LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, OSTRAGEHEGE, DRESDEN, 7 JUNE 2017

Today's review is the second review by Daniel Cassus (@dcassus), following up his excellent Leipzig review from 27 May (http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/live-review-depeche-mode-festwiese.html). Once again, thanks very much to Daniel for a hugely enjoyable review and the wonderful pictures. Remember kids, don't use them anywhere without asking first.

Welcome to another review by me, Daniel. This time I’ll tell you a little about the show in Dresden. I’ll try to focus on what’s different from my other review.

The Ostragehende is also a big open air field like the Leipzig Festwiese, but the stage faces north, and with the sun setting at 21:16h directly to your right, it’s quite annoying to have to deal with the sun in your face until the first few songs of the main set.

This time I got really early (14h) to the venue, so my waiting agony was double the length it was before. Happily, I got to meet fellow homie (www.depeche-mode.com) Kimmie and her friends which helped pass the time and also helped me learn how the early birds organize themselves in line. We even faced a hail shower in what was to be a perfect sunny sky. At least we got treated to a little bit of the soundcheck of Walking In My Shoes.

Daniel on the left with Troy

I also got to meet my friend Troy who took a challenge to get the same haircut as the guy from the In Your Room video. I took the challenge of buying a €20 fanny/bum pack (below) with the DM “Bratwurst” logo. Hey, it’s still hip to wear one in Germany (check the name ;). Although I gotta say the quality is really cheap for the price.

The Horrors came on stage 17 minutes earlier than expected, to my pleasure, which meant 20:40h was already “Revolution” time!

Something funny happened with the screen right from the intro all the way into Barrel Of A Gn. There was a glitch and some blocks were out of place. Even a part of the Going Bacwards video stayed there throughout So Much Love and part of Barrel of A Gun.

Dave was wearing grey suit with silver boots this time. Fletch seemed to be wearing neon pink runners. Did I see that right? For a main band member, Fletch has been blending with the background a lot.

This time Corrupt didn’t have all that delay effect from Leipzig, but A Question Of Lust had it. These are the small tweaks you get to notice from watching multiple gigs. Or maybe just a different impression from watching the show from the FOS1 this time.

On the other hand, there was a lot of reverb and delay on In Your Room. Dave also messed up a few lines and just offered the mic to the crowd, in his “something went wrong” style. By the way, why won’t Peter play the bass on In Your Room? It’s definitely a very bass-y song and could benefit from his show of hands.

My impression about Cover Me being slowed down in Leipzig was just that, an impression. The first verse was precisely the same as the studio version. And Martin’s guitar was sharper than before. My favorite rendition of the song so far.

From my Leipzig review you can tell I'm becoming less resistant to Peter’s interventions. He is pretty much doing all the backing vocals on Barrel Of A Gun, more than Martin. He’s also singing on "Heroes". And he's finally got to write for the album. If I had the chance, I'd have all six of them autograph my Spirit vinyl: Dave, Martin, Andy, Christian, Peter, Kurt and James Ford. Anton can sign my tour book with a white marker, of course.

I noticed the rain-protected side lasers were missing this time. Here’s a picture of the stage without them:

Other things I finally noticed from up close:

 -  Martin has red Spirit flags sewed onto his blaze

 - It’s Dave’s silhouette you see “drawn” on the waves of the Wrong projection video.

 - The panning effect during the Everything Counts intro and the engine start from Stripped are mind blowing from so close

Christian spiced the intro of Enjoy The Silence a little bit this time. I know this is a stab in the heart of the purist fans. But it gets them going. Christian has said it before he always changes something here and there between each performance. The problem with ETS for me is Martin’s solo which must be the worst he’s ever done.

However, Martin did seem to have fun making a Chuck Berry duck walk during the intro of Never Let Me Down Again. Homage? Fun? Rock n’ roll spirit? We’ll never know for sure. Martin was in a special mood. Before Somebody, he greeted "Dreeeeesdeeeennn" in a very deep funny voice, and finished with a “danke” and his typical laughter.

Leaving the show was much easier because they started to remove the barriers between the sectors during “Heroes”. I know this because I started to move towards the exit around this time. Sorry, I was too kaputt to endure the final 15 minutes (and this encore really isn’t my favorite). However, the main exit was still blocked when the show ended. It’s where their vans were waiting for them. Since they’re not party animals anymore, it’s only a matter of seconds between the final bow on stage and their french exit from the venue. Vans are gone, the way is clear and leaving the Ostragehege wasn’t the chaos it was to leave the Leipzig Festwiese.

All in all, a more comfortable show than Leipzig, and a lot less crowded. Band in great mood. I hope you enjoyed my review as much as I enjoyed being there.

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We certainly did enjoy it Daniel - thanks very much!