A MEMENTO: DEPECHE MODE, LANXESS ARENA, COLOGNE, 8 APRIL 2024

 

Photo by Stuart Cowan

Normally, when I write a review it's a fairly straightforward thing - there's some chat about the setlist, some gratuitous blog t-shirt photos, my own bad gig photos and that's that. This has been a hard one to plan however given the emotion involved in last night's stunning gig in Cologne. Every fan seemed to feel it and Dave certainly did. His performance, as full of energy and as captivating as ever, had an additional emotional edge to it and that edge, as far as I can tell, sensed by everyone in the arena, gave this concert an energy all of its own. It was a truly special night.

I was in Cologne with John H, John C and Stuart. We've been friends since we were 12 and have loved Depeche Mode for almost as long as we've known each other. They are one of our bands. Seeing Depeche with them is always a special thing for me as we celebrate the band that has been a connection between us for most of our lives. You can tell the strength of that connection by the fact they willingly agree to wear blog t-shirts. Our love of Depeche Mode brought us to Cologne for the final gig of the Memento Mori world tour and countless other fans there last night were there for the same reason we were; a celebration of the band that ties their friends and everyone else in the Lanxess Arena together. That sense of love for Depeche Mode was a huge contributor to the energy I mentioned earlier.

I'll stop beating around the bush. We all wonder if last night was the last Depeche Mode gig we will ever see. Nobody could blame Martin and Dave if that turns out to be the case when you consider how long they have been doing this and what they went through in the lead up to recording the album. Of course, we all want them to keep touring and, as at the end of the previous few tours, any speculation about the end of the band is just speculation and no more than that. A few things last night made me think we might be approaching the end though that might well have been down to emotion again - both mine and Dave's.

Anyway, to the show itself. The Lanxess Arena is a good venue though the policy of allowing us standing people in without providing stamps or wristbands is odd. The tickets for our group were on my phone so I had to go out and prove that John and Stuart were genuine standing punters before they got let back in. John H ended up having to show security the picture below to prove that he was in fact entitled to be down there. A small annoying point in an otherwise well-run venue.

Depeche Mode were on tremendous and tremendously loud form. My Cosmos Is Mine was so loud in fact that the vibrations from it made my phone think I was driving. That happened a few more times during the evening - definitely a first. The first of what I have over analysed as a hint this might be the last gig happened after Wagging Tongue. I was watching the screen (the average height of a German must be at least 6 feet 6 inches) and instead of his usual "GOOD EVENING INSERT NAME OF CITY," Dave paused and took a couple of breaths. He then said "Good evening Cologne" in a very subdued way. Now, Dave had just spent two songs twirling around and doing that odd vampire meets chicken dance so he might just have been knackered, but it seemed unusual. Perhaps it's just me.

From there, we got the standard first half of the show. Walking In My Shoes and It's No Good really are two godlike songs and the arena went suitably crazy for both. Everything Counts prompted the first mass singalong of the evening with nobody showing an interest in stopping it. Dave and Martin seemed to enjoy our extended version. My Favourite Stranger was incredible. The song takes on a new power when it's played live and last night's version was a thudding, crunching belter. I had hoped that Speak To Me would feature in this slot as I've still not seen that live, but that was soon forgotten when My Favourite Stranger popped up and slapped me around the chops. Superb.

Dave departed and Martin took over with gorgeous versions of Strangelove and Somebody. I think his Somebody last night was the best one I've seen. Tremendous. God knows how many times I've sung that song since I first heard it on 101. Martin still does it better.

Every time I've seen Ghosts Again on this tour, tears have sprung to my eyes and last night it happened again. Regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with his death, this song only makes me think of Fletch and that's clearly the case for many others too. As he does in the video, when Dave raises his hand at the "Everybody says goodbye" line, I always do it too as did many other fans last night. The song brings so many thoughts to mind - how long I've loved this band, how long I've known my friends, what we've all been through together, how much Fletch is missed and so much more. I know, it's only a song and all that but one of the things Martin has always done best is write music that inspires so many different emotions. Ghosts Again may well be one of his finest in that respect.

A blistering I Feel You restored me to my normal self. Good lord that was loud. Once again, my phone thought I was driving. "That's that for the crying David you silly arse," I thought as A Pain That I'm Used To reminded me that not all remixes are better than the original versions and then World In My Eyes started. Here we go again.

You know the story by now. It's a beautiful tribute to Andy.

Talking of tributes, I was happy to be able to snap Michael Lyons' Fletch tribute flag during the song. Another lovely tribute. 

Even though this was my 7th show of the tour and fourth of this leg, I still get blown away by the one-two punch of Black Celebration and Stripped. These songs are nearly 40 years old for God's sake yet they sound as fresh as anything else. Having the ability to pull songs like this out of the bag 38 years after they first appeared really is not fair on other bands. How can they be expected to compete with this?

Given that we had already had World In My Eyes, it was wonderful and a genuine surprise to hear Behind The Wheel too. That made me wonder if World In My Eyes had been played to make sure Fletch was remembered at the last ever show, but the more rational side of me then reminded me (not sure that makes sense...) that it was also the last show of this tour, a more than sensible reason for its inclusion. Us Depeche Mode fans overthinking things? Never. Enjoy The Silence wrapped up the main set and it was a riotous version. Bloody marvellous.

Before Waiting For The Night, Dave gave a little speech. The whole arena seemed to fall silent - what was he going to say? He thanked Peter, Christian and the road crew and then said "It's been a really special tour. We've had, obviously, some challenges at the beginning. We lost our friend and Martin and I decided to carry on and make this record." Cue a huge cheer. He then thanked us for "being with us for all these years," sounding genuinely moved. It was a lovely moment. The song itself was great too with another extended crowd singalong at the end.

The usual three wrapped things up. Just Can't Get Enough did what it does and then Never Let Me Down Again blew what was left of the arena's roof right off. Personal Jesus ended the night on a massive high. The band took their time leaving the stage at the end, rightly drinking in their much deserved adulation.

And that was that - the Memento Mori tour was over and it was time to head home.

Photo by Stuart Cowan

Will we ever see them again? For no reason other than me overthinking things, I don't think we will but I of course hope that I am very, very wrong about that. If they do call it a day, they are doing so on a high and against all odds too given what they went through before the album was recorded. Once again, Depeche Mode have triumphed in the face of adversity, this time of the worst kind, and if they don't know already, I'm happy to tell them here that every single one of us thanks them for everything they have done.

This is of course the last review of this tour review project. Thanks to everyone who has written reviews, shared them and talked about them. Thanks too for coming up to me and my t-shirt models to tell me/them that you love the blog. It's mad that anyone gives this nonsense the time of day and it is genuinely incredibly moving to hear that people like it.

I want to say thanks on here too to Stuart, John H, John C, Paul, Andrew and Colin for years of Depeche friendship and for being walking advertising boards. Thanks too to Emma, Heidi and Carolyn for their debut t-shirt appearances at the Glasgow gig. 

Finally, of course, thanks to my wife Pam for putting up with me disappearing around Europe several times and, well for putting up with everything Depeche related in my life! She's a fan too by the way and thinks the gigs on this tour are the best she's seen the band play.

That'll be that then. See you next time? I hope so.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, LANXESS ARENA, COLOGNE, 15 JANUARY 2018

I knew this project would be an odd experience and it certainly is, but one great consequence of it is making new friends in the Depeche world. One of them is Claudia Schulzi who I've met at a few gigs which is cool and, even though she's contributed so much to this blog already, she volunteered to review the Cologne gig last week. I was delighted as her reviews here and on her superb My Daily Mode Blog site are always a great read. The day of the Cologne gig was also Claudia's birthday and as you'll see, she got a rather nice present from Mr Gahan. Thank you so much for this and the pictures Claudia.

Happiest girl – Depeche Mode, Lanxess Arena, Cologne, 15 January 2018

Good evening everybody, my name is Claudia, I wrote the Manchester review and was a part of the Hamburg review.

I'm so happy to write the review about Cologne, because it was my 52nd birthday and Cologne is my hometown. Can you imagine a better birthday party?

I'm the owner of my own small Depeche Mode Tour blog, David is a part of it now:

http://mydailymodeblog.blogspot.de

We came back on Sunday from Amsterdam and we met many friends in a great vegan restaurant "Bunte Burger". I'm vegan, but the most of my friends are not, but we had a wonderful evening, devotees from different cities, even different continents. Two friends from Tampa arrived to see Depeche Mode in Germany. I'm not sure if there is another band which such good devoted fans.

We had the little hope that Martin Gore will come for dinner to this restaurant, but he didn't.

Later I heard the band stayed in Dusseldorf for the two days, not in Cologne.

Dusseldorf is the neighbourhood city, not far away, smaller, but luxurious.

Next evening we met us all a few hours before the concert in the restaurant in front of the Lanxess arena. Another friend of mine, André has birthday, too, so we celebrated it together with many friends.

Andre and Claudia - Happy Birthday!

And so we went into the arena with such a large group of friends, an amazing warm and embraced feeling.

My expectations were not very high, concerts in the Lanxess Arena are often not very good, bad sound and the audience .... well, the people of Cologne have too many parties.

It often comes differently than you think and luckily it was the same here in Cologne.

From the first minute everybody was standing and the Cologne people greeted Depeche Mode with a huge applause.

I felt so good, everybody brought me drinks, everybody wanted to embrace me, wanted to take pictures with me, can't describe how I felt. Happy, happier, the happiest....happiest girl!

Mr. Gahan was in such an unbelievable mood. A friend said: "something has changed in his mind and yes, that's so true. Never saw him so relaxed like on this tour....touching hands, smiling....

The tempo was really fast in Cologne, it was an amazing feeling to see how my friends enjoyed Depeche Mode. Many of my friends came just for me, not because they are fans. Everyone knows and loves Depeche Mode, but a real fan, no.

They were all conquered by the Mr Gahan.

The magician who cast a spell on everyone!

The strong devotees and the fans, just for one day. To unite everyone, that's true art.

The whole concert was a party, but yes, there was one best moment.

I got many wonderful gifts from my friends this evening but the best present gave my friend Micheal to me.

He took me on his shoulders at Cover Me. You all know the moment when Dave is dancing to the end of the catwalk.

He shook hands, let himself be touched, formed a heart for the fans with his hands and made his "Man in Space" dance.

He must have seen me all the time, because I was at his height, but he ignored me, but then suddenly he turned to me, looked at me, threw me a kiss, I threw one back and then he knocked several times on his heart and then stayed for a while in this pose while he smiled at me.

A birthday gift from Dave Gahan

It was difficult not to fall off Michael's shoulders. When Dave left the catwalk, I climbed off Michael's shoulders and everybody hugged me, it was amazing.

I needed a small pause and went out to the restrooms. Many people spoke to me and said, wow, happy you.

Yes.... happiest girl I ever was!

The concert went on in this unbelievable mood. Sometimes I didn't like it when the people go crazy to the hits, but the Cologne people celebrated all songs and they went really crazy to the hits like  Home,  Everything Counts ( Dave thanked with "Dankeschön), Enjoy The Silence and Never Let Me Down. I spent another two times on the shoulders of Michael and Thomas. Thank you guys for this unforgettable moments.

To fast the concert came to the encore.

I gave really all I had at Personal Jesus. I love my life, I'm a really happy women, but if life had ended in that moment, it would have been fine. Surrounded with your dearest friends, your family, your "Personal Jesus", singing and dancing to your favorite music? Perfect.

Together with Rome the best concert of the whole tour. And I thank you all my friends and family, Depeche Mode and Mr. Gahan for this unforgettable birthday.

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Thanks Claudia.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, RHEIN ENERGIE STADION, COLOGNE, 5 JUNE 2017

Today's guest reviewer is Alex Ferguson (no not that one) who traveled to Cologne on 5 June after having seen Depeche Mode in London on 3rd June to take in his second Global Spirit Tour show in 3 days. How did Cologne match up to London?  Read on to find out. Thanks very much to Alex for this great review and the pictures accompanying it.

I wanted to get deep under the skin for this concert but did I have the willpower & stamina to last the day out? I admit it was a struggle at times but as they say no pain…

An early flight out of London Stansted didn’t help matters and that was followed by a train and tram trip to reach my destination. On the train in, I spotted some graffiti written on the side of a building, in large letters “HOME”, was this a sign I thought? Nah I concluded, as it was in the wrong colour and more importantly wrong font.

I decided to take the walk to the FC Cologne stadium from the hotel and it was a pleasant suburban district with large parkland along the route. The stadium is quite imposing from the outside, the heat was rising in a sun drenched afternoon, and I settled into the front of stage queue behind some 30 fans ahead of me. I have never seen so many DM t-shirts congregated together so guessed it was a fan forum get together, “Reach out and touch Dave” emblazoned on many…indeed!

Front of stage right queue behind me

I soon got chatting to Julie from Dusseldorf who had become a fan at the age of 8 and turned out to be seasoned to the art of queuing for DM. “Oh yes” she said “you see the same faces all the time at the front”. Just how much these fans spend on travelling, tickets and queuing must be mind-blowing. Anyway we pass a couple of hours chatting Depeche. I asked her where she was hoping to stand and her plan was front row along the catwalk”. Entering the stadium at 5pm I had clocked up a mere two hours of the wait so far and things were starting to cease up and hurt - not a good sign I know.

Once inside and past security, I didn’t quite make front row - but second row along the catwalk with a clear view of the central screen was fine by me. I had completely missed the central screen in London 2 days earlier - mainly due to the speaker positioning and a deep set stage.

I had three jovial ladies in front of me at the barrier who were in good form but the wait inside was a proving a tough slog, standing, sitting and breathing in fumes from chain smokers all around.

I spot Julie further along the catwalk and noticed she had got her front row spot. I gave her the thumbs up and she smiled back in a way that told me she was ok (..but only just), the wait was nearly over.

I had to plug up my ears for the Horrors as they had been too loud and monotonous during the London concert and this made it tolerable.

Really think Depeche should command a decent support act. How about Goldfrapp from the Mute camp? Then Alison could cameo later during the remix version of Halo.

The Horrors complete their set to a loud “hallelujah” from a fan next to me. A few minutes later a roar goes up behind me from the seated areas as the Depeche entourage enter the stadium seating and fans start to clap along to a technician who tests out the drum kit to a desperate beat (Did you spot what I did there? It gets worse I promise).

Earplugs removed, the opener starts up, I get the connection with Beatles Revolution, but this is not convincing, too upbeat for me, we need a moody, angry Mode - how about short version of Scum and go straight for the jugular?

Out from the bat the fans all around are clapping and punching the air to the opening tracks which are a great combination from Spirit.

This is serious Depeche devotion at work here no doubt.

I thought I knew most of the lyrics to the songs but these fans are insane, word perfect. Now I am the first to admit I am not keen on the Germanic slant cover versions of Dave’s voice, so I was fearful of what I was about to encounter but my fears were allayed as the lady next to me belted it out and sounded great too.

Dave paraded the stage in silver glitter shoes tonight swapping from the dashing red ones spotted in London.

I really got into the live version of In Your Room this time - maybe seeing the projected dancing couple helped and the fact it’s always been a classic song for me.

The track capturing attention this tour is Everything Counts and no doubt the reworked intro is excellent and the chorus sends the fans all around me into meltdown. Mid track Dave launches aloft a big stage block on the left of stage and for a split second he looks like he’s lost his balance but thankfully he gets it right (sorry I couldn’t resist).

I also witness the famous chicken walk too from Dave. He really likes all that flapping around, please just give me a dance that I’m used to (apologies again for this one)

Martin’s Somebody is another highlight as the audience duly provide a star filled sky for him all around the stadia.

Earlier in the day sheets were handed down the queue for "Heroes" and of course they appeared aloft at the appropriate time, as Dave took on the said track. I forgive the misquote of the lyrics as it should be forever and ever and hold my sheet aloft for the cause. Dave carries this off well and of course a great personal choice too being the track he auditioned for DM. As it concludes he points to the sky in remembrance of the icon.

Trotting down the catwalk Dave is in full flow beckoning the crowd as he cups his ear. I’m about 8ft from him at this point and the ladies in front of me share some amazing pictures they capture. My phone isn’t the best so I just soak up the view and proximity.

I have mixed feelings on the backdrop screens, some of them too simplistic in design and seem to waste their high definition capabilities. However, I did like the effect when Dave strutted in silhouette across the higher level stage to a backdrop of super furry animals, hang on just a thought, could this be the inspiration for Dave’s chicken dance?

This is a really polished act, vocals amazing, Martin loud and Dave animated. The sound quality is really superb where I was. Cologne certainly feels more compact and intimate than the London concert and the fans were fully engaged from the start.

I am not a huge fan of the big arena concerts but this really was as good as it gets. 

As I leave the arena, I leave behind the three German ladies slumped over the catwalk barrier. They are all emotionally drained and had given it everything they had. They had entertained me along the way and I chuckled at their futile attempts to attract Fletch from behind his keyboard onto the catwalk. My sore limbs reminded me of the pain and suffering I had endured and the long day had taken its toll but the experience was a truly memorable one.

Catch them while you can or on the new winter leg dates that have just been released for UK and Ireland…Believe me, from this insight, the fire still burns.

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Thanks very much Alex.