The Second Time

Placebo's secret(ish) one-off London gig at the Coronet - being done in celebration and as a warm-up for their South American tour - sold out in a blur of speed greater than that of men typing in "Jennifer Aniston topless The Break Up" into Google images yesterday.

Sniffing the chance to make some extra spends for Rio ("Aware there were many disappointed fans") the band are adding an extra intimate date the night before, 6th March. Tickets will be released for a frenzy of buying on Tuesday morning.

Placebo are also releasing a new, download-only album of Covers. It hits iTunes on 5th March, and is effectively the extra disc that was given away with Sleeping With Ghosts. It's a fine thing indeed - who couldn't love their version of Daddy Cool? - but there's a sense this might be too late. After all, the extra disc was only made available after SWG had been out for a couple of months, throwing the keenest fans into a puzzlement of loyalty - did you buy again and reward this cynical move? or did you go for the semi-illegal download?

The main justification for the new push seems to be the inclusion of their Running Up Hill on the soundtrack as The OC slid down the spiral.