A MEMENTO: DEPECHE MODE, AT&T CENTER, SAN ANTONIO, 2 APRIL 2023

 

For this review we welcome back Stephanie Crone. Stephanie reviewed gigs for the Global Spirit Tour Project and I was delighted when she signed up for this new adventure. As you will see, she had a wonderful time at the San Antonio show. Thanks very much for this great review Stephanie and thank you for the wonderful videos and photos.

Let me begin by saying I am still on a high and on cloud-freaking-nine, now three days after the show in San Antonio. It was spectacular.

Upon entering the venue we could hear what I thought was a sound check going on – it definitely sounded like they were playing and curtains were closed tight, staff ushering us all away. But a friend told me during a stage tour he was told that sound engineers use recorded tracks to get sound equipment just right.

The evening began in the VIP room, with amazing pieces of DM history on display (apparently they are bringing this to every show, it was in Sacramento where we also had VIP). Many friendly faces in the VIP area! We visited, took photos, had some appetizers and overall just got very excited for what was to come! (Mart looks like he does NOT approve! ha!)

Luckily this was my fourth show this leg, I attended the opener in Sacramento, followed by San Jose and Las Vegas, then rounded my first leg of DM adventures out in San Antonio with a seat in the second row, Martin side, of course.

From the get-go with My Cosmos Is Mine then Wagging Tongue, it was apparent the boys had started to find their flow after getting used to being on stage again. Sacramento, although amazing, was a bit stiff, each show got better but now they are getting back on their game. The energy coming from the crowd was palpable, Texas Devotees are not messing around!

When the lights were cut the crowd rose up and cheered with anticipation as the intro to My Cosmos Is Mine pulsated from the speakers.

The crowd seemed to receive the new songs well, the album being so new many fans had not had much time to properly absorb (I am not part of those many, absorption complete by now). The fact that Mart and Dave (RIP Fletch) were sharing a stage yet again after years of anticipation, wondering if they would ever tour again, seemed to whirl collectively in the minds of the concert-goers that evening. Everyone stood back and appreciated what they were witnessing.

Next up, Walking In My Shoes. Forever a devotee favourite. Naturally, Dave sauntered over to show us his perfectly polished boots. Not much more to add, brilliant. 

It’s No Good – definite evidence that the boys are still on the very start of their tour and getting used to singing for huge crowds on the regular. Some pitch issues from Dave but do I care? Nope. All wrapped up with a bum wiggle.

And now…big sigh…..Sister Of Night. A classic for any proper devotee. I had heard Mart do this in Hollywood for the Global Spirit tour but hearing the full production with Dave’s vocals, bliss. Although, once again, we hear the pitch issues. He is obviously not used to belting out this tune (yet) but it is still breathtaking (although I can hear some idiots chit chatting away in the background, why are you here???)

Up next… In Your Room. Another favourite, although this seemed to be completely 100% resurrected from the Global Spirit tour. Same remix, same everything except the backing video. I do wish the boys would change it up a bit, there are a plethora of amazing and well-known songs to choose from so I do not understand. Nothing remarkable to add regarding this one. 

And now… my personal favourite… Everything Counts. Again, this was pretty much a re-do of the Global Spirit tour’s performance, but this one always gets me going. Mart on the keys is the best. The new backing video seemed to breathe new life (get it?) into the performance. Towards the end of the song, as most of the audience was focused on Dave doing his thing on the catwalk, I sat in front of Mart in row 2, pointing to him while chanting “Everything Counts in Large Amounts!!!” and making heart signs as I danced (okay I was screaming too, what’s a Gore girl to do?). The huge smiles he flashed my way melted my cold heart like nothing ever could again, probably. This might be my most treasured DM concert moment ever, right behind getting to meet the band in 2017 (so lucky I got to meet Fletch!).

I am thrilled to have Precious showing up on the set list this tour. It is an amazing song and I think it is really spectacular live. It was followed by Speak To Me, the third song from Memento Mori that was played tonight. Once again, the audience seemed engaged and quietly listened. 

And now, it is all about Martin. Swoon. A Question of Lust did NOT disappoint (I mean, how could it?). It was followed by the fourth song of the evening from Memento Mori, Soul With Me.  An instant classic - that voice though! 

Dave returned to the stage next and the boys performed yet another new song, the first single from Memento Mori, Ghosts Again. The audience all seemed familiar with this new tune and everyone was up and dancing. I did not snap any pictures or video of this one, must have just been taking it all in <3 

Another duplicate from the Global Spirit tour followed - I Feel You. Again, I do wish they would mix things up and play some other songs but this one is always a banger and it rocks my socks off live. 

They moved right along into A Pain That I’m Used To. Another high energy performance that did not disappoint. I rocked out. 

And now for some real emotions. World In My Eyes. Always one of my favorites and now has a deeper meaning. I held my heart as I listened and watched the boys serenade the crowd while honouring our Blesser of Devotees, Andrew Fletcher. The performance was definitely on the solemn side. Dave pausing and looking back at the screen when he would usually be preening along the stage at that point in the song. Tears were shed. Fletch you are sorely missed.

After World In My Eyes came Wrong. I adore this song and once again was taking it all in (no pics or videos of this one). I love that they are doing this one live, it is different and not as popular as some of the other choices. My favorite part is where Mart sings “too lonnnnnnnnnng”. Good stuff.

Now, back to business. Stripped. As anticipated the first notes of this song grabbed everyone’s attention and the masses were singing along. At one point Dave came over and pointed the mic to a girl in the row in front of me, she shook her head “no”! I was laughing. He stayed there anyway and I belted it out as best I could. Next up - John the Revelator. I am not sure if I had ever heard this song played live before this tour. I have always enjoyed this song. I am still trying to decide if I like the live version, but I will forever enjoy watching Mart play his star guitar and Dave’s hootin’ and hollerin’.

And now… we have arrived at Enjoy the Silence. I kind of lost it during this song, so emotional. Knowing that when it plays we are coming near the end of the show and it had just been so many years of anticipation, I did not want it to end. I sang and cried and cheered. Then cried some more and hugged my friends. Told them I was soooo fucking happy. Towards the end when Dave introduces Mart, with his drawn out “Martin…..L…… Gooooooooooooooooore”, he had made his way back over to our area and pointed the mic towards me shouting Gooooooreeee :) I did not get any pictures of this but will remember forever.

Encore time……….

I had seen some shows were getting Condemnation, others Waiting For The Night. All three shows I had seen previously were the latter so I was hoping for Condemnation, but I will take whatever these guys are handing out. Once again, no pics or video (they were behind me so…). You could absolutely hear a pin drop in that arena, such stunning harmonizing. Dave bungled the lyrics at one point but it was just a testament to the fact that Dave is human and forgets shit sometimes haha. Bows and hugs between Mart and Dave at the end and of course roaring applause. I love these guys.

Never ever thought I would hear the boys play this live - Just Can’t Get Enough. At first I was a little disappointed, this is definitely not one of my favorites and I will admittedly skip when this song comes on my playlist rotation. But the crowd went nuts and the boys freaking brought it, it was so much fun.

Now we really know things are coming to an end for the evening, time for Never Let Me Down Again. Words are very unnecessary, if you are reading this you know what’s up.

As always the show was rounded out with Personal Jesus. When I hear this song it always brings me back to the feeling of “oh no the show is almost over and that is it”. It is a strange feeling haha. Another remarkable performance from our boys. I never wanted it to end, but it did and the smile on my face has not faded yet.

And that’s a wrap. I have told friends I wish I could just permanently live in this experience. My devotee heart is so full and I cannot wait until I get to see them again this Summer and later this Fall. Depeche Mode forever and ever and ever!

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Thanks Stephanie! 

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, AT&T CENTER, SAN ANTONIO, 27 MAY 2018

It's great to have so many people involved in this project. There have been people kind enough to review more than one show, there have been people I've specifically sought out for reviews and there are people who get in touch because they want to tell their Depeche story. Even now, two hundred and seventy eight years into this tour (edit - 13 months) it's really great to see new people joining in and one of those is Guillermo Ariza from Colleyville, Texas. Welcome Guillermo and thank you for this great review of the San Antonio show and the fantastic pictures.

The Global Spirit Tour started for me with the private rehearsal in LA on April last year, being there in such a small venue seeing my favorite band in the world playing for only 40 people was an unreal experience; singing to Martin’s mic during A Question Of Lust or holding Dave’s forearm during Cover Me were unimaginable experiences until that hot afternoon in California. But everything comes to an end and the Global Spirit Tour finished for me in San Antonio on May 27th, and it couldn’t have been in a better way.

I was lucky enough to secure a front row ticket for the show, right in front of where Martin does his thing every night of the tour; the last time I saw Depeche Mode on front row was nine years ago in Mexico City for the Tour of the Universe and unlike now, I got that spot for being in line for 20 hours, good old days. Coming back to 2018, besides getting a good ticket for the show I wanted to stay in the nicest hotel in town, part for pampering my wife and daughter and part for hoping to see the band. Wishful thinking.

The day came and as we arrived to the Hotel Emma, the first thing I said was “Hey Martin! How are you?” He was at the hotel’s entrance with Peter greeting a friend or journalist, God knows who. I don’t know what he has but every time I see him I just feel that there’s this whole aura of peace and happiness surrounding him. The following day, the day of the concert, I was hanging around the hotel’s library and lobby, and after getting to know around twenty people, I saw Andy and Martin and was lucky enough to get a couple of autographs from each. Martin told me that he wasn’t supposed to give autographs in hotels but I convinced him with my eloquent line of “C’mon Martin be reasonable”. So off I go to the concert, the ticket included the VIP reception, for which I was terribly disappointed by the limited number of drinks (two). I didn’t care about the food as I just had lunch but this was far from the VIP experience I had in Italy on the Delta Machine Tour, which had unlimited drinks, all sorts of cheeses and Italian hostesses, all before and after the show, not just before as happened at the AT&T Center.

After the VIP reception I headed to my seat. BRMC were really good and here I was just minutes away from the start of a great concert. Revolution started so you knew the black figures would slowly start emerging on the stage, Martin would start playing the first notes on his guitar to give Dave (with sunglasses) the perfect intro on the second level of the stage. I just love this tour’s opening, the band’s rendition of Going Backwards along with Anton’s background sure delivers an epic start. Then came It’s No Good and one of my personal favorites, Barrel Of A Gun, which was the first song I ever heard of Depeche Mode when I was 9, and got hooked for life.

“Good evening San Antonio!”, it never fails, and it didn’t fail here, you could see and hear that the audience was fully engaged and eager for this night - the band hadn’t visited the Alamo city in almost 13 years. Then the live version of the Jacques Lu Cont remix of A Pain That I'm Used To was followed by the powerful Useless, although the intro didn’t sound as daunting as in previous tour’s versions. I missed Precious at the beginning of the tour but luckily here it was delivered in a beautiful performance with images of the band’s members fading away on the background. World In My Eyes was next, with the usual crutch holding, and then one of the most magnificent moments of the tour, Cover Me. You can feel and see that Dave really enjoys singing this beautiful song and he is proud of its simple yet profound lyrics. 

Then it was Martin’s turn at the center of the stage and he delivered the surprise of this leg of the tour with The Things You Said. This song alone could make any tour night worthy. This gorgeous melody was followed by Home and then Dave was back on the stage for In Your Room. A powerful performance of Where’s The Revolution made the whole arena rumble and they then just to led us into total frenzy with Everything Counts. Stripped was next and then while kneeling with his arms pointing to the sky, Martin waited for the beginning of Enjoy The Silence. He was all smiles during the song as usual. Never Let Me Down Again sounded powerful and glorious, accompanied with the encompassing lights and the sea of arms waving; not even at the Hollywood Bowl have I seen such a passionate connection from the audience during this song.

The encore took place with the audience holding their cell phones to show Martin and Peter a black night full of stars before they delivered the urgent I Want You Now. Then we saw what it’s arguably the best video on this tour with Walking In My Shoes, it just makes the song much more powerful, although I would’ve liked to see a more political take on the subject, like about refugees, but this video fits perfectly. A Question Of Time has surprisingly replaced I Feel You for a while now and this led us to the rockier version of Personal Jesus which the band has used for closing all shows this tour.

This was a fantastic night, the band delivered a very passionate show and the crowd responded back accordingly. As they were walking out from the stage Peter threw at me one of his guitar picks and one of the roadies gave me a setlist of the show, What else could I have wanted? Back in the hotel I saw the guys at the bar and met some great diehard fans as well.

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Thanks Guillermo!