NEWS
Fans have been concerned about Justin Bieber's well-being for the last few days after a video of him attending the second weekend of Coachella surfaced on Monday morning (April 21). In the video, Bieber is shirtless and looking considerably thinner than usual. He's smoking something while rapping along to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" and vibing to his own music. Since then, Bieber has made a series of concerning posts. Many of them pertained to religion and forgiveness, vaguely referencing his relationship with the media and the coverage he receives.
Fans and family have asked Justin Bieber to leave Los Angeles, the place he's called home for much of the last fifteen years. This comes after a tirade against paparazzi earlier in the month at Coachella for photographing him without his consent. He told them that they "did not care about human beings" and only cared about "money, money, money, money, money," per Page Six. He responded to those pleas in a new Instagram story. "U think I'm gonna get bullied to leave where my influence is most needed?" Bieber asked. "How can we make a change if we run away from the darkness?"
Of course, Justin Bieber was one of the most famous child stars in the history of popular music. The Canadian singer made his debut in 2009, at the age of 15. Now 31, he is still one of the most scrutinized entertainers in the world, especially since he has a wife and child. Bieber's Instagram story seems to be calling for an end to the harassment, both of him and of other celebrities. It seems that he believes he can be part of being the change he wants to see when it comes to handling paparazzi.
Justin Bieber's mental health has been in question for months. As fans may know, Bieber has a lengthy history with Diddy. Diddy was there at the beginning of Bieber's rise to fame, and Bieber previously called the now-disgraced mogul a "brother." The list of allegations against Diddy have reportedly been difficult for Bieber to reconcile. Between that and constant media coverage of his adult life, it is not hard to see why Bieber would be so against paparazzi. Hopefully, Bieber has a strong support system and people with his best interests in mind.
NEWS
Placebo have kicked off their 30th anniversary tour by dusting off some tracks for the first time in over 20 years, and also playing new single ‘Helen Keller’ live for the first time.
The new dates come as the band are celebrating the 30 years since they dropped their 1996 debut album. To mark the occasion, they have announced a huge UK and European arena tour, where they have vowed to predominantly play material from their first album and their sophomore record ‘Without You I’m Nothing’.
At the opening night at Krakatoa in Mérignac, France, Brian Molko and co. delivered a stacked 19-song set, which began with ‘Pure Morning’, and immediately went into the first rendition of ‘Come Home’ in 20 years.
Another rarity came straight after, with the first live performance of ‘You Don’t Care About Us’ since 2001, as well as ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ and ‘Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth)’ which were played for the first time since 2018 and 2014 respectively.
‘Drowning by Numbers’, ‘Bruise Pristine’ and ‘My Sweet Prince’ were all introduced into the setlist for the first time since 2001, ‘Brick Shithouse’ was aired out for the first time since 2003, ‘Scared Of Girls’ was played for the first time since 2010, and both ‘Lady Of The Flowers’ and ‘36 Degrees’ were broken out for the first time in nine years.
The rest of the set was made up of ‘Teenage Angst’, ‘Bionic’, ‘I Know’ and ‘Every You Every Me’, and the band wrapped up the performance with two covers: Depeche Mode’s ‘I Feel You’, and Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’.
It wasn’t until a later show at the Super Bock Arena in Porto, Portugal, that Placebo broke out their new song ‘Helen Keller’ for the first time – playing it 13 songs into the setlist.
Check out more footage from the tour so far below, as well as the setlist from night one.
‘Pure Morning’
‘Come Home’ (First time since 2006)
‘You Don’t Care About Us'(First Time Since 2001)
‘Teenage Angst’
‘Bionic’
‘Without You I’m Nothing” (First Time Since 2018)
‘Allergic (to Thoughts of Mother Earth)” (First Time Since 2014)
‘Drowning by Numbers” (First Time Since 2001)
’36 Degrees” (Alternate Version – First Time Since 2017)
‘I Know’
‘Brick Shithouse’ (First Time Since 2003)
‘Scared of Girls’ (First Time Since 2010)
‘Bruise Pristine” (First Time Since 2001)
‘My Sweet Prince’ (First Time Since 2001)
‘Lady of the Flowers’ (First time since 2017)
‘Nancy Boy’
‘Every You Every Me’
‘I Feel You’ (Depeche Mode cover, live debut)
‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ (Kate Bush cover)
Placebo dropped the single ‘Helen Keller’ on September 28, and it sees them reach back to ‘H.K. Farewell’, a hidden instrumental from the era of their self-titled 1996 debut. In the track, they retain the eerie keyboard melody from the original, and push it to new dimensions with a heavier, more anguished feeling.
The title refers to the American author, who was also a disability rights advocate and political activist, who became deafblind as a young child and went on to become an internationally renowned writer and campaigner.
As well as the tour, Placebo also celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut by releasing a reimagined version of the record. For the LP, Molko and Stefan Olsdal returned to the original master tapes and reworked all 10 songs from the 1996 record – describing it as a “director’s cut” that helped them inject the original songs with three decades more experience.
The ongoing tour will reach the UK and Ireland in late November and early December, where they will play Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff. See all the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
Dates will head to Latin America in 2027, beginning in São Paulo on February 20 and running through Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia before wrapping up with shows in Guadalajara and Monterrey in March.
Placebo dropped their last album of new material in 2022, with ‘Never Let Me Go’. That record was given a four-star review by NME, which described it as “a renaissance rock record with an experimental edge”, adding that it found Placebo “inspired and ready for a new era”.
