Authors Dennis Burmeister and Sascha Lange set the benchmark for Depeche Mode books with 2013's Monument, a celebration of Dennis' remarkable Depeche collection. The book is a work of art basically, full to the brim of incredible Depeche Mode items that inspire jealously in even the most fervent collectors. Their next book Behind The Wall was a fascinating exploration of the band's East German fanbase. News that Dennis and Sascha were working on another book was rightly greeted with delight among the Depeche fanbase and that book, Depeche Mode Live, is a wonderful companion to Monument, showing the other side of Depeche Mode obsession - watching the band play live.
Depeche Mode Live covers the band's entire live career, starting with Martin's first band Norman & The Worms and ending with the band's most recent tour in support of Memento Mori. Between those two points, there book is crammed with things that will make every Depeche Mode fan happy. There are more photographs than it's possible to count from every single live era and when you buy the book, you will see many of these photos for the first time. Fans all over the world contributed to the book and the results are incredible. We are all very familiar with concert photos from the last three or four tours given the prevalence of smartphones and while the pictures from those tours are great to see, it's the early photos that really grab the attention. Seeing the band on the Construction Time Again tour for example is incredible. This was the point where they moved from pop to something more interesting altogether and the photos bear that out. The stark stage set-up, the near all black dress code, Martin looking very different to the Martin we first met - it's all there. Wonderful.
There are pictures of tour passes, adverts, backstage pictures and, of course, lots and lots of live photographs. The progression the band make from innocent pop stars to their stadium phase is laid before you and it's a joy reliving that journey. Was it really only 11 years from The Meaning Of Love to Devotional? It was quite a trip and Depeche Mode Live helps you relive that in a fascinating way.
There are interviews in the book too with people like the band's former booking agent Dan Silver and Peter Illmann the former host of Peter's Pop-Show, one of the show's responsible for the band's success in Germany. All the interviews (there are six in total) are fascinating. I must confess that I've already read them several times.
The best way to sum this book up is to simply tell you to buy it. It is an absolute triumph and a must for Depeche Mode fans everywhere.
I caught with Dennis and Sascha to ask them about the book and of course ask a few daft Depeche Mode questions:
APA: Why did you decide to write this book and what was the inspiration for it?
Dennis: Depeche Mode's success is based on the band's artistic output in the studio, their worldwide loyal fanbase and, above all, their impressive concert and tour history. With Monument and Behind The Wall, we dealt with the first two of those topics. With Live, we now shed some light on the history of Depeche Mode as a unique live band.
APA: Monument was a wonderful book, full of fascinating pictures from the band's history. How does this book compare to that?
Dennis: The concept is nearly the same. Of course, we used many live pictures, but we also used pictures from my personal collection - backstage passes, posters, ticket stubs, flyers, set lists and all that kind of stuff.
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| Dennis |
APA: How did you gather together so many live pictures? How many of those belong to you two?
Dennis: Most of the live pictures are from friends and fans or different photographers. Lots of people asked us if we wanted to use their pictures in our book and said they would be proud to be able to contribute to it. In Germany, concert photos were often sold or exchanged at Depeche Mode parties, so we have been unable to identify who took a number of the photos that appear in the book.
APA: How did you decide who to interview for the book?
Dennis: Sascha and I agreed instantly on how to approach this. We made a list of of as many people as we could who witnessed the band's live progress and got in touch with them.
APA: Is this a book that will appeal to both long term and new Depeche Mode fans?
Dennis: Absolutely. Every Depeche Mode fan, regardless of their age, can re-live or discover new memories from the band's rich history.
APA: And now the quick fire round. What was the first Depeche Mode gig you saw:
Dennis: At the beginning of 1990, my grandfather who I lived with, passed away. I therefore didn't see any of the World Violation tour. My first Depeche Mode concert was on June 16th 1993 - the Devotional gig at Berlin Waldbuhne. It was magical. Dave was in a great mood but it was strange to see him with long hair, Nothing went right at all during the concert. The heavy rain made the stage curtain so heavy it kept falling down and every time that happened the fans cheered like it was a football match. Dave slid barefoot across the stage while stagehands mopped the stage around him. Everything during the 1993 tour was unpredictable including of course Dave himself. What that meant though was that every concert was different. Dave stagediving into the crowd at Frankfurt during In Your Room was one of the many legendary things he did on the tour.
Sascha: East Berlin, 1988. Dennis and I live in East Germany where the band had not previously performed. I've been a fan since December 1984 and would loved to have gone to a concert then, I was very luck to be at the lengendary performance in East Berlin on 7th March 1988 at the Werner Seelenbinder Hall. That was Depeche Mode's first and only concert in the GDR and it remains my favourite concert of all time. Suddenly that evening, musicians who were previously unreachable to me stepped out of the posters on my wall and into my world. The setlist was slightly shorter than on other concerts on that tour but that didn't matter to me or the other 6,000 fans. Even if they'd only played two playback songs that night it would not have mattered! To see them live in the GDR? Absurd! It was like aliens had landed.
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| Sascha |
APA: Favourite Depeche Mode gig?
Dennis: Berlin 1993, Leipzig 1998, Oberhausen 2001 and, of course, the last show with Fletch at the Waldbuhne in 2018.
Sascha: East Berlin 1988 of course.
APA: Favourite live Depeche Mode song?
Dennis: I love Music For The Masses so I'd say Behind The Wheel, Strangelove and Never Let Me Down Again are my all time favourites.
Sascha: Strangelove
APA: Pick one song you would like the band to play live that they don't usually play
Dennis: Comatose - "Take a light, start the flame" and watch thousands of lighters burning,
Sascha: Strangelove