A friend in need's a friend indeed, a friend who bleeds is better

I went to see Placebo Wednesday night at the Brixton Academy. They were tremendous. Very loud, very energetic. Excellent performance. I was interested to see how well the quieter, more reflective songs such as "Without You I'm Nothing" and some of the quieter stuff on Sleeping With Ghosts like "Something Rotten" and "I'll Be Yours" came across in a live context, where people are unlikely to just listen. In fact they came across extremely well because the crowd treated them with the proper respect. The atmosphere was electric throughout which contributed to the renditions of these songs and much as it did to the energy on display during such tunes as "English Summer Rain", "The Bitter End" and the marvellous "Pure Morning". The closing Pixies cover capped the performance off on an excellent note. An unexpected bonus was finding out that the second support band was the stupendous Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster who gave their customary turbo-charged psychotic rockabilly the full works.

I totally was wrong about the audience, mind you. I thought it was going to be Androgyny Central just as the Marilyn Manson show was, being as Brian Molko is bisexual and somewhat effeminate. This assumption seemed to be borne out by the sight of a guy outside the venue in a babydoll t-shirt which said "I'm the girl your parents warned you about". However we got inside and found ourselves knee-deep in jailbait. Apparently all the little girlies looooove Brian. I suppose there are worse things to endure in Brixton of a Wednesday evening. I spent the first 25 minutes dry humping the 15 year old girl in front of me. This was due to a combination of crowd pressure from behind and the barrier in front that she was leaning against. And that concludes the case for the defence, your honour.

Nick agreed that the presence of all these girls was definitive proof that there is no God. Teenage girls definitely did not look like that when I was a teenager. And I know this not because I am getting old. A glance at the school photos posted by classmates at Friends Reunited confirms this. When I was fourteen the girls at school all wore shapeless jumpers, skirts down below the knees, long socks and sensible shoes. Now they wear tight tops that show off their firm and fabulous tits, skirts that maybe cover their pert little asses (as long as they don't lean forward in any way), sheer black tights and shoes with heels. Life's a bitch.