little Molko moment. :love1: )!  <3

Despite the technical problems here & there which actually began during the opener & continued into Placebo's set, the band played wonderfully, but you could tell Brian was fighting some kind of bug, because every now and then his voice would cut out. He made the most of it, though, at one point changing the melody to a lower octave on one line of [Edit] The Bitter End, which I absolutely loved. <3

At the end of the show, he commented that he hoped it wouldn't be so long before they returned again. The crowd pretty much echoed his sentiments, & I would have to say that this is probably one of the best crowds of experienced on this tour. Despite the hiccups, it was a beautiful evening in a beautiful venue, which I didn't want to end! Things really hit me during Begin the End how tonight was going to be my second last time seeing this tour. Tonight really was the beginning of the end!  ::'(: 

The security guard up front was a total sweetheart! Not only did he get me not one but TWO more of Stef's picks, he got me a set list showing Post Blue as the opening song!!! Then before going outside, I ran into my old friends from now defunct San Francisco band of Blue Period, which was really nice as I hadn't seen them in 12 years!

And FINALLY, the moment I have been waiting for!!!! After waiting about two hours after the show, it finally happened!!! Yes, I met him, I met him, I met HIMMM sans sunglasses!!! [EDIT] And, not only did he sign my CD cover, he commented that *some* people (not all...) didn't come prepared, but I did & already had my marker out & ready, so he used mine to sign everybody's stuff! You can bet that marker is going in a very special place when I get home!!!! He also commented that the antibiotics are finally starting to work, so talk of him having a chest infection appear to be true.  [EDIT]And he sure makes a good director, LOL! Out of excitement, one girl interrupted as another fan was trying to tell him something. Brian politely interjected that another person was trying to say something. I thought that was so awesome! I wanted to give him a big kiss, but I refrained, LOL!  :love1: [EDIT]I have a family member who's bad for cutting me off mid-sentence when I'm talking to my mom & my mom never interjects & it drives me nuts! So, to see Brian do what more people SHOULD do just melted my heart even more & earned him mega brownie points! Not that he doesn't already have a trillion in my book anyway, but y'know! Y'know? ;) Seriously, though, he was so nice coming out to talk to all of us despite feeling under the weather, and he seemed to be in a good mood in spite of all that! So, Brian, if you are reading this thank you from the bottom of my heart! And thank you even more for the hug! If I die of some mysterious infection, lol, at least I will die a happy person!!!  :)

PS - It was so funny, as the Post Blue loop started, my brain went overdrive into confusion mode! I was like "This isn't B3! This isn't B3! What's happening???" And even though I *love* Post Blue to death (it's one of my all time favourite Placebo songs, I was in such shock, my brain couldn't figure out what was going on, LOL! Then the guitar kicked in & my brain remembered what song it was & then I was like OMG, what are they gonna put in its place for the encore?!?!? I was really hoping they'd sneak a surprise in there somewhere, like I said in my review, but it was just a swap instead. Makes me wonder if that was done especially for someone in SF (friend or family member), cause in LA it was back to the regular setlist....

As for Post Blue as an opener, it was a nice treat, but I think I prefer it at the end, just because it is such a precious song for me...it's like saving the best for last...  :) But it was awesome for one night hearing it as an opener! <3 Makes me wonder if they're playing around with that idea for the upcoming Spain & Portugal shows....or if it was just a one of....


And finally, my trio of sigs was complete (from left to right: Stef, Steve, Brian).:squee: :vhappy: :grinlove: :love1: :love: <3 :squee:
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And here's the setlist starting with Post Blue!  <3 :love1: :love: <3
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Oh god, I am such a fangirl!  :love1: Here's THE PEN...used by HIM... to sign everyone's stuff!  <3 The only other person to use it after Brian was Nick in LA because I couldn't freakin' find my other two, LOL! Said pen is now sealed back in a bag, labelled, never to be used again, LOL!  <3 <3 <3
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A closer look at Brian's sig. :love1: :love: <3

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Thursday, 16 April 2015

Placebo @ Minneapolis, MN, USA, Mill City Nights, 10/17/14 (#placebogig171014)

So, I know Minneapolis-St. Paul only has about 500,000 residents combined, but we were surprised to find only two local fans lined up in the queue! Right up until about 5pm or so, the line consisted almost entirely of international fans & one person from out of state, who to our delight was the guy whose mom got kicked out the night before. Venue staff was kind enough to provide us with lots of music while we waited, including lots of Placebo, so of course we broke into an impromptu sing along to Scene of the crime, to the amusement of one of their crew members - the Scottish (or is he Irish?) guy who always walks by poking fun at the regulars - sorry, I forget his name... As he passed, he said something like "What kind of rubbish music is that?" or something to that effect (don't quote me, I didn't quite catch what he said & had to get someone to translate! :hahaha: ).

The weather was beyond cold, thanks to a brisk wind. Eventually, security let the first 100 or so people into the basement bar an hour before the show, and those of us who'd been waiting for several hours throughout the day were able to go up to the barrier first, but everyone else quickly followed & we got a bit jumbled up from our ideal spots but we all made barricade which is the main thing! Despite security giving me a sneak peak earlier. I got totally disoriented & didn't run nearly far enough, so instead of being on Brian's side, I got to enjoy the Stefan experience instead, which allowed me a REALLY great view of that gorgeous rainbow guitar of his, and the stage was so small, I could still somewhat see Brian, so it was all good for me in the end, and things got even better after the show! Photos & video were strictly prohibited during this show, though, so sadly I didn't get any pics of that beautiful guitar, but I took every opportunity to etch it into memory whenever Stef came to the front of the stage. :)

During the show, my travel buddy got the treat of a lifetime, when Brian noticed her Mirror Trap shirt & gave her a shout-out, asking if she was from Russia! She was on cloud nine the rest of the night!  :) And at the end of the show, Brian joked that they were all going to go onto the tour bus & watch Purple Rain! :hahaha: As always, the band sounded wonderful! [EDIT] One other new thing I've noticed (and can't believe I keep forgetting to mention!) is the fact Brian acknowledges the bi & trans communities in his intro to One of the Kind every night by mentioning those of us who are "in between". I absolutely adore this! Thank you Brian!  :love1: :love1: :love1:

Afterwards, we braved the wind for about an hour in hopes of meeting the band, and FINALLY after several missed opportunities where people I was with kept running into them whenever I wasn't around, I FINALLY got the pleasure of meeting Stef & Steve who signed my LLL CD cover! I told Stef I loved his rainbow guitar, to which he replied HE had it made for Russia. He also said they have a UK tour planned for next year. And Steve's hands were super warm, unlike us who were feeling more like ice cubes by that point! Brian opted for a quiet night, though, and was whisked away in a car without stopping to chat, BUT according to my travel buddy, he did wave at us from the car, so that's at least something.  :) [EDIT] He also waived a second time as we were walking back to our hotel, but not sure if that was meant for all of us or just the European regulars who travelled across the pond. But who knows, my travelling sidekick was the one with the Mirror Trap shirt, so maybe we was waving at us, too...  :shrug:

1. B3
2. For What It's Worth
3. Loud Like Love
4. Every You Every Me
5. Scene of the Crime
6. A Million Little Pieces
7. Twenty Years
8. Too Many Friends
9. Rob the Bank
10. Purify
11. One of a Kind
12. Exit Wounds
13. Meds
14. Song to Say Goodbye
15. Special K
16. The Bitter End

Encore:
17. Begin the End
18. Running Up That Hill
19. Post Blue
20. Infra-Red

The inside of my LLL CD cover signed by Stef (left) & then Steve (right) on 10/17/14 in Minneapolis.  <3 :vhappy:  :grinlove:
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