Placebo and other bands revive classic albums to drive concert sales

Placebo and other acts are touring with classic albums rather than new material, a strategy that reflects the growing importance of live shows to musicians’ earnings, BR reports.

Placebo’s “30th Anniversary Tour” features the British indie-rock band’s 1996 debut and its 1998 album “Without You I’m Nothing.” The group’s planned Munich concert on November 9 was canceled after frontman Brian Molko fell ill. The band said the show would be rescheduled.

Other acts are also revisiting early or successful records on tour. Scottish band Belle and Sebastian are playing their first two albums, while US indie-rock group Band of Horses is touring with its debut, 20 years after its release. My Chemical Romance has been performing its best-selling 2006 album on a tour that began in summer 2025.

Johannes Everke of Germany’s Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry said tours were once mainly used to promote new albums. But physical record sales and streaming now bring in little money, accounting for “just” 5 percent, he said. A 2024 study by Oxford Economics found that live concerts account for about half of the music industry’s income in Germany.

Stephan Rehm Rozanes, editor-in-chief of Musikexpress magazine, said revisiting proven albums helps the industry avoid financial risks. It can also support high ticket prices: tickets for Oasis’s 2027 anniversary tour in Munich cost up to 270 euros. Rehm Rozanes warned that the approach could leave less room for experimentation than in the 1980s and 1990s.

Placebo’s early work was notable for exploring themes including androgyny, addiction and alienation. The band’s return to those albums brings back music that challenged audiences at the time, but, the article notes, that original sense of discovery cannot be repeated.