Placebo played their first live show in two years at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, March 28, as part of Robert Smith's Teenage Cancer Trust gigs. The band opened for Garbage with a stripped-back set of reworked tracks, including their first performance of Sinead O'Connor's 'Jackie O' in over a decade.
Frontman Brian Molko thanked the audience, his band, Garbage, Robert Smith, and the Teenage Cancer Trust for their "breathtakingly amazing work." He admitted the band were "kinda shitting it" after a two-year hiatus, joking about the smell on stage.
Highlights included the first live outing of 'Pure Morning' since 2018, a reworked 'Taste In Men' with dark orchestral flourishes, and 'Follow The Cops Back Home', aired for the first time in over 15 years. The set closed with 'Centrefolds', not performed live since 2004.
Garbage followed, paying tribute to the Teenage Cancer Trust and Robert Smith, as well as Placebo for sharing the stage. Shirley Manson described Placebo's performance as "something very magical that doesn't come along very often."
