Gig played on 11/04/06

Little wonder Placebo infuriate journalists so much. After a brief period of adulation in the '90s, the UK press have spent the last seven years concertedly trying to make the band - and singer Brian Molko in particular - a national laughing stock. Yet Placebo just keep coming back, selling more records each time, packing out ever huger venues and sticking close to their heartbreak, drugs and sleaze blueprint. Why, it's almost as if the British public don't care for bullying.

Even more annoying is that the band have cleared the difficult "greatest hits" hurdle with such ease, returning with their poppiest, most direct album since their debut. It's a measure of their confidence that the first five songs all come from "Meds", ranging from the bass-propelled power punk of "Drag" to the shimmering, twitching electronica of "Space Monkey", one of their oddest and most satisfying songs to date.

From this point, the band are in the enviable position of cherry picking the best of their new album, while dipping sparingly into their brilliant back catalogue. So, there's the subdued loveliness of piano ballad "Follow The Cops Back Home" (a beautiful melody in the service of appalling lyrics) offset by the pop dynamite that is "Every You, Every Me". Throughout, Molko is in fine voice, his love-or-hate wail far outstripping his dainty size, while the freakishly tall Stefan Olsdal throws outlandish rock shapes in his role as probably the most charismatic bassist since Kim Deal.

There are mistakes along the way. The decade old "Come Home" is deservedly rescued from obscurity, but undeservedly ruined by a sludgy, over-heavy rendition, while recent single "Because I Want You" remains awkward and bitty, Placebo as their critics wish they were. But who cares when there's also the explosive, riotous "Bitter End", a quite brilliant cover version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", which strips the original to its bare bones but is totally true to its spirit, and a taut, beautiful "Meds", which sees the band joined by VV from The Kills.

It's a sign of Placebo's confidence that they close with "Nancy Boy", once the much despised albatross around their neck, to be avoided at all costs. Tonight it's raging, irresistible and utterly distinctive, just like its writers, critics be damned.

by Jaime Gill