This was all going so well. I've done 1981, have interviews underway for 1982-84 and everything was set up for a chronological history of Depeche Mode's visits to Scotland. And then this happened...
Bands like Depeche Mode do not play the Barrowlands. They play the Hydro in Glasgow or the likes of London Olympic Stadium and every single stadium in Germany. The Barras holds 2100 people. That is usually the front two rows of the early access golden super circle in whatever enormodrome the band have pitched up in. Also, the Barras is my favourite venue on earth and is only 15 minutes drive from my house. I've seen hundreds of bands there, most recently The Pixies, and every gig has been a cracker, even the self indulgent Spiritualized show in 2001 which my companions that night still rate as the worst gig they've seen. The Barras is full of musical memories for me and I never expected Depeche Mode would even consider playing there. Yet, on 26 March, that's exactly what they're going to do.
This gig, as you'll see above, is part of the BBC6 Music Festival which is taking over Glasgow for three days starting on 24 March. For the shows at the Barras, capacity is restricted to 1500 tickets and these are available this Friday via the 6 Music website. For a standard gig, 1500 tickets isn't a lot. For Depeche Mode, it's a minuscule amount. If you are lucky enough to get one, you are in for the Depeche gig of a lifetime. If I get one, I'll obviously report back on the gig here - once I've calmed down that is. Good luck in your hunt for tickets.
As an historical aside, this is not the first time the band have played the Barrowlands. As I'll come onto in more depth on what was scheduled to be part 4 of this series, now a frustrating and album order defying part 5, the band played here on 16 October 1984 on the Some Great Reward tour. First hand recollections and more chat about that gig will come in good time. To whet your appetite for that and for Friday's ticket scramble, check out this recording of that 1984 gig courtesy of the ever wonderful DM Live Wiki:
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