LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL, 23 JUNE 2018 - PART 2

For the first time since 2006 and for only the second time ever, Depeche Mode headlined a UK festival last Saturday, topping the bill above the likes of Liam Gallagher and other equally..erm...talented (?) acts. As this was a momentous thing for the band, we have not one but two reviews of the show. The second of these is from long time Depeche fan and long time blog supporter Adele Mitchell whose review and pictures you can read and see below. Thanks very much for the great review Adele.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

What a weekend! I only bought a day pass for the Saturday as (obviously) my main focus was on seeing Depeche Mode. So, in typical Mitchell fashion, I managed to get absolutely hammered the Friday night before so I inevitably woke up wanting to die! Spending 12hrs in the sun was not something I was looking forward to if I am truly honest but I had serious Marty spotting to do so I sucked it up. 

First up to see was Louise in the Big Top (although shout-out to Rhythm Valley in Electro Love who did some fantastic 80s soul covers) Anyway, Louise was absolutely fantastic, proving that she wasn’t just the token white girl in Eternal as boy can she sing. Also, the male backing dancers all took their tops off, so WIN!

After that we made our way over to the main stage to see Blossoms and James Bay. I have never been to a festival before, so was not quite prepared for the sheer number of people who would be there and whether I would even be able to see the band on stage!! 

As you can see from the photo below, I had reason to be worried

That’s James Bay if you are so interested

Next up was Liam Gallagher (the main reason for a lot of DM fans NOT attending this festival). Even though I will begrudging admit, he did put on a good show, particularly the Oasis numbers. But, yes, his fans were mostly drunken louts who were only there to see him. Hence why, after they had cleared out, I got this much closer for my Marty stalking, they must have been packed in there like sardines!!

Not perfect but at least I could make out the band and was plenty of space around me for a bit of a boogie. 

I attended with a work colleague & his father. Andy is a DM fan too but has not seen them live for many, many years. He knows and understands my absolute adoration for the band and a certain blonde genius (I don’t even apologise for this particular obsession), so he was fairly up on what we could expect. I really didn’t expect there to be much change from the recent North American shows, just a slightly shortened one given the 105min set time. 

The band took to the stage (5 mins late, how tardy boys) and belted out Going Backwards. Dave was prowling the stage and really showing those that didn’t really know the band what he can do. A new one on this tour for me in Policy Of Truth and it sounded fantastic (well apart from Mart being a beat too late on his synth and then struggling to catch up). Precious sounded utterly fantastic, a much rockier guitar and World In My Eyes has Dave & Martin in very high spirits, they really seemed to be enjoying themselves but I was beginning to notice something. No-one around me seemed to be singing along or really interacting with Dave on all his vocal instructions, and I really think this was starting to frustrate him. I guess that is the gamble you take with doing a festival.

Then came the moment I had been waiting for, Martin’s little solo set & my weeks of hoping came true. I got to see The Things You Said and I will admit, I cried. Happy tears but heartfelt ones too, it was absolutely gorgeous. Elation then turned to devastation when WE GOT NO HOME!!!! Yes the crowd would not have done the singalong (blimey, it would have been epic if they had) but I expect, no demand, that this is played at any show I attend and really he should have known this. 

Everything Counts really got the crowd going, brilliant singalong that petered out towards the end, started up in one corner & made its way around everyone only to start up again. I hope the band enjoyed it as much as I did. I was surprised to see Personal Jesus so early in the set but as Dave commented “WAKEY WAKEY” as it really did get the crowd going and Never Let Me Down Again wave looked amazing on the big screens. 

Another break (which I wasn’t expecting) and a beautifully sung Somebody from Martin (too much to have asked for I Want You Now or Home I suppose?) I really don’t think he has sung better than on this tour, but I am extremely biased.

Walking In My Shoes was as awesome as always and then another surprise, Just Can’t Get Enough. I know that this song has its haters but I bloody love it. Really gets everyone going and I think even the band are beginning to enjoy performing it. Fantastic singalong from the crowd, not the best of videos but hopefully you get the gist:

Ending on Enjoy The Silence, I really do think that everyone enjoyed the set and hopefully they picked up some new fans too.

A very long day finally ended for me at 01.30, arriving at my hotel after a 45 minute bus ride totally shattered with my legs and feet aching, but totally wired after such an amazing show. Of course I would do it again in a heartbeat, but if this is the last time I ever see them live, I'm a happy bunny - well apart from no Home!

Everyone else still seeing them on tour, have fun and don’t dance too much.

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

Thank you Adele

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL, 23 JUNE 2018 - PART 1

Part One of the Isle of Wight Festival special comes from Sue Lawrence, a Depeche Mode fan from Littlehampton in England. Sue was wearing one of this blog's t-shirts for the Depeche set which was very good of her. Two chaps I've met a few times on the tour (hello Mark and Garry) recognised it and went up to her to say hello. What a strange world we live in! Thanks very much for this review Sue. Glad you enjoyed the festival - I wonder if any Louise fans have checked the blog out since then? All pictures are Sue's unless otherwise credited.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

I was excited and apprehensive when DM were announced as Saturday headliners. Excited because it was another chance for me to see them on this tour, but apprehensive in case they didn't pull a big crowd, and no-one liked them. Well, in the end it was a SOLD OUT Festival. I'd like to attribute this solely to DM; but more than likely it was the combined popularity of the headliners and the fact that Glastonbury is not on this year. 

This is my 3rd IOW Festival and 5th Global Spirit Tour show. 

To secure a reasonably good FOS position, I found myself amongst fans of Liam Gallagher. He was the warm-up (sorry, couldn't resist!) for Depeche Mode. As expected there was a bit of banter from him with the crowd "well what do you expect me to play to a bunch of Depeche Mode fans? I may as well f*ck off". (Or words to that effect). It felt a bit like being an 'away' fan who accidentally got in with the 'home' crowd at a football match. I pretended I knew all the words, until he finished his set.

To be fair to Liam, I enjoyed his album but his set relied heavily on Oasis songs. There are quite a few comparisons between him and Dave Gahan. Front man turned song-writer and finally having some success in his own right. 

With the help of a couple of DM T-shirt-clad chaps who came to my rescue (thanks lads, if you are reading this), I got my spot near the end of a short and very steep catwalk. 

The usual pre-gig music started and the familiar Jackson Pollock styled screens flickered on and off intermittently, as the band took the stage to the opening of Going Backwards. I had a momentary sick feeling that the screens were going to fail, as they have on a number of occasions on this tour, and I thought I caught a nervous look from Dave as he glanced towards them. But it was all fine. 

The crowd were unusually (for a Depeche show) dressed mainly in Gold. This was the 50th Anniversary IOW Festival and everyone had been asked to help celebrate by wearing Gold on Saturday. The band must have wondered if they were at the right event. 

Dave could have participated in his own small way by wearing his gold boots, but contrarily chose his red ones instead. 

As expected the set-list had been reduced and rearranged, either to satisfy a festival timetable and crowd, or to accommodate a Sky broadcast. So I really did not know what or when to expect it. 

Dave has said that he believes that a show should take the audience on a journey, that there should be highs and lows, dark and shade. This set-list ebbed and flowed, and built slowly and steadily until even the most indifferent bunch of young Liam fans beside me, were dancing wildly to Policy Of Truth and World In My Eyes. 

Things cooled down slightly for Cover Me, The Things You Said (first time for me) and In Your Room. 

Then came the genius run of Everything Counts, Stripped, and Personal Jesus (which had been the show closer for the tour so-far) and, for a brief moment, I thought the set had come to an end. If it had, I think most of the audience would have felt they had got a good show. The sing-a-long and audience participation was fitting for a show-closer. 

But, of course more was yet to come. How could I forget Never Let Me Down Again? This was epic as always, with the ubiquitous arm waving. I remember how that felt the first time I witnessed it. Surely, knowing this would be a cut-down set-list it had to be the end? 

But, I was pretty certain Walking In My Shoes would be played because I had been rudely awakened in my tent at 6:30 in the morning, by the intro booming a mile across the site from Mainstage. A schoolboy error if they were sound checking, given that about 50,000 people were still sleeping off the effects of the previous night. 

After a brief interval, Martin performed Somebody (I'm not a fan and would have preferred Home, if I'm honest). Then Walking In My Shoes which is my personal all-time favourite Depeche song (apart from when it wakes me at 6:30 in the morning, in my tent, at a festival, after a Kasabian show). 

Bloody hell! Just Can't Get Enough! Genius! That was a shock. Love it or hate it. People know it. (Even if it is because of the Churchill Insurance TV advert). It makes people dance and sing. That is what people like to do at festivals. It was like one huge party. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

Yet, there was even more to come with Enjoy The Silence. With the crowd fully behind them, they launched into the song with Anton's puzzling animal video showing on the big screen. What the Depeche newbies thought of it I do not know, but the song was a resounding success, and brought the show to a close on a triumphant high. 

The band themselves seemed on good form. Fletch was moving his arms about quite a lot more than usual, Martin was conducting Christian on the drums, Dave was good-naturedly mimicking Fletch's moves with a laugh, and he even pointed the T-shirt cannon at Martin. He was also considerably chattier than normal and took a light-hearted swipe back at Liam "It's been a long day, and now you get to see the best"! 

Perhaps now would have been a good opportunity to roll out People Are People after all these years. I think it would have been well received and lifted the early part of the set. Although in my opinion it was a good crowd-pleasing set-list for a festival.

Leaving the field, I felt proud to be a Mode fan, hearing nothing but positive comments from the audience. 

It was also great to meet Gary and Mark before the show, two Mode fans who spotted me in my Almost Predictable Almost T-shirt and came and introduced themselves. I hope you enjoyed the show lads. 

Finally thank you to David for the Global Spirit Tour Project blog, and for giving me the chance to be a part of it. Thanks also for the T-shirt, and apologies if I was spotted wearing it earlier, bopping away at The Big Top Stage to Louise (of Eternal). 

I write this, sitting in the sun outside my tent, the morning after the show. I feel a little sadness as I think that this may very well have been my final Depeche Mode show. 

Speculation is rife that after the two Berlin shows later this year, the band may call it a day. If that is the case, then I am happy that they went out on a high and that the Doubting Thomas's were silenced.

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

Thanks Sue