TAKE YOUR MEDICINE: Placebo will be bringing their hard-hitting brand of post-grunge, alternative rock to the Balitcs on a tour that will include their first appearances in Tallinn and Vilnius, and their second in Riga.
RIGA - For all you in the Baltic states who have been jonesing for some alternative music, your fix has arrived. As a part of their newest European tour, international British rock legends Placebo will make a one-day stop in each of the three Baltic capitals, satiating fans like no other band can. They will be playing in Tallinn on May 28, Riga May 29, and Vilnius on May 31. "If Placebo was a drug, they would no doubt be pure heroin 's dangerous, mysterious, and totally addictive," Brian Molko, the band's vocalist and lead guitarist, has been quoted by numerous fan websites as saying.
Indeed, the band has forged a group of diehard fans whose love of the music could only be described as addictive. "Placebo is one of those bands that has very faithful fans 's if you are a Placebo fan, then you really are one. It's something like Depeche Mode has. It is like a cult band," said Guna Zucika of BDG Music, coordinator for the Placebo concert in Latvia.
This will be the first time that Placebo plays in Estonia and Lithuania, having played in Riga only once before in 2001, a show still remembered fondly by Baltic Placebo fans. "It was a great show back then. Everybody in Riga who was at the show in 2001 remembers it as one of the greatest concerts," Zucika said.
Tallinn is meanwhile excitedly anticipating its first Placebo show. "Good that we can bring to Estonia a band that belongs to a new generation of music. Placebo is known for their unique style and image 's they create a cool punk-rock mixture of feelings, extravagance and music," the producer for the Tallinn show, BDG's Peeter Rebane, said.
Placebo was formed in 1994, when former schoolmates Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal met by chance in a subway station. They decided to form a band initially named Ashtray Heart, but soon settled on the new name of Placebo, mocking the plethora of bands named after drugs. They were at first wildly popular in the U.K., and later gained even greater notoriety and a bigger fan base in France and the United States. Their influences include Sonic Youth, the Pixies, the Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana.
Members of Placebo are well known for their excessive rock star lifestyles, both with regards to sexuality and recreational drug use. Olsdal is homosexual and Molko is bisexual, a fact that caused a considerable amount of tension with the band's original drummer and ultimately led them to drop him and convince Steve Hewitt to join in 1996.
The band is also open about their recreational drug use, with Molko once saying that heroin was "probably the only drug on the planet I haven't tried." He later admitted to experimenting with heroin as well.
Placebo has played with a number of other world renowned rock stars in their live shows, including David Bowie, Robert Smith from the Cure and Michael Stipe from REM. Their songs are featured in a wide variety of movies and television shows.
Placebo is touring with Evaline, an American band of similar taste, with whom they have also recently finished an American tour.
If you want tickets for one of the shows, you'll have to move fast. The Riga show sold three quarters of the available tickets on the first day, prompting the organizers to make more tickets available than originally planned.
The May 28 show will take place in Tallinn's Saku Arena; tickets are available from piletilevi.ee for 595 - 2000 kroons (38 - 127 euros).
The May 29 show will be at Riga Arena, tickets can be found at bilesuserviss.lv for 20 - 35 lats (29 - 51 euros).
The Vilnius show, on May 31, will take place in Upa Arena; tickets are available at bilieti.lt for 100 - 130 litas (29 - 37 euros).
