Dressed to trill

Good boys: Brian Molko and Placebo are pretty tame on the road.

A tour-weary Brian Molko, of Placebo, puts the cross into cross-dressing, writes Peter Holmes

PLACEBO'S dress-fancying singer/guitarist Brian Molko has been on the road for so long now, touring the latest album Without You I'm Nothing, that it is doing his head in - and he's not a happy little camper.

"We've got another month or so to go, but it's been about a year and we've never really toured for that long before," Molko said, shortly after rising in Cape Town, South Africa."It's driving us ever so slightly mad."

"I think that we've tamed down the more destructive elements of being in a rock band. The travelling has become so much more excruciating and with the distances we're doing it's impossible to lead our crazy little rock 'n' roll life. It's turned us into good boys - we sleep and don't drink too much - and we're a bit pissed off about it, actually."

Such a potent brew of stress and pressure has occasionally brought out the bitch in the sligh Belgium-born, Luxembourg and US-raised son of a devout Scottish Christian and an American businessman.

"I'm the prima donna really, you know," Molko said, in his vaguely camp, transatlantic drawl. "Stef (Olsdal) is the angel and Steve (Hewitt) is the animal. Most drummers are usually animals, most bass players have got quite an angelic quality to them. I think I've fired everyone at least once, but they just laugh at me and say, 'Go back to your hotel room, you little man, speak to me tomorrow'."

Brian Molko is hardly the first rock male to slap on a dash of mascara before slipping into something a little more feminine. Alice Cooper, Nicky Wire, Kurt Cobain, Lou Reed, Marc Bolan and David Bowie, among others, have all been there. However, Placebo, made up of one heterosexual, one homosexual and one particularly vocal bisexual (Molko) have embraced the curiosity surrounding their preferences under the sheets. Molko has been quoted at delighting in the fact that men will see him in a dress on stage, presume he is a woman, feel some primal urge about "her", realise "she" is a bloke and then question their own stereotypes about lust.

"The three of us are a big picture of contradictions and I don't think we've ever liked the idea of compartmentalising desire, putting tags on it," Molko said. "I don't think we've ever believed that everything relating to emotions or desires is black and white, that all things are shades of grey. We are anti-prejudice."

Rather than shy away from more conservative US States on their four recent tours, Placebo have had the bottle to front and confront, rednecks and all.

"We were a bit worried whenever we went to the Bible Belt in the deep south, but when we did we put on more make-up and broke out the skirts," Molko said, mischievously. "Those were actually some of the most exciting gigs, in places like Tennessee and others where the Sex Pistols played and almost got lynched. Basically, because there was so much repression, when the youth came to see us there was this massive release of tension and sexual energy. They were incredibly rewarding shows."

Placebo support Silverchair on Saturday at the Hordern Pavilion. On Monday, August 16, they headline at The Metro. Placebo will sign autographs on the main stage at Warringah Mall on Saturday at 3pm. Without You I'm Nothing is out through Virgin.

(Sun Herald 1999)