MORE THAN A PARTY: DEPECHE MODE, GLASGOW BARROWLAND, 26 MARCH 2017

Where do I start?

It's very hard to put last night into words. Depeche Mode simply don't play venues like the Barrowlands but for one night only they did. Thanks to BBC 6 Music,  Depeche Mode took over Glasgow and I can say that I was there, I was a part of it. I'll never experience anything like that again.

The whole day had a special feeling to it. I went down to the Barras around 11 am yesterday and met a few members of the Black Swarm who had camped out overnight. Camping out overnight is crazy enough, but camping out overnight in that part of town takes a special kind of bravery. Well done to the Swarm. I hung around for a while, chatted to a few fans and ended up meeting Peter Gordeno. He's a lovely chap. I spoke to a security guy at the venue and he was amazed that fans were camping out for a gig that wasn't even due to start until 9 p.m. He said "Are all you Depeche Mode fans as mental as that lot?" pointing to the overnight campers. As someone who was aimlessly hanging around outside the venue, all I could say was yes.

Fast forward a few hours and me, John, John C and Andrew met up and were ready to begin enjoying ourselves. We headed to the Kilts pre show party and the day properly began. I met so many cool people there, at the gig and at the aftershow party and I don't want to offend anyone by missing them out, so I'll just say hello again to you all here and thanks very much for chatting. Being a relentless self promoter, I had a blog t-shirt on, and it was genuinely moving to have so many people come up to me, say hello and say kind things about all this nonsense. The pre show party was great and it set the scene nicely for what was to come.

In earlier posts about this gig, I said that the Barras is the best venue on earth and last night proved it. The combination of a crowd who were 100% up for it and a band playing what was surely one of the gigs of their lives meant that last night was a gig that I will never forget and it's unlikely to ever be beaten. I can honestly say that it was the best gig I have ever been to and I'm still in a daze as I write this. From the opening roar as the band came on stage, a roar that caused even as experienced a frontman as Dave to pause for a second or two, to the closing perfection of a revitalised Enjoy The Silence, this was a unique and beautiful Depeche Mode experience. World In My Eyes, Walking In My Shoes and Personal Jesus all sounded as good as they ever have done and the band fed off the crowd's energy throughout the show. Martin played a full band version of Home which was spellbinding and the new songs all fitted in perfectly, with Cover Me a gorgeous highlight. It was everything you could have wanted and then some.

I'm so lucky to have been able to get a ticket for this show and I'll genuinely never forget last night. Gigs like that don't happen often and when the best band in the world played the best venue in the world in the city I live in, I can say I saw it. Thank you Depeche Mode, thank you devotees.

Next stop Stockholm.

DEPECHE MODE GLASGOW BARROWLANDS 26 MARCH - A GUIDE

Sunday 26 March is going to be a landmark day for Depeche Mode fans lucky enough to have got tickets for the BBC 6 Music Festival. The band are headlining the festival, playing at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom which means one of the biggest acts on earth will be playing what I consider to be the greatest venue on earth. The Barras (as it's commonly known) holds a maximum of 2100 people, meaning that this is Depeche Mode's most intimate British gig in years. In my many years of following Depeche around Europe on tours, I never thought I'd get to see them at the Barras. The fact they're playing there hasn't really yet sunk in but it's happening so I'm now in full on gig preparation mode. 

I know that a lot of you who read this blog aren't from Glasgow and that you'll be travelling to the city for the gig. To help you make the most of the Depeche related mayhem that Sunday will bring, here's a guide to what's happening on the day.

Pre Gig Preparation

If you're flying into Glasgow Airport on Sunday, look for the bus into town. The white airport taxis are extortionate. The Airport Express bus will cost you £7.50 for a single journey and it has a really frequent service, even on Sundays:

 https://www.firstgroup.com/greater-glasgow/routes-and-maps/glasgow-airport-express

Once you're in town, it's time to head to the first pre-show meet up. The Kilts who, like me, are Scottish, but unlike me as the name would suggest, wear kilts to every Depeche gig they go to have arranged a superb free pre show party at Solid Rock Cafe at 19-23 Hope Street which is seconds away from Glasgow Central station. It runs from 2pm to 6pm and is free to get in. There will be food, drink and Depeche Mode related tunes played all afternoon. It'll be a great way to start the Barras Celebration (see what I did there?) and I recommend you go. 

There's a Facebook page for the event here - click me 

If you're not on Facebook, here is the venue website - click me Don't let the distinct rock flavour of the site put you off. For one day only, it's a Depeche Mode venue.

The Barras is only a short taxi ride from Solid Rock Cafe. I reckon it'll cost around £6 or so to get you there. 

The Barras

Your taxi will drop you off at the venue and you'll be greeted by an iconic site - the Barrowland sign all lit up and sparkling. If that doesn't get you inspired for the gig, nothing will! There's only one door into the venue which you'll see easily enough. If the scary security let you through, you'll go through a metal detector type thing and then head straight up the stairs in front of you. 

At the top of those stairs, turn left and you'll see a door which leads to the toilets (on the left through the door) and to a corridor leading to a bar. On normal gig nights, the merchandise stand is on the right as you go through the door. I don't know if there'll be any Depeche merchandise on sale on Sunday given that this isn't an actual Global Spirit Tour date. If there is, it'll be there.

To get to the Ballroom itself, don't go through that door on the right. Instead go up the other two flights of stairs, push open the double doors and you'll find yourself in the best venue on earth. There are two bars - one immediately on your left as you go in that sells cans of beer and bottles of water and another fully stocked bar at the far left hand side of the venue. The first bar is more of a table than a bar really. I don't need to point out where the stage is - you'll see that. There are no toilets on that floor so you'll need to head back downstairs to relieve yourself after the pre gig drinks. 

It seems that Depeche are on stage around 9pm. The venue has a curfew of 11 but that doesn't necessarily mean  the band will be on for two hours. Check the official Barrowlands Twitter page during the day for exact stage times - https://twitter.com/TheBarrowlands

Once the show ends, head back down the stairs, out onto the street and head for the aftershow party. You'll want to keep the Depeche mood going I'm sure

Post Gig Celebration

The only place to head after the gig is The Flying Duck at 142 Renfield Street where another free party is taking place. Blasphemous : A Celebration of Depeche Mode is running from 8pm to 1am, promising music by Depeche Mode with a selection tracks popular and rare, remixes and other Mute artists and it's going to be brilliant. If you can get a taxi, it's a short ride from the Barras. It's also walkable too - that'll take about 10 to 15 minutes.

There's a Facebook page for this one too - come here, click me, now

For non Facebookers, here's The Flying Duck's page http://www.theflyingduck.org/

I'll be at all these events because it's going to be tremendous fun turning Glasgow into Depeche Mode city for a day. Me and my fellow gig travellers will be wearing these fetching items

Come and say hello if you see us. One thing though, I'm not offering refunds on any taxi costs that exceed the estimate above ;)

THE GRABBING HANDS GRAB ALL THEY CAN - HOW NOT TO SELL TICKETS

Today tickets went on sale for the BBC 6 Music Festival in Glasgow due to run from 24-26 March this year. The radio station is bringing a host of excellent bands to a city that loves music and, on the face of it, the festival is an exciting prospect to say the least. The fact that they've got Depeche Mode as a headliner speaks to the pull of the event and the prospect of seeing Depeche in the best live venue on earth, the Barrowland Ballroom, is a prospect that has driven me beyond excitement since it was announced. Forgive me from this point on if the larger point is made from the perspective of the Depeche Mode fanbase rather than fans of the many other outstanding bands scheduled to appear.

The same excitement I felt was felt by most Depeche fans, especially those based in Scotland. I know plenty of them and they are all long term Devotees, each one scarcely able to believe that their band is scheduled to play the Barras. We're used to see Dave and co in stadia and arenas - we never expected to be able to see them in a venue the size of the Barras. It's a remarkable thing. Getting one of the 1500 tickets available was never going to be easy - nobody thought that - but the shambles that has occurred has made everyone angry, including those lucky enough to get tickets, amongst whose number I am fortunately counted.

The BBC6 Music site was clear about how tickets were to be purchased. It said:

Tickets are limited to 4 per event per customer and photo ID will be required to be presented by the lead booker upon arrival at the venue on the night of the show. The name of the lead booker will be printed on each ticket. The name cannot be changed once the booking has been made. 

The lead booker will be asked to present ID to gain entry into the venue. Failure to adhere to the terms and conditions may result in the customer's order being void. 

If you are booking more than one ticket your guests must arrive at the concert at the same time as you. Failure to do so may result in guests being turned away. 

Tickets cannot be resold or transferred under any circumstances. If the organiser reasonably believes this to be the case the barcode on the ticket will be voided, prohibiting entry to the concert.

Seems clear doesn't it? Buy tickets and you will have to be one of the people that turns up for the gig. You will have to show ID at the venue and your name will be printed on each ticket. The tickets that I got then will bear my name and I'll need to show ID to get me and my friends in. That seems sensible to me. Some gigs where this has been a proviso, such as U2 at the Hydro on their Songs Of Innocence tour, have been easily accessible without showing ID, but that can partly explained by the size of the venue. At the Barrowlands, with only 1500 people getting in, it should be feasible to check ID. The system then seems reasonably foolproof at first glance.

But here's the thing. While I and certainly every other Scottish Depeche fan I know were redialling the TicketWeb phone line endlessly and queuing on a site patiently awaiting some form of sign of progress this morning, tickets for this already massively oversubscribed gig were appearing on vile, fan ripping off, blood sucking, legalised touting bastard sites like Viagogo. Some tickets even appeared on that site BEFORE the official sale start time of 10 a.m. How on earth is that possible? How is it permitted?

How is it lifelong fans of Depeche Mode are denied the opportunity to even fairly compete with other lifelong Depeche Mode fans in the scramble for tickets? Why can't BBC6 Music or TicketWeb even attempt to tackle such rank inequity? It's frankly beyond contempt and the fact that a music festival set up for laudable reasons and promoted as a come one come all event is immediately subjected to the sort of blatantly fraudulent ticket scams that one has sadly come to expect from major events these days is an utter disgrace. 

This rant in itself is ultimately fruitless as this problem is not new, nor is it unexpected. It's horribly predictable and, really, I shouldn't be surprised and shouldn't be annoyed about it as vulture sites like Viagogo, Get Me In and Seatwave always win, they always scam genuine fans and rob many excited punters of the chance to see their favourite bands, despite threats of legislation and despite warnings about people not getting in etc with tickets purchased from these sources. This is what being a gig going music fan involves these days and there is little interest in doing anything about it, other than from music fans themselves.

And they don't seem to count one jot when it comes to buying tickets. Why should they? They're only the lifeblood of live music in the country.

I'm one of the lucky Depeche Mode fans today and I'm supremely grateful for that. I'm also grateful I'm not feeling the justifiable rage of those denied by the touts. None of them are moaning about genuine Depeche fans getting tickets. Far from it in fact, they are delighted for their fellow fans, happy in the knowledge that they will see Depeche Mode in as intimate a venue as they can. They are angry at the way they've been conned basically and rightly so.

So come on BBC6 Music and TicketWeb - justify this. How did this happen and how will you avoid it in the future? How will a music festival be given over to actual music fans rather than the shady grabbing hands who grab all they can?

How can you say that this festival is truly a festival for music fans?

----------------------------------------------

An addition:

On Twitter at 5.32 pm on 24 February, spurred on by the many positive reactions to the post above,  I said:

Dävïd‏@davidjmcelroy

OK here it is. When @BBC6Music are up here for #6musicfestival can we have a chat about ticket selling? Many would love to hear it explained

Dävïd‏@davidjmcelroy

So @BBC6Music do you fancy it? Happy to make myself available. I'll report back to fans here and on the blog. Get in touch #6musicfestival

So will BBC6 Music respond? I'll let you know....

DEPECHE MODE LIVE IN SCOTLAND PART 2 - GLASGOW BARROWLAND 26 MARCH 2017

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:

https://www.depechemode-live.com/wiki/1984-10-16_Barrowlands,_Glasgow,_Scotland,_UK

BBC 6 Music Festival http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2hy3wl3kg02p4jRNP6wCNzb/6-music-festival-2017-the-line-up