Placebo: Short film by Charlie Targett-Adams about Placebo playing at the Arena di Verona

동유럽이나 서유럽쪽 투어 돌 때 가끔 이렇게 고풍스런 venue에서 공연하는 거 보면서 엄청 부럽던데...
우리나라의 경우 이런 고풍스런 venue가 오디가 있을까..?? ㅋㅋㅋ 궁? ㅋㅋㅋ
어머나 게다가 여기 베로나. 로미오와 줄리엣의 고향 ㅋㅋㅋ

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August 3, 2015

Placebo at Arena di Verona

The British rockers light up the storied Roman amphitheater

Of all the great open-air venues on the global rock'n'roll circuit, for jaw-dropping beauty and an electric sense of history it is hard to match the Arena di Verona in northern Italy. Set at the foot of the Alps, in recent years the immaculate Roman amphitheater has hosted shows by a range of stars, including Alicia Keys, Radiohead, Björk and one Direction.
“We are extremely fortunate in as much we signed our first deal in a pre-internet age”
Inside the striking marble edifice, gig-goers can still sit on the original stone seats that once accommodated 30,000 spectators when it was built almost 2,000 years ago. In those days, the entertainment consisted of fights to the death between hundreds of gladiators, whereas today it’s British alt-rockers Placebo – captured live at the Arena di Verona by Charlie Targett-Adams – who still pack out big shows 20 years after singer Brian Molko and guitarist Stefan Olsdal first bumped into each other at a London tube station. 
“There is also a dark romanticism to our songs that could explain why our albums continue to connect with new generations of teenagers”
Following the announcement of a remastered, heavyweight vinyl release of their eponymous debut album, the band has also just released its collection of b-sides, including “Nancy Boy (Sex Mix)” and a demo version of “Flesh Mechanic,” digitally for the first time.
“I tend to avoid looking back keeping my focus on the new music we have to write, because we have to write”
Every culture has its heroes, whether it's the androgynous Molko or the ancient gladiators who were the pin-ups of their time. However, while for Placebo at the Arena di Verona it’s all mass adulation, their Roman predecessors were not so lucky. Back then, spectators would test whether fallen gladiators were really dead or just pretending by pressing them with a red-hot branding iron.

NOWNESS: We’re sure you've played many extraordinary venues in your careers, but what was it like to play an ancient amphitheater that is 2,000 years old?

Brian Molko: We have played older places, namely the ruins of the city of Byblos in Lebanon that I believe are over 6000 years old. Playing amphitheaters is always a joy. Considering they were constructed to amplify the human voice (amongst other more bloody activities), when one places a P.A. system in there the sound is magnificent.

Placebo's durability is inspiring – what do you think is it about your music that has appealed to so many people for so long?

BM: I think the key to longevity is persistence, simply refusing to go away. I spent two and a half years on the dole (welfare), refusing to get a job until I got a record deal. Having said that we are extremely fortunate in as much we signed our first deal in a pre-internet age. We were allowed to experiment and develop our sound over time, make mistakes in public, a luxury which young bands starting up today no longer have. There is little irony in our music. Everything we release comes from the heart and is personal and vulnerable, which is the strange paradox of writing: the more personal you make a lyric the more universal it becomes. There is also a dark romanticism to our songs that could explain why our albums continue to connect with new generations of teenagers.

Listening again to your debut album, what do you love about it? What – if anything – would you like to change if you could?

BM: With the benefit of hindsight I would probably change most of it, which is why I don’t listen to it. It marks a very i-portant time in my life, a point where everything changed, but I cannot appreciate it the way our fans do: with innocence. But mostly I tend to avoid looking back keeping my focus on the new music we have to write, because we have to write. We have been doing so for all our adult lives and don’t really know how to do anything else.