Placebo, Idlewild: Cacophonous Vulnerability

Placebo and Idlewild turned the sold-out Palace into a lively postmodern gallery of human frailties on Tuesday, playing contemporary-sounding songs with the defiance of ‘70s punk, the messed-up vulnerability of ‘80s college rock and the powerful buzz of ‘90s alt-pop.

With their low-slung axes and low-riding trousers, the members of Scotland’s Idlewild kicked up a fierce, 35-minute sonic storm. Their literate, melodic-to-dissonant tunes recalled Teenage Fanclub and Weezer, but the band was most arresting in mind-bending moments of near-chaos. If the performance lacked memorable hooks, the spontaneous thrills were effective compensation.

London-based headliner Placebo delivered the noisy glam flourishes you’d expect from a band that appeared in “Velvet Goldmine” and is associated with David Bowie. Yet the trio--American singer-guitarist Brian Molko, Swedish bassist-guitarist Stefan Olsdal and English drummer Steve Hewitt, along with an extra keyboardist-guitarist-bassist--also reveled in thrashing cacophony during its strobe-lit, 90-minute set, highlighting its current album, “Black Market Music.”

Less blatantly gender-bent than in earlier visits but still sardonically diva-esque, Molko fixated on spiritual themes, citing his born-again mother’s ill-fated attempts to convert him. That biblical subtext of epic good-evil struggle fit the music’s dark humor and perverse sexual thrills. Although the lyrics reflected the devil-may-care sensibilities of a seasoned sinner, the songs were often philosophical, musing on such universal concerns as desire, heartbreak, self-loathing, and oppression.

Indeed, Molko and company even seemed to comment on their own journey from sex-drugs-rock-’n’-roll bad boys to older-wiser artists, pairing their older heroin ballad “My Sweet Prince” with the new “Commercial for Levi,” a cautionary message to those about to plunge into the seductive anarchy of very, very bad habits.