Placebo ask fans NOT to use phones at their current live shows

18 November 2022, 17:23

Brian Molko of Placebo performs in Milan, October 2022. Picture: Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images

The band have made the request for gig-goers to stay "present in the moment" during their UK tour.

Placebo have asked their fans not to take pictures or shoot videos with mobile phones at their concerts.

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal kicked off their latest UK tour in Portsmouth on Friday night (18th November) and have requested attendees keep their smartphones in their pockets so that they can be "present in the moment".

In a post on social media, they said: “Dear Placebo fans, we would like to kindly ask you NOT to spend the concert filming or taking photos with your mobile phones.

“It makes Placebo’s performance so much more difficult. More difficult to connect with you and to communicate effectively the emotions of the songs. It is also disrespectful to your fellow concert-goers who want to watch the show, not the back of your phone.”

Dear Placebo fans,
We would like to kindly ask you NOT to spend the concert filming or taking photos with your mobile phones.

(1/4) pic.twitter.com/xGHVjzxgu1
— PLACEBO (@PLACEBOWORLD) November 17, 2022

The band added: “Please be here and now in the present and enjoy the moment. Because this exact moment will never ever happen again. Our purpose is to create communion and transcendence. Please help us on our mission. With respect and love.”

Earlier this year, the group hosted a run of phone-free concerts.

Fans were warned: “Anyone seen using a device during the performance will be politely escorted out of the venue by security."

Placebo released their eighth studio album, Never Let Me Go in March this year and their current tour winds up at the O2 Academy Birmingham on 8th December.