F

or thousands of Indonesians this February, Placebo will be the perfect drug. And people will line up at the entrance of the indoor tennis stadium at Senayan this Wednesday, with high expectations and a massive craving to swallow the band whole.

Which is perfectly understandable, with hits like Every You and Every Me, Twenty Years, Without You I'm Nothing and The Crawl, Placebo's depressingly romantic lyrics and simple yet catchy tunes have captured the hearts of young people around the world. Their concert this Feb. 16 has in fact become one of the most anticipated concerts in 2010.

The confidence of the guys behind JAVA Musikindo is also understandable, with the Internet being the best source of information, who needs TV or magazine commercials?

For months the news of the concert has been moving from one Internet forum to another, from jazz communities to punk. And even when the date had not yet been confirmed, tickets were selling like hotcakes.

The London based trio is Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Forest. The drummer you remember from the in-lay pictures of their previous four albums, Steve Hewitt, had been replaced by Forest who filled all the drum parts in their 2009 Battle for the Sun.

Those planning to sing along with Molko might already have their six studio albums, namely Placebo (1996), Without You I'm Nothing (1998), Black Market Music (2000), Sleeping with Ghosts (2003), Meds (2006) and the aforementioned Battle for the Sun.

Looking back, Molko was only being modest when he said to the Scottish News that they're "ready to take on the world". Indeed, after arriving in Jakarta on Feb.14, the trio will continue its lineup of concerts at Australia's Soundwave Festival from Feb. 20 (Brisbane) until March 2 (Perth). Japan will be the next country to conquer, followed by China, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and Germany in August.

The winner of the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 for Best Alternative, Indonesians are in for a mind boggling performance that will prove that the band has got what it takes.

Though familiar with past songs, you will be delighted by some new-harder and more positive tunes from their latest release. With more triplets on the drums and rough guitars found in Without You I'm Nothing, songs like Ashtray Heart and Devil in the Details are new gems that can get a four thousand-strong crowd singing in unison.

You've got only a few days left to go to familiar ticket boxes for tickets, reasonably priced at Rp 400,000 for tribune and Rp 500,000 for festival. Official ticket box will also sell tickets on the night of the concert. With a capa-city to accommodate 5000, the Tennis Indoor Senayan might have standing room only, so be fast.