Sunday, 29 August 2004 Placebo @ Reading Festival, UK backstage & onstage To France and back again After a day off I’m on my way to the heart of London’s West End and the St. Martins Lane Hotel in particular to meet the Americans at noon sharp. They had kindly offered me a lift to Reading, for which I was very thankful. The St. Martins Lane Hotel is a deluxe designer hotel for which Philippe Starck has not only designed the golden tooth-shaped seats in the lobby. Its hotelier describes it as young, cool, happy, light and that it’s like the essence of London all packed together. From what I’ve seen I totally agree, it’s one of the things I love London for: its style in modern design and the art it has to offer in general. London has a completely unique atmosphere that can’t be matched. London has been … Continue reading →

Friday, 27 August 2004 Placebo @ Leeds Festival, UK backstage & onstage A Fly On The Wall In August 2004 I was commissioned by Placebo to take ‘fly on the wall’ backstage and on-stage photos of them at two of the UK’s biggest festivals – Leeds and Reading. And who wouldn’t like to be a fly on the wall in such a scenario ? I have first seen and met Placebo in 1996 (I saw them live in Switzerland as David Bowie’s support in February 96 and did my first interview with Brian a few months later) and over the years I have taken many photos of them. As Stefan Olsdal, Placebo’s bassist, once put it, ”Placebo go back a long way with Claudia. On our very first German tour she was in the front row I think almost every night. Subsequently she’s been to more than 50 shows in … Continue reading →