Stefan Olsdal: Last News

Placebo have partnered with Reverb to sell guitars, amps and other music equipment used by the band across their career.Reverb, the online marketplace dedicated to buying and selling new, used and vintage musical instruments, will host a collection of the band’s gear which has been used on albums like ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ and ‘Meds’, as well as tours around the world.The official Placebo Reverb Shop is set to launch on April 27, with over 100 guitars, basses, effects pedals, amps and more up for sale. You can preview the shop here.Placebo bassist-guitarist Stefan Olsdal said of the sale: “Having spent years collecting some of the most interesting and creative music gear to use on studio recordings and live performances, we felt it was now time to let go and part ways with some of this gear we have amassed.“Knowing the Reverb shop has already been used by other established recording artists, we felt comfortable in the knowledge that the gear would be directed towards genuine collectors and enthusiasts.”The official Placebo @reverb shop is launching soon, featuring over 100 pieces of music gear used by the band throughout their career.

Robbie Williams has opened up about the impact Placebo‘s ‘Nancy Boy’ had on him.The 1997 track was the fourth single from their self-titled debut album. Using a homophobic insult as its title, it explored fluid sexuality and drugs, something Williams has now said “embraced the confusion” for him.In a short clip taken from his appearance in the documentary film Placebo: This Search For Meaning, he reflected on the significance of the song.

Placebo have discussed how their all-star, warts-and-all new documentary movie paints a bold new picture of the band, driven by “the desire to break the form and to do something new”.Frontman Brian Molko and bassist–guitarist Stefan Olsdal of Placebo took to the stage at the premiere of their new documentary film Placebo: This Search For Meaning on Thursday night (October 3) to discuss the themes of the film – including addiction, mental health, gender politics and the film’s rare and unseen footage following the band’s relationship with David Bowie.The film – directed by BAFTA winner Oscar Sansom and set for cinematic screenings throughout October – features revealing in-depth interviews with the band alongside CCTV-style contributions from celebrity fans including Benedict Cumberbatch, Robbie Williams, Yungblud, Garbage‘s Shirley Manson and IDLES’ Joe Talbot, alongside live performances of tracks from the band’s 2022 album ‘Never Let Me Go’. As well as touching on the band’s history, it delves deeper into the core meaning, purpose, philosophy and impact of Placebo over the band’s 30-year lifespan.“Our reaction was like, ‘OK, but we really can’t make just another bog-standard documentary’,” Molko said in discussion with 6 Music’s Matt Everitt following the premiere screening at Leicester Square’s Vue cinema.“’What are you going to do, Oscar? How are you going to subvert the form itself? How are you going to stop everybody from being bored? We can’t just have a series of talking heads here’.

Placebo have announced details of a second feature-length documentary, This Search For Meaning. Check out the trailer below.The project is an intimate and enlightening portrait of the band, which explores both the meaning and subject matter behind their songs, while also diving into their evolution as a group and as human beings.Created by Scottish award-winning filmmaker Oscar Sansom, the documentary won’t simply present a narrative about the origins of the band, it’ll instead take a deep dive into the legacy they created through their themes of surveillance, culture, scrutiny, sexuality, gender identity, addiction, trauma and more.It’ll also include informal conversations with both vocalist-guitarist Brian Molko and bassist–guitarist Stefan Olsdal, as well as contributions from artists who either admire or have been inspired by Placebo.

EXCLUSIVE: Band Placebo are getting the rockumentary treatment with This Search For Meaning, which will feature new interviews with band members Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal as well as contributions from the likes of Shirley Manson, Yungblud and Robbie Williams.

Placebo have played ‘Nancy Boy’ live for the first in six years at Download 2023. Watch clips of the performance below.‘Nancy Boy’ was noted as the band’s gender-bending breakthrough hit.

Placebo have announced details of a huge open-air gig in Margate for this summer – find details below and purchase tickets here.The gig comes as part of the Margate Summer Series and will take place at the Dreamland venue on June 9.Also playing the series are Bastille, UB40, Primal Scream and Happy Mondays among others between June and September.Placebo’s show comes as part of Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal’s recently rescheduled 2023 UK and Ireland tour, which came after the band were forced to postpone their remaining tour dates in December last year after frontman Molko lost his voice.The band had initially postponed a single show in Newcastle on December 2, sharing that Molko had ignored his doctor’s advice to “go home and shut up for a week” and that he risked permanently damaging his voice if the tour continued.The Margate show will fall between the tour opener in Newcastle (June 7) and their show at Birmingham’s O2 Academy (12).See the full list of dates below.JUNE 2023 7 – Newcastle, O2 City Hall 9 – Margate, Dreamland12 – Birmingham, O2 Academy15 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange24 – Glasgow, O2 Academy26 – Dublin, 3ArenaLast year, Placebo asked their fans to not film or take photos during the band’s live shows. “Dear Placebo fans, we would like to kindly ask you NOT to spend the concert filming or taking photos with your mobile phones,” they told fans.“It makes Placebo’s performance so much more difficult.

Placebo have opened up about how they “thought the band was over” after their previous “retrospective” tour.The band spoke to NME about how touring since their 2013 album release, ‘Loud Like Love’ left them creatively spent. The tours that followed the release of the album were slated to mark their 20th anniversary as a band and tour a second ‘best of’ collection.“We weren’t particularly comfortable with the prospect of doing a retrospective and retrospective tour,” Brian Molko told NME.

Placebo are back; bolder and more courageous than ever.

Placebo have announced details of a series of intimate album release shows to celebrate their new LP ‘Never Let Me Go’ – you can find tickets here.The duo’s first studio album since 2013’s ‘Loud Like Love’ is set to arrive on March 25, and will include the previously released singles ‘Beautiful James’, ‘Surrounded By Spies’, ‘Try Better Next Time’ and ‘Happy Birthday In The Sky’.Placebo have now announced that they will play five shows in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels and London later this month in support of ‘Never Let Me Go’.The London date will take place at the end of the run at Islington Assembly Hall on March 31.PARIS – BERLIN – AMSTERDAM – BRUSSELS – LONDON – tickets now on sale for our intimate shows.

Placebo have shared an official live video for the latest single ‘Try Better Next Time’ – check it out below.The duo – comprised of Brian Molko Stefan Olsdal – released the track earlier this month as the third preview of their forthcoming eighth album, ‘Never Let Me Go’, which arrives on March 22.Today (January 21) Placebo posted an Oscar Sansom-directed live performance of the song to their official YouTube channel.The clip sees Molko and Olsdal – augmented by their touring band members – performing among stacks of old-school television sets, which display the performance in grainy VHS-quality.In keeping with the aesthetic of the ‘Try Better Next Time’ artwork, Placebo are illuminated by flashing red lights as they play on a rectangular stage set up. You can watch the video here:The upcoming ‘Never Let Me Go’ will also feature the previous 2021 singles ‘Surround By Spies’ and ‘Beautiful James’, the latter of which marked the band’s first new material in five years.Placebo are due to showcase the record on a UK and Ireland headline tour in November/December.

Placebo are marking the 20th anniversary of ‘Black Market Music’ with a series of behind-the-scenes videos, Black Market Music Stories.The band’s third full-length record was released on October 9, 2000, and contains the singles ‘Taste In Men’, ‘Special K’ and ‘Slave To The Wage’.To mark the two-decade milestone, Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal uploaded the first of four new videos detailing the album’s creation to their YouTube channel yesterday (October 7).“Here I am outside what used to be Matrix Studios in central London,” Olsdal says at the start of the clip.