LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, AIR CANADA CENTRE, TORONTO, JUNE 11 2018

This review of the final 5th leg show comes from Tara Salt who is returning with her second review of the tour after her superb Dallas one from last September. As you'll read, Tara is a veteran not only of this tour, but of much Gahan interaction too. She was at this show with two other Global Spirit Tour Project contributors Amanda and Marcel and, as you'll see, they commemorated the tour in a spectacular way. Thank you so much for this review and the photos Tara and for all your help on this bizarre project too.

 

Literally one year ago today, as I write this, I flew into Frankfurt, Germany to get ready to see my first show of the Global Spirit Tour. 365 days and 15 shows later, it has now come to a close for me with the last date of the second North American leg - Toronto. It has been one hell of a year, packed with amazing memories. I’ve had such a great time with all of my fellow Mode friends, both old and new and in a way it was bittersweet that night because walking into the Toronto venue, I knew I wouldn’t see many of them for quite some time. 

The Toronto show day flew along as usual. I went to the VIP pre-show party and dinner with my friends and then from 7pm to 8:30 I spent time walking around the venue meeting up with more friends that I had come to know over the past twenty years of following DM on the road. Originally I had been able to score second row tickets for the Toronto show but in Boston I bumped into a big fan who had also spent decades following the band. She had an extra front row ticket for Toronto but hadn’t been able to sell it. She was incredibly kind and sent it to me just before the Toronto show so we could have a great time watching the concert together. (Thanks Kristin!) We were then able to bump up our own friends closer to the stage as a domino effect occurred from this generosity. By 8:30pm we were all set and the lights came down and the familiar Beatles song Revolution started to play..

Since I have been front row for pretty much the entire tour except for Nashville, David has been awesome with including me and my friends and other big fans I know in singalongs. He found me early in Toronto since I had also seen the Chicago and Boston shows on this leg and he was quick to point me out, give me a big grin, and a welcome bum wiggle. The crowd was definitely good that night, though slightly less enthusiastic than Boston, and the band responded in kind. I found A Pain That I’m Used To was particularly fantastic and it’s always good because Martin and Peter come front and centre to join David and I just love the energy between the entire band for that set. During Precious, David came over to me and we sang along together - precisely the line “My God what have we done to you?” After finishing that line he grinned big and I laughed hard and it’s those kind of moments that make being in front so worth it. 

Cover Me came on and David went out on the catwalk to do his iconic rounds and it was then that I finally broke down and cried. I particularly adore this song and it was at this moment that it truly hit me that this was my final show of the tour. Martin played The Things You Said right after Cover Me and I continued to cry because I too adore this song and it’s been a thrill to hear it live this leg seeing it hasn’t been played in 30 years. I was finally able to calm down to enjoy Home. Home of course being the perfect ode to how most of us DM fans feel, having been given such an incredible gift from the band - the music, the lifelong friends, and the deep connection to others who share our passion. 

I had some concerns about the setlist changing for this leg because having been a fan for so long, we do tend to get more tired of the “hits” than the average fan who attends the shows. However I have to say, I was not disappointed or bored by some of the additions in the way I thought I would have. Every time I say I’m bored of Personal Jesus or A Question of Time, they surprise me by re-working the song live making it interesting all over again. This tour I really LOVED Everything Counts because of the massive way it was overhauled. It worked so damn well and the crowd, every show I attended, went nuts for it. 

After the show I was lucky to go backstage for one final time to say hello to the band and I was thrilled that my friend Marcel was finally able to meet Martin. He’s been travelling overseas to see DM in North America for the past few tours so it was great to watch them have a good conversation. We wrapped up the night watching Martin play foosball and getting incredibly passionate seeing his team was given a run for their money during the game. ; ) 

This tour has been a favourite of mine for so many reasons. A few days after the show, Marcel, Amanda and I got our first tattoos to commemorate both the tour and our love for the band in general. I love Spirit so much and I’ve had so much fun while on the road (Hello Marcel, Diem, Amanda, Crystal, Rahul, Erik, Joanna, Sophie, Pina, Alex, Sarah, Emilie, Mike, Sandy) I also want to shout out to all my long time friends who I met on the road again as well as all of you who I met for the first time this tour. You all know who you are! Depeche Mode are more than a band for so many of us at this point, they’ve gifted us with lifelong friends and opportunities for travel. For that I am eternally grateful.

Cover Me (or at least part of me)

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Thank you Tara.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, STARPLEX PAVILION, DALLAS, 22 SEPTEMBER 2017

The Dallas review comes courtesy of Tara Salt who many of you will know as something of a Depeche superfan. Tara has been to almost as many gigs on this tour as the band have, usually with fellow reviewer Amanda Chaffee. Tara's Dallas review is a great read and, like her, I can't believe people are sitting down during a Depeche Mode gig. That's madness. Thanks to Tara for the write up and for the superb pictures too.

I have been watching Depeche Mode play live in Texas since the Exciter tour. I made a lot of DM friends that tour and I’ve always had a great time going back to see and party with them whenever the band hits town. Earlier this year when tickets went on sale, I had to make the decision to drop Texas from the list of shows I planned to see because the VIP Front Row package ended up being over twice the cost of the last tour. So why am I writing this review of the recent Dallas show? Because Irma got in the way you see..

In the second week of September, I sat at my desk in my office carefully monitoring the hurricane situation in Florida. Things got worse and eventually, the Tampa DM show was cancelled. I spent two hours on the phone cancelling the Florida hotels, concert tickets and flights and rerouting all of our plans to Texas. I felt an odd mix of upset and excitement but I was just relieved to have our new plans in place. Through Ticketmaster, we were still able to buy front and third row so this pleased me a lot. I do like to see the band up close. I’m a self admitted front-row-aholic, just because it’s such a drastically different way of experiencing the show. David makes it hard to be further back because he’s really awesome about playing around with and giving attention to fans he recognizes throughout the show.

Prior to attending the Dallas concert, we set off to a pre-show dinner that was set up for all of the Texas fans at a Mexican restaurant. It was wonderful to walk in and see the Texas DM crew all in one spot. We got to hug, talk, and catch up with each other. We then headed off to the venue. A good friend of mine, Erik, dropped us off as he went to find parking. Amanda, Joanna and I set off across the beautifully lit up parking lot towards the venue entrance. The sun was setting, painting a brilliant pink sky. The Ferris wheel in the background just made it all look so peaceful. 

The Dallas crowd took a while to warm up. They seemed to open up and really enjoy the show by Cover Me. Amanda and I were third row on Martin’s side and were horrified to see a large swathe of people sitting down in the first two rows. Some even left mid way through the show and never came back! On the bright side, this just made it easier for David to see us and so the singalongs commenced. The best was during Poison Heart where David held out the microphone to us and we sang mightily together for a verse. I have really enjoyed these moments throughout the tour. I have to mention that the heat that night was pretty intense so that might have explained the less ardent crowd. I was happy to see the enthusiasm really step up for the last half of the show. In North America, the singalongs after Home haven’t worked well. Only Toronto, Montreal and the second night of New York managed to get it done right. Having said that, the North American crowds seem to particularly adore and respond to Everything Counts. The Dallas crowd responded very well to the song that night and sang for a long time after the band had finished. It’s by far one of my favourite song versions on this tour and it was great to have such enthusiasm about it from the crowd that night. 

It is important to note that on the day of the Dallas show, Depeche Mode released their own version of "Heroes" as a Highline video session to commemorate its 40th anniversary. Bowie, having given the band so much inspiration over the years, is celebrated with a gorgeous rendition of the song included on their setlist every night. It’s been a joy to watch David sing this as he is right in his element and pretty much smiles throughout the entire song. David usually interacts with the crowd during "Heroes" but in Dallas he kept largely to himself, perhaps because of the momentous day. It made this performance of the song more personal, intimate and moving. Peter also comes down from his keyboards and joins Martin on guitar so it’s a fantastic emotional song to watch live with everyone so involved and up front. The band seemed in good spirits that night and gave it their all and the crowd responded in kind. I was happy to have made it to one of my “hometown” shows since the Texas fans are always a fun crowd to be a part of. It made my tenth concert of the tour definitely memorable.

See you next time Dallas!

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Thank you Tara