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Concert Review: Placebo Give Incredible Performance In Ziggo Dome

They were here at the end of March to play an intimate show for the release of their latest album Never Let Me Go. And now, 7 months later, they played a big show in AFAS Live back in the Netherlands. I’m talking about Placebo of course! I had the pleasure of seeing them in the Ziggo Dome on October 24th.

Most people in the venue were at least 35+ which was to be expected for a band which has existed for this long. There were also some people between 20 and 35 but they were clearly a minority. However, the difference in age was barely noticeable. Everyone was there to enjoy music and nothing more.

I have to admit that I’m not the most familiar with Placebo so you can imagine my surprise when I heard the metallic drum sounding intro of the first track they played: Forever Chemicals. It got quite clear to me that it was actually the first song of the setlist when more music started to accompany the sounds that I described earlier.

It felt like there were more flashing lights than with an average concert. The visuals on the screens were greatly orchestrated. They were 5 separate parts which could move separate, they switched positions and used different effects basically every song, which added a lot of personality to the show. The longer I was standing there the more I found myself vibing with the music. They almost played the entirety of their latest album Never Let me Go except for just 2 songs, The Prodigal and This Is What You wanted. As encore they played 2 covers and the last track of their latest album Fix Yourself. The covers they played were Shout (original by Tears for Fears) and a song that’s blown up a lot recently Running up That Hill (A Deal With God) (Original by Kate Bush). I put the entire setlist at the bottom of this article.

Even though I didn’t know them that well prior, it was a great experience overall. I would recommend going to one of their shows if you get the chance! Check out the pictures we took there below!

Setlist:

  1. Forever Chemicals
  2. Beautiful James
  3. Scene of the Crime
  4. Hugz
  5. Happy Birthday in the Sky
  6. Bionic
  7. Twin Demons
  8. Surrounded by Spies
  9. Chemtrails
  10. Sad White Reggae
  11. Try Better Next Time
  12. Too Many Friends
  13. Went Missing
  14. For What It’s Worth
  15. Slave to the Wage
  16. Song to Say Goodbye
  17. The Bitter End
  18. Infra-red

Encore:

  1. Shout (original by Tears for Fears)
  2. Fix Yourself
  3. Running Up That Hill(A Deal With God) (original by Kate Bush)
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Aspen van der Wijst