Placebo Burns Up Beantown Stage

03/24/1999 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(3/24/99, 1 a.m. PST) - On Monday night at a Boston stop on its club tour with Stabbing Westward, Placebo rose above nuisances in a mesmerizing performance at Avalon. The band is touring in support of its second album, Without You I'm Nothing.

First, mid-song, Brian Molko's guitar strap broke, which is not all that unusual for musicians. In spite of the setback, bassist Stefan Olsdal and drummer Steve Hewitt kept right on playing, while Molko walked back onstage. But when he had more problems, the band had to start the song all over again.

The real fireworks, however, occurred when the trio was playing its recent modern rock hit, "Pure Morning." As Molko sang, "A friend in need's a friend indeed, a friend with weed is better...," smoke appeared on the side of the stage. Molko exclaimed, "Stop it," as flames appeared. It turns out that the singer had flicked his cigarette butt into an amplifier and the stage was on fire.

Undaunted, Molko and his bandmates kept performing the song. As roadies raced to extinguish the blaze, Molko changed the lyrics of the song to fit the situation, singing, "A friend with a fire extinguisher would be better."

At the close of the show, Molko advised fans to, "Keep your sense of humor." Perhaps he should have suggested that they always keep a fire extinguisher nearby as well.

Features on Placebo and Stabbing Westward are available now on LAUNCH.com.

-- Amy Steele, Boston

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