Today Placebo announced plans to bring their 20th anniversary tour to Australia. The band will play seven arena-sized shows around the country this September, kicking off in Perth and finishing up ten days later in Canberra.

But this tour won’t be like the others: in honour of their two-decade discography, Placebo have promised to play all the songs they usually refuse to — little classics like ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Nancy Boy’ that Brian Molko’s gone on record about being sick to death of.

The tour kicked off last October in Europe, so we already know what their setlist looks like. True to their word, Placebo have crammed in tracks from all of their seven studio albums, from their self-titled debut in 1996 right up to Loud Like Love in 2013.

The whole two hour show is wall-to-wall hits, but there’s ten Placebo tracks we really want to hear when the band get here in September. Here they are.

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#10 ‘Days Before You Came’

From their 2000 album Black Market Music, prior to the 20th anniversary tour ‘Days Before You Came’ was last performed in Paris in March 2003. Incidentally, the album is Molko’s least favourite of the band’s releases — which may well be a reason they waited over 13 years before playing it again live.

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#9 ‘This Picture’

A fan favourite from the band’s fourth album Sleeping With Ghosts, ‘This Picture’ was partly inspired by actor James Deans’ alleged fetish for having cigarettes stubbed out on his chest — hence the lyrical references to ashtrays and the line “cigarette burns on my chest”.

Despite its popularity, the band last played the track at the Bangkok 100 Rock festival way back in 2006, so it’s about time they dusted it off and gave it a whirl.

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#8 ’36 Degrees’

The band have a history of reworking ’36 Degrees’ live. Instead of the rushing rock track it was on their self-titled debut, on stage Placebo often dismantle ’36 Degrees’ completely, slowing down the tempo and replacing the guitar with piano. At their MTV Unplugged show in 2015, they performed it acoustically complemented by a violinist. Here’s hoping we see a similar version.

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#7 ‘Special K’

No, it wasn’t cereal — it was ketamine. Placebo’s 2001 track was about relationship between love and drugs, with Molko linking the rush of falling in love to that of taking uppers: “You come on just like special K/Just like I swallowed half my stash/I never ever want to crash.”

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#6 ‘Without You I’m Nothing’

Taken from their 1998 album of the same name, ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ holds a special place in the hearts of many Placebo fans, and in the hearts of Placebo themselves.

“To have David Bowie call you up and tell you he liked the song so much that he wrote his own vocal part for it was just total madness,” recalls Molko of Bowie’s vocal feature on the single version of the track. “I feel it’s a ridiculous honour, considering the songs that Bowie had written. That he’d like ours so much that he’d want to sing on it… I didn’t realize the full significance of what was happening at the time.”

After Bowie’s death in 2016 Placebo put the song back in their setlist, and now perform it accompanied by visuals of themselves working with the music icon.

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#5 ‘Running Up That Hill’

Along with ‘Where Is My Mind’, ‘Running Up That Hill’ is the most notable cut from their covers album in 2003, which came as a bonus disc with Sleeping With Ghosts. The Kate Bush rework has become one of Placebo’s best known tracks, and has consistently appeared in their set lists over the years.

You can see why: they turn Bush’s art pop song into an eerie downbeat dirge that becomes explosive when played live.

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#4 ‘Teenage Angst’

Another track from their debut, prior to the current tour ‘Teenage Angst’ was last performed in Paris in 2012. Like ’36 Degrees’, the track has often been changed up on stage. Throughout the Black Market Music, Meds and Battle For The Sun tours , the song was played acoustically, while on the Sleeping With Ghosts tour it was even given a hip-hop backbeat. We’re here for whatever version they bring to Australia.

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#3 ‘Every You Every Me’

That frantic guiar riff, those thundering drums, that short but sticky chorus hook — ‘Every You Every Me’ is the ultimate alt-rock track. They included it in their setlist when they were last here for Soundwave in 2014, and it’s set to make an appearance again later this year.

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#2 ‘Nancy Boy’

Molko has said that ‘Nancy Boy’ seems to be about “pansexual hedonism, and letting it all hang out”. Even without glancing at the lyrics, you can see what he means: ‘Nancy Boy’ seems to sprint from start to finish, with its hot mess of drums and distortion. They last played it live in 2012, but it’s guaranteed to be included in their run around Australia.

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#1 ‘Pure Morning’

Placebo may not have played it on their last tour of Australia, but you can expect to see ‘Pure Morning’ played when they arrive September.

The song is one of the biggest of their career, but it nearly didn’t exist at all. During studio sessions for their album Without You I’m Nothing, the band’s relationship with producer Steve Osborne had broken down to the point where ‘Pure Morning’ ended up being recorded later as a b-side with another producer.

“It was borne out of chaos, because the pressure was off,” Molko says of the song. “So we just started playing around with all of these different sounds and that song was the result.”

It hasn’t been performed live since 2007, due to Molko disliking the song’s lyrics, but get ready to hear it as the set opener in September.

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20 Years Of Placebo tour dates

Perth — September 4 at the Perth Arena

Adelaide — September 6 at the Entertainment Centre Theatre

Melbourne — September 8 at the Margaret Court Arena

Sydney — September 9 at the Qudos Bank Arena

Brisbane — September 11 at the Convention Centre

Newcastle — September 12 at the Entertainment Centre

Canberra — September 14 at the AIS Arena

Tickets are on sale Monday May 29 at 12pm