The line was growing as we looked for a restaurant to eat dinner. The crowd: young, few goth, a lot of molko-wannabe痴. We were all there to see Placebo. Few, if any, had made the 400+ mile trip to see them as Anais, Renzy and I had.
We looked for a place to eat before the concert. There are no restaurants in Hollywood. At least not in the dumps of east hollywood. So after the lovely sit-down dinner at Jack in the Box, we walked-yet again, to The Palace. The lights dimmed and the audience cheered and moved to the front of the stage. The ending of Special Needs filled the speakers as the boys came out. The red, strobe lights lit up as they played Bulletproof Cupid. When they finished, the crowd cheered and they introduced themselves. "We池e Placebo, from London, England." The chords of Allergic (to thoughts of Mother Earth) began as the crowd jumped to the beat. They proceeded with Every You Every Me.

By far, the best performance of the night, in my opinion was the next song, their rendition of Protect me from what I want. Not only is it my favorite song in the new CD, but Brian痴 emotion carried the song through its mournful bridge. He pranced around the stage singing the first verse to us (stage left) and going to the other side for the second verse. He reached out to the crowd, who reached for him. Singing guitar-less and limp-wristed he belted out the harmonica solo.
Placebo played Plasticine and then one of the new singles The Bitter End. The crowd sang along dutifully to the words. Brian introduced Sleeping with Ghosts as a song about "love in the age of war" giving the bird as he changed the lyrics to "Fuck the government, Fuck their killing, Fuck their lies". Later segueing to the sarcastically "cheerful song" Blackeyed.

Steven played the slow, drumming intro to I値l be yours. Brian without his guitar, changed the last chorus to "I値l be your father, I値l be your lover, you motherfucker, I値l be yours." After the song, Brian commented "We致e taken you to the new school, now we値l take you back to the old school" as the mournful chords to Without You I知 Nothing. During the song, Renzy went wild gripping my hand and singing the lyrics to me.

Placebo left the stage, according to Brian for some "We値l be right back after some tea and biscuits". For a few minutes the lights turned red and the intro bassline to Taste in Men began. The boys took the stage again as Stefan danced around in his gay-glory. They played the song and followed with Slave to the Wage, the crowd was really into it, jumping around and singing as some guy bodysurfed to the front. Pure Morning followed and Brian change the second verse to say "a friend in need is a friend indeed, Los Angeleees is better" to the roar of the crowd. Being part of that LA crowd, I cheered myself. Brian screamed "pure morning" as Stefan collapsed to his knees in an over-dramatic, open arms spread. Placebo left the stage as the audience awaited for the encore.
The stage lights turned when they came back. Stefan sat at the organ and a guitarless Brian sang Centrefolds. It was a beautiful performance of a gorgeous song. After the number, Brian stated how he was going to take us "back to 1996" as the band started playing Teenage Angst. The lamentful song, slowed the pace before the end. They announced the last song as a song they wish they had written, actually written by Black Frank from the Pixies, Where is my Mind. They played the song and the crowd sang along. It was one of those moments that create lasting memories at a concert.

Before leaving the stage, Brian told the crowd to "Hit the streets and keep the motherfucking peace" with a Nixon-ish V-signs.
We made our way onto the Hollywood streets, grateful for the experience.