Friday the 13^th of March, androgynous alternative rock ensemble Placebo returned to Sheffield’s O2 Academy to celebrate their 20^th year of remarkable music making.

Completely sold out, the gig’s crowd filled the Academy from front to back. Pure Morning played softly while the band prepared behind the scenes. It was gratifying to see fans young and old attending the gig, reminding us that music is something that stays close to us regardless of age.

The show started with the brilliant B3 and continued with songs from newer albums Loud Like Love and Battle For The Sun. Next up, perhaps the most popular Every You, Every Me, from the 1999 film Cruel Intentions.

For me, I would have been keen to have heard more from the group’s previous albums but it seemed although the show was marketed to celebrate 20 years of hard work, it really only focused on their newer material. This meant that in a sense we were denied some of the best work that Placebo have produced as they have dipped into different styles and mastered them all.

Space Monkey was the song of the evening in my opinion, well delivered and just incredible to hear live, it certainly packed a punch and displayed Molko’s vocal talents perfectly.

Brian Molko looked and sounded beautiful and gave a stunning performance, however overall I do wish they had given us a little more from their outstanding back catalogue.