A Musical Journey

Depeche Mode. Legends. There's no doubt of this. How many times have we seen them? 5 times? 10 times? They're just awesome. Their catalogue stands the test of time and by all convention, they should be long gone. There is no logical explanation for their selling out every arena on this planet (literally) still let alone two nights at Madison Square Garden other than they are simply fucking awesome.˙So this time with a good, upbeat, solid album called PLAYING THE ANGEL, the excitment for DM was at a fever pitch morseo this year than previous tours. For the record, unlike every other tour I go to see, I successfully avoided hearing anything of the setlist before the gig so I could go into it spoiler free (a miracle). Special thanks to my LA friends who saw them a few weeks ago for staying true to the gag order.

Things started off well. I liked the 50's kitchy sci-fi set. Only Anton Corbijn could get me to like that kinda shit. Their video displays also were super. DM had great intro music, which many of you know I'm a sucker for. It set the tone and they busted out the first two songs from the new album. Ash immediately pointed out that A PAIN THAT I'M USED TO came across like VIOLATOR era DM, which is obviously a good thing. You gotta do the new songs, thats the business. They thin went into JOHN THE REVELATOR, which is a decent song with the energy the previous few DM albums had been lacking. However, the lack of backup singers beyond Gore and that annoying fucking keyboard player (more on him in a bit) took away from this song (All of the new songs, musically, came across much better live than on the album. I attribute a lot of this to the fact that biggest drawback to the new album was the lack of live drums, something I believe both Brandt and Michael Ex-Saintface agree with me on)

The first obvious thing is that Dave is so insanely on that it's shocking. He's a million times better a singer and frontman now than he was during their heyday. He's got his confidence back in a big way. On the hits tour he seemed hesitant, on the Exciter tour the material seemed to slow him down. This time they have it right. Dave is a beast and a handsome one at that. He's got, as Danny Boy would say, IT. Unlike other stars with drug problems, Dave is MUCH better clean than he ever was on drugs. Kudos.

Wisely, they then busted out a few classics (QUESTION OF TIME and POLICY OF TRUTH) before going into a slowed down version of PRECIOUS. I actually liked this because it made sense as they went into an awesome version of WALKING IN MY SHOES from there. After, the new track SUFFER WELL (one of Dave's tunes, all of which I'm a fan of on the new CD) came across much better than it did on CD with better programming and live drums. Let me state here that DM's drummer, Christian Eigner, is excellent (and also Dave's co-writer) and really kept things together.

They had momentum, they had the crowd and then they let Martin take centerstage. I have no other way to say this other than the two songs Martin did here sucked the life out of me. His gimmick is old, he just looks tired and his solo songs on this new album, and I HATE to say this, blow. Between that solo album last year and his solo songs on the DM album this year, the guy just lost it. I hate typing this but its true. Dave's songs have a life and energy and if I have said this once I sad this a dozen times, Dave should have been allowed to write half the record.

Here's where I have my biggest complaint, and it's the same complaint from the last few tours. This keyboardist they have, Peter Gordeno, is quite frankly, the worst. There were noticably missed parts, technical errors etc. and this wasn't the first time I've heard of this problem with him (friends of ours from Seattle said the same thing). Unlike this awesome drummer, the shit he plays is weak, the embellishments he tries take away from the songs, and worst of all, he acts like he's "in" the band. And none of this was more obvious during the solo stuff with Martin. He looks like the love child of Yanni and Peter Gallagher.

Dave came back to do an super version of his tune I WANT IT ALL, but it was the wrong tune for that spot, they needed something to get the momentum back. Happily the remaining third of the set were the hits, which I am grateful for, but it seems to be the same hits they play every year. Again, not a complaint, but busting out stuff like STRANGELOVE or IN YOUR ROOM or ITS NO GOOD would have been a bit more diverse than the same exacty versions of WORLD IN MY EYES and I FEEL YOU. Don't get me wrong, all of this was fun, but I wanted a bit of a changeup. However give them props for throwing PERSONAL JESUS and ENJOY THE SILENCE in the main set. And again, Dave carried this like a general going into war. He focused on his singing and shook his ass like a man. This man is a rock star and has the talent to back it up. I'd also like to add that Fletch, who has done little to none musically for the last 20 years to the point where he makes Mike Hess seem musically prolific, was fucking awesome with his new "listening to my headphones" gimmick as if he were a DJ. Hilarious. I respect that.

The encore started off poorly with a GREAT song SOMEBODY, ruined by the Elton John treatment of this douche keyboard player and Martin. I never saw Matt so mad in my life. Seriously. Well, at least in this country. Anyhow, the big "surprise" older than old song was JUST CANT GET ENOUGH was short, sweet and fun, but and I think this photo sums up Ash's reaction The remaining encore songs were EVERYTHING COUNTS and NEVER LET ME DOWN AGAIN were solid, fun, but again, reliable and the same versions we've heard since Alan Wilder left. Then, inexplicably, they stayed on and did the closing track from EXCITER, which is called GOODNIGHT LOVERS. I dig this song, but they should have done it second to last instead.

And that was it. I know this sounds like a lot of complaining but its not. Do I love Depeche Mode? You bet. Will I got back when they supposedly tour again next year? You bet. But I would have preferred a riskier set (delving further into BLACK CELEBRATION and some of the older singles would not have killed them) because they have a fucking amazing frontman who can carry this band another decade or two just based on his talent. They will now tour the next year plus and make tons of cash and they deserve every penny of it. The new album is good, the show is good, but what is next? Honestly guys, it's time to either get Alan Wilder or Flood back and give Dave more control. It's time to take some risks. They have what it takes. And when they do come back, I'll be there.

F