Thursday 11 January 2018

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, ROYAL ARENA, COPENHAGEN, 9 JANUARY 2018

For the first gig of 2018, it's great to welcome Martin Sernestrand back to reviewing duties. Martin covered the first Copengahen gig of the tour back in May and I was delighted when he said he'd be travelling from Gothenburg to Copenhagen once again in January and asked if he could review this gig. Many of you will know Martin from his stunning Depeche Mode collection and others will know him from his book Deepche Mode In Sweden - see http://www.depechemodeisverige.se. Go and check out the book as it's well worth a read. Thanks very much to Martin for this review and for the superb pictures too. 



It does not take many minutes for the synthpop icons Depeche Mode to prove their greatness. Going Backwards launches the evening and the year's first concert on the Global Spirit Tour. Led by the sympathetic front figure of Dave Gahan, the group immediately show all of us, who have been wise enough to travel to the Danish capital this Tuesday, that they are hungry for more. To get the singer's smiley look smiling at me already in the first track is amazing. I'm getting both glad and a little bit embarrassed.



The setlist looks the same as last time I saw them in December, but that is nothing that worries me remarkably nor is it anything that interferes with the overall experience. The nostalgia bomb towards the end is absolutely wonderful. 



Everything Counts begins some magic minutes, as after that Stripped, Enjoy The Silence and Never Let Me Down Again are played at a furious pace before Dave Gahan, with a happy facial expression leads the group to the end, ploughing through the usual set.




Cheerfully, of course, when Martin Gore climbs on stage alone with Peter Gordeno, he sings an acoustic version of Strangelove before Walking in My Shoes, A Question of Time and Personal Jesus ends the encore. 

However, I can not let go of the idea that they could have become even more elaborate in the selection of songs - especially in the first half of the set. To a great extent, David Gahan, Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher continue to make a fresh alternative to other old 80's bands. But one question remains: when Depeche Mode's song material is so strong, why does the band strive to repeat the same old songs as they have done over the last 15 years. 



Somewhat unexpectedly, however, the band is not playing I Feel You. What is even more surprising is that they do not replace it with any other old track. Anyway that is not important - what is important is that Depeche Mode rarely gets better than this.

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Thank you Martin!

1 comment:

  1. Great review. .Thank you Martin and David McElroy..

    ReplyDelete