The tune represented a significant breakthrough for Placebo- with lyrical content that addressed gender identity and bisexuality. “Nancy Boy” was such a smash hit for the band that it forced their album- 1997’s self-titled record- back into the UK top ten,charting at number five after debuting at number forty.

Identifying as bisexual himself, Molko used the song to criticise individuals who embraced bisexuality as a trend rather than  through sincerity, although the song is also upbeat and takes the listener through an adventure of sex and drugs. And the song went down thrillingly for the fans at Download-with the audience reacting rapturously to the song’s surprise inclusion in the set.

Placebo played Nancy Boy live tonight and honestly I could cry with happiness. Cheers! pic.twitter.com/uO08l8ND2o

— Graham Falk (@GrahamFalk) June 10, 2023

That’s really wild, considering what I know of Molko and what Nancy Boy means to him. — Madly Jane (@GirlsandGoblins) June 11, 2023

Previously, Placebo had expressed reluctance at playing hit songs, expressing a sense of stasis and boredom with tracks that they felt compelled to play every night. Speaking about the band’s ‘best of tour’, Olsdal said, “that tour lasted for quite a long time, and we started to get this slightly unhealthy relationship with our old material. I started to feel quite disillusioned by the band and what we were doing.”

But that bad feeling was cast aside during an exciting and spirited Download set, with Placebo sending the crowd into ecstasy when the opening notes of “Nancy Boy” rang out from the Opus Stage speakers. Fans could barely contain their excitement and quickly took to social media to voice their pleasure.

Placebo will continue to delight their UK based fans- continuing their tour through the country with dates in Birmingham, Cambridge and Glasgow. There are, of course, no guarantees that Placebo will throw out more classics but very few will deny the band still know how to entertain their scores of adoring supporters.

Find tickets to Placebo’s European tour dates here.

Placebo European Tour:

20/06/2023 – Tollwood Sommerfestival – Munich, Germany
24/06 – O2 Academy – Galsgow
26/06 – 3Arena – Dublin
04/07 – Cognac Blues Passions Festival – Cognac, France
05/07 – Jardin Public – Cognac, France
05/07 – Festival Cruilla – Barcelona, Spain
06/07 – Arènes de Nîmes – Nîmes, France
11/07 – Stupinigi Sonic Park – Nichelino, Italy
13/07 – Piazza Napoleone – Lucca, Italy
14/07 – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo and Dino Ferrari – Imola, Italy
16/07 – Sonic Park Matera – Matera, Italy
18/07 – Piazzola Live Festival – Piazzola Sul Brenta, Italy
27/07 – Noches del Botánico – Madrid, Spain
28/07 – Low Festival – Benidorm, Spain
04/08 – Lokerse Feesten – Lokeren, Belgium
08/08 – 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands
10/08 – Kunstrasen Bonn – Bonn, Germany
11/08 – Fete Du Bruit Dans Landerneau – Landerneau, France
23/08 – Rock En Seine – Paris, France
25/08 – Domaine National de Saint Cloud – Paris, France
26/08 – Domaine National de Saint Cloud – Paris, France

In this latest Placebo interpretation, “Shout” becomes a brooding industrial march. Given that the single’s original songwriter Roland Orzabal has said that the song concerns itself with political protest, it also makes for a fitting follow-on from Placebo’s latest album release Never Let Me Go, which marked itself out with commentary on tech-saturation, rising intolerance and the climate crisis.

Placebo recently announced a postponement of their North American tour dates, with rescheduled performances for 2023 to be announced soon.

Never Let Me Go, the band’s first album in nearly a decade, arrived in March. Classic Rock said “like their sci-fi-noir rock contemporaries Garbage, Placebo are a band to which music is finally catching up” and Kerrang! described the collection as “prescient tales of loss, surveillance, and climate change,” dubbing it “a record for our times.”

Placebo formed in 1994, with the London-based pair of Brian Molko (vocals/guitar) and Stefan Olsdal (bass/guitar), releasing their eponymous debut just two years later. In the intervening years, Placebo have released eight studio albums, that have sold over 13 million copies, filled stadiums from Moscow to Sydney, won numerous awards including a 1999 Brit Award and pushed the boundaries of gender and sexuality.

The group is also on the cusp of beginning an extensive UK and EU tour supporting their most recent album. Beginning in November the tour will see the band hit 13 different venues around England and Scotland; including 2 nights at London’s O2 Academy Brixton. You can try and bag any remaining tickets for the shows here.

Placebo’s UK tour dates:

18/11/2022 – Guildhall – Portsmouth
19/11 – Brighton Centre – Brighton
21/11 – Eventim Olympia – Liverpool
22/11 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester
24/11 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
26/11 – O2 Brixton Academy – London
27/11 – O2 Brixton Academy – London
29/11 – De Montford Hall – Leicester
30/11 – O2 Academy Leeds – Leeds
02/12 – O2 City Hall – Newcastle
03/12 – O2 Academy Glasgow – Glasgow
05/12 – 3 Arena – Dublin
07/12 – Corn Exchange – Cambridge
08/12 – O2 Academy 1 – Birmingham

Photo credit: Mads Perch