The UK’s biggest rock and metal gathering descended on Donington Park this past weekend, as the famed Download Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary. The festival, in full party mode with Metallica headlining two nights, bore witness to some unforgettable performances-including an Opus Stage headlining set by Placebo that featured hit song “Nancy Boy” for the first time in six years.

The London based alternative rock band gained a massive following in the early 90s, with frontman and guitarist Brian Molko and bassist Stefan Olsdal penning ‘heart on your sleeve’ songs that embraced taboo topics of the era such as sexuality and drug addiction. It was their song “Nancy Boy” however, that made the band an iconic group-escaping the shadow of the ever growing Britpop scene that dominated the charts.

The tune represented a significant breakthrough for Placebo- with lyrical content that addressed gender identity and bisexuality. “Nancy Boy” was such a smash hit for the band that it forced their album- 1997’s self-titled record- back into the UK top ten,charting at number five after debuting at number forty.

Identifying as bisexual himself, Molko used the song to criticise individuals who embraced bisexuality as a trend rather than  through sincerity, although the song is also upbeat and takes the listener through an adventure of sex and drugs. And the song went down thrillingly for the fans at Download-with the audience reacting rapturously to the song’s surprise inclusion in the set.

Placebo played Nancy Boy live tonight and honestly I could cry with happiness. Cheers! pic.twitter.com/uO08l8ND2o

— Graham Falk (@GrahamFalk) June 10, 2023

That’s really wild, considering what I know of Molko and what Nancy Boy means to him. — Madly Jane (@GirlsandGoblins) June 11, 2023

Previously, Placebo had expressed reluctance at playing hit songs, expressing a sense of stasis and boredom with tracks that they felt compelled to play every night. Speaking about the band’s ‘best of tour’, Olsdal said, “that tour lasted for quite a long time, and we started to get this slightly unhealthy relationship with our old material. I started to feel quite disillusioned by the band and what we were doing.”

But that bad feeling was cast aside during an exciting and spirited Download set, with Placebo sending the crowd into ecstasy when the opening notes of “Nancy Boy” rang out from the Opus Stage speakers. Fans could barely contain their excitement and quickly took to social media to voice their pleasure.

Placebo will continue to delight their UK based fans- continuing their tour through the country with dates in Birmingham, Cambridge and Glasgow. There are, of course, no guarantees that Placebo will throw out more classics but very few will deny the band still know how to entertain their scores of adoring supporters.

Find tickets to Placebo’s European tour dates here.

Placebo European Tour:

20/06/2023 – Tollwood Sommerfestival – Munich, Germany
24/06 – O2 Academy – Galsgow
26/06 – 3Arena – Dublin
04/07 – Cognac Blues Passions Festival – Cognac, France
05/07 – Jardin Public – Cognac, France
05/07 – Festival Cruilla – Barcelona, Spain
06/07 – Arènes de Nîmes – Nîmes, France
11/07 – Stupinigi Sonic Park – Nichelino, Italy
13/07 – Piazza Napoleone – Lucca, Italy
14/07 – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo and Dino Ferrari – Imola, Italy
16/07 – Sonic Park Matera – Matera, Italy
18/07 – Piazzola Live Festival – Piazzola Sul Brenta, Italy
27/07 – Noches del Botánico – Madrid, Spain
28/07 – Low Festival – Benidorm, Spain
04/08 – Lokerse Feesten – Lokeren, Belgium
08/08 – 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands
10/08 – Kunstrasen Bonn – Bonn, Germany
11/08 – Fete Du Bruit Dans Landerneau – Landerneau, France
23/08 – Rock En Seine – Paris, France
25/08 – Domaine National de Saint Cloud – Paris, France
26/08 – Domaine National de Saint Cloud – Paris, France