Placebo canceled several tour dates due to a COVID-19 outbreak that affected the band and crew members. According to NME, the band explained in an Instagram post that they will no longer be able to perform in Bucharest, Romexpo in Romania (July 13) or Skopje Calling in Macedonia (July 16).
In the post, Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal write, “We are frustrated and disappointed to not be able to perform these shows which are important to us – as we know they are to you. We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience and disappointment. We are doing all we can to reschedule and please check locally for further announcements.”
The British rock band’s summer shows follow the release of their eighth studio album Never Let Me Go which was released in April of this year. The band is also scheduled for a North American tour this September with sold-out shows in Vancouver, Austin and New York as well as a UK/Ireland tour in November.
On a lighter note, lead singer Molko recently discussed Placebo’s connection to Kate Bush’s 1985 track “Running Up that Hill” which recently went viral after being featured in Season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. The band originally covered the song in 2003 and it became the first track on their album Covers that year.
Molko discussed the song choice in a recent interview with the Guardian. “We were already in the habit of covering our favorite songs from the 80s, so I suggested that we do ‘Running Up That Hill’ but that we slow the tempo down as much as we could without it becoming a dirge, and obviously we wanted to keep it electronic with sounds from the early 2000s.”
And according to Molko, Kate Bush approved. “I met Kate once at a party: it was a record company do and there was an orderly queue to speak to her. When I got to the front the first thing she said to me was: “I like your cover of my song.” That was enough. I’m very, very pleased that it got Kate’s endorsement.”
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