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, AIR CANADA CENTRE, TORONTO, 3 SEPTEMBER 2017

During a Depeche tour, it's easy to see the Black Swarm as a gang of Depeche Mode obsessives with room in their lives for Depeche Mode and no-one else. There are other bands out there though, and fans of those bands are fans of DM too. One such fan (that clumsy intro had to get somewhere eventually) is Ryan J who runs the Nine Inch Nails live archive which you can find here - click - and who you must also follow on Twitter @ninlive . His site is an absolute treasure trove on Nine Inch Nails material and is a must visit. If you like Matthew Wolfe's DM Live Wiki , you'll love this too. Anyway, back to Depeche and Toronto specifically. Ryan is having a mini DM tour of his own and I was delighted that he agreed to review this gig. Enjoy his wonderful review and live snippet. Thanks as ever to Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook group for putting up with my thieving. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

I’ve been fortunate enough to take a nice vacation around the Great Lakes region to see Depeche Mode for this tour. Up to this point, I have seen them in Clarkston, Chicago and now Toronto. Following this date, I will see them at Madison Square Garden for their two nights at the iconic venue (I already saw night 1, it was awesome). I have been a fan of the Mode since I was born, thanks to my dad, and was able to see the show with him in Chicago with my brother. But now lets get to the Toronto show. I arrived in the afternoon for the small 4 hour jaunt up to Toronto from Detroit and was ready for the show. The setlists had been the same the previous two nights of the tour I had seen and I had still not looked at any of the previous setlists from Europe, just so if there were any wrinkles, I would be surprised.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

I had seats on the side of the stage, and for me, I would be taping the show (for all who don’t know me, I run the Nine Inch Nails live archive and have been recording concerts as a hobby since I was 12 years old) so I did not need to see the visuals as I had seen them the two previous nights. Not to mention, this would really help with capturing the best sound. So I was in the lower bowl all the way on the last row, but my vantage was still good for the whole stage.

I love that Martin picks some techno to warm up the venue after Warpaint (who have been awesome on this tour btw, great group!) and the ACC was PACKED. I know it was a sold out show, but I’ve been told that Toronto brings it in terms of Mode fans. They did not disappoint. Toronto was loud all night. Up there with Chicago a few nights prior. I spoke with the fans around me, and you can tell that people in Toronto were passionate about the band. I have family in Toronto, so any time I go up there you can see at record stores and around town that there is a big following of Depeche. Probably the biggest in Canada, no doubt.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

The lights went down at 8:45 and the show started with Going Backwards into So Much Love per usual. Now I have to say, just like Delta Machine, the new tracks translated well live for the ones they used. They fit right in with the old tracks that they have been using on the tour and they didn’t feel out of place. Spirit is definitely one of my favorite albums post-Wilder, for sure, especially because the songs translate so well to the live show. Just so I’m not rattling off the whole set of what they played (you can see it below), it has been the same setlist that has been played on the whole tour. I can see why they would do this, especially for time constraints and the lighting/timing for the show. Barrel Of A Gun is always a favorite of mine, and I love the bridge at the end that Dave does. Not sure where that comes from, but it’s a nice switchup for the song. (APA - Dave's singing a bit from The Message by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five).

The classic In Your Room album version is so nice to hear instead of the Zephyr Remix. I do like the ‘rock band’ feel of the band nowadays, but sometimes I really do miss the backing tracks and synth setups. This brings it back a little bit. Although, I am a “younger” Depeche fan, I still like when they go back to their roots/classic sound. Speaking of sound, ACC sounded GREAT! I just want to say that whomever is mixing Depeche this time around has it dialed in! The bass at these shows are incredible. I’ve always touted Kraftwerk as having the massive bass, but this show rivals it. Especially Christian’s kick-drum. Right before intermission where Martin comes out to do a few songs, I have to say that Cover Me is one of my favorite songs that they play out of this set. The visuals, the lyrics, all just are emotionally epic. I am looking forward to the remix album that is coming out and I am hoping that Recondite and Dixon’s remixes will be on some sort of release of this single (as I didn’t see it on the vinyl).

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

Then to start the second half of the set, Poison Heart has to be my second favorite track of the new ones they play live. I was really bummed when I heard they wouldn’t be playing it earlier this year. So when it was in the set, I was stoked. Real raw and bluesy. Dave’s songwriting has come a long way from his first album he put out and you have to give him credit. To my surprise, they have been playing Wrong for this tour, as SOTU is not rated highly by me at all and is the only album I don’t own of theirs. But it sounded so great in Toronto. The fat synth notes were so apparent in the mix that it vibrated your chest cavity. The chemistry between Martin and Dave up on stage could really be seen during this and you can see they are genuinely having a good time up on stage which is awesome to see, especially after all these years. Stripped also sounded amazing and I took my earplugs out for this one just to see how loud the arena actually was. As the first two shows I saw were amphitheaters, there was no place for the sound to go and the crowd was insane. So loud, especially as they started to play the ‘hits.’ It reminded me of some of the older tapes I have heard from Toronto at CNE and Skydome during the Devotional Tour. I can only imagine what it was like to be there during those shows. What I love about the old tracks is that they don’t have these long bridges in the middle anymore. Depeche just comes out and plays the tracks and you get more songs.

Best part of the show was the encore. 30 minutes of encore tracks, you can beat that! Covering "Heroes" is such a cool track to play of Bowie’s and their version rocks. Peter Gordeno is such a talented musician, dude can literally play anything and I remember him just rocking out to this song on the bass. This was also the first show I saw the catwalk and during Personal Jesus Dave was running all over the stage. Felt like watching the recordings I have from 1990 all over again! lol. Depeche is up there in age, but they still bring it live. The band is tight, and the music is faultless. True perfection when you go see them live. This is why they are one of my all time favorite bands and even though the setlists are still the same, I would see the show multiple times on one tour. because it doesn’t matter how many times you see the same songs, the music speaks to you, and you remember the good/bad times that these songs helped you through. Not to mention, seeing them play for 2hrs and 15 minutes is the longest they’ve played in North America, ever.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

As I write this, I’ll be heading to MSG for their final night. But Toronto was a spectacular show because of the fans and how well the set was executed. Not to mention the tape sounds pretty good. :) Each show has been unique, but sometimes the journey of getting to the show is what makes it so special and the train ride through Ontario is very pleasant if you ever make a trip from Toronto to Detroit. Anyways, enough ramblings from me. Thanks for the opportunity to write for this project and I hope to see the Mode back “on the road” in the near future.

Pre-Show/Intro
Going Backwards
So Much Love
Barrel of a Gun
A Pain That I’m Used To
Corrupt
In Your Room
World In My Eyes
Cover Me
A Question of Lust
Home
Poison Heart
Where’s The Revolution?
Wrong
Everything Counts
Stripped
Enjoy The Silence
Never Let Me Down Again
Somebody
Walking In My Shoes
Heroes (David Bowie)
I Feel You
Personal Jesus

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Thanks so much Ryan.

BELIEFS - GET THERE

If you're a regular reader, you'll know how much I loved, and indeed still love, Beliefs' 2015 album Leaper (http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/beliefs-leaper.html). Its mix of prime shoegaze atmospherics and wonderful, joyous noise was a truly great thing and it's an album I've forced upon many people since I first heard it. 

The band have now released Get There as a free download which is a track that was recorded during the Leaper sessions. Get There is a collaboration with Elsa's Jonathon Rodgers and it carries on the impressive work of Leaper, all woozy power and atmospherics at the intense end of the shoegaze spectrum. It's a winner basically. Download it entirely free of charge below:

NAILBITER - FORMATS

Nailbiter is a solo project of Josh Korody from Beliefs, a band I've already gone on about many, many times on here. Whereas Beliefs music is indebted to shoegaze power of the likes of Ride and My Bloody Valentine, Nailbiter draws its influence from the great industrial sounds of the 80's and 90's, with Formats bringing to mind elements of Throbbing Gristle, Coil and Nine Inch Nails when they focus on crunching instrumentals. It's a brilliant album from beginning to end and it's currently the soundtrack to early spring in Glasgow.

A track like Splatter is a perfect example of how good this album is. Driving rhythms and beats combine with walls of electronic noise in an aggressive but curiously almost calming way - the same can be said of Concrete City too, which is another standout. It's an album that deserves attention basiscally, and if you like your electronic music experimental, edgy and, ultimately, loud, this is for you.

Formats by Nailbiter is available on Hand Drawn Dracula and through Nailbiter's Bandcamp page

Nailbiter Bandcamp https://nailbiter2.bandcamp.com/releases 
Nailbiter Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nailbitermusic

BELIEFS - LEAPER

Toronto's Beliefs release their second album Leaper on 13 November on the ever impressive Hand Drawn Dracula label. Leaper is an album of shoegaze influenced indiepop that pays homage to the likes of The Pixies, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and even The Wedding Present, who are a personal favourite of mine, so all the signs point to something very good. What you ultimately get is an album that is as fresh as a daisy, full of fuzzy guitars, great washes of noise and superb melodies, leading to an album that is surely bound to make Beliefs pop up on many people's radars.

Opener Tidal Wave is as good an example of what's to come as anything. An opening feedback squall leads to an MBV like drone of distorted guitar and your attention is grabbed from the off.  I don;t know if it was deliberate or not, but the Dinosaur Jr referencing lyrics ("You're living all over me") are a nice touch. It's a superb start, yet it's trumped by the simply outstanding 1992 which is one of the best things I've heard in ages. Part Pixies, part joyous guitar pop, 1992 is a track you HAVE to hear and you can so below - you can't fail to love it.  Colour Of Your Name comes next sounding like The Wedding Present circa Seamonsters but having fun. It's a summery feeling track albeit one masked in wonderfully fuzzy guitars. Drown and the title track take the pace down a notch, focussing more in atmosphere albeit with added feedback and aggression in the latter which compliments the mood nicely before the excellent pop like Ghosts arrives, wrapping you up in its loveliness.

The album is basically a succession of impressive tracks that doesn't relent at all. Morning Light is another noise encased pop gem and it's followed by Go Ahead And Sleep which reminds you of Ride at their most intense before they let Andy Bell have too much influence. The penultimate Leave With You perhaps suffers by comparison to the breathless opening nine tracks of the album but, that said, it still impresses. The record then ends on the brilliantly titled Swooner which starts off quieter than you might expect but builds to a booming, echo laden climax that ends the album perfectly.

As I said at the outset, Beliefs are band you are bound to hear a lot about soon given the quality of Leaper. There is no harm at all in making a record that pays homage to your influences, as long as there is enough of you in the record itself. Beliefs more than achieve that with Leaper and it is an album that you really have to get your hands on.

Leaper by Beliefs is released on 13 November on Hand Drawn Dracula. It's available on download an a limited edition of 300 translucent green vinyl. I've managed to get one.

Beliefs Facebook https://www.facebook.com/weareBeliefs/?fref=ts
Hand Drawn Dracula Beliefs Artist Page http://handdrawndracula.com/artists/beliefs/

HIGH JINX - CLOSE TO THE SUN

Today we once again look beyond Scotland, venturing to wonderful Toronto where we find synthpop duo High Jinx. Comprising Ranny Lee on vocals and Mark Moby Holman on musical duties, the band produce a bang up to date take on classic synthpop with songs that you simply can't get out of your head once you've heard them. Their new single Close To The Sun is a prime example as you can hear below. Clean, hook laden electronics mix with superb vocal melodies, producing a near perfect example of modern synthpop - it's quite wonderful

It's not all about Close To The Sun  however as High Jinx have already produced a back catalogue of hugely impressive electronic pop. Check out the Cut And Run ep for example - it's a real gem and displays the many facets to High Jinx work perfectly.

One of the many joys of writing this blog is discovering new music and 2015 has already been quite a year for that. High Jinx are yet another band to add to the list of new discoveries for this year and, believe me, you're going to like them.

Close To The Sun is available on High Jinx Soundcloud page and Cut And Run is available now through ITunes.

High Jinx Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/highjinxmusic

High Jinx Official http://www.highjinxmusic.com/

High Jinx Facebook https://www.facebook.com/highjinxmusic?fref=ts

BELIEFS - 1992

It can't all be Scottish music or Depeche Mode reviews around here. You might remember that I featured a band called Rolemodel earlier this year - their Claire e.p. is one of the finest things I've heard this year and one you really must check out (http://almostpredictablealmost1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/rolemodel-claie.html).

Anyway, Rolemodel's e.p. was released on the Hand Drawn Dracula label which is based in Toronto and for the lat few months I've been checking out a lot of their stuff with all of it being really rather cool. I'm particularly in love with 1992 by Beliefs which I thought I'd share here. It's the first release from their forthcoming album Leaper and if 1992 is anything to go by, it's going to be an album you definitely want to hear. Imagine Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and The Pixies having a fight - the result is 1992.

Leaper can be pre-ordered from the Hand Drawn Dracula Bandcamp page here (https://handdrawndracula.bandcamp.com/album/leaper). I've already grabbed one of the 300 limited edition vinyls so be quick. While you're at it, check out Hand Drawn Dracula's whole catalogue as there is a lot there to love. The XIV compilation isn't a bad place to begin exploring - that's available directly from their site.

Hand Drawn Drcaula - http://handdrawndracula.com

Hand Drawn Dracula Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HandDrawnDracula?fref=ts

Beliefs - http://beliefsmusic.com

Beliefs Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/weareBeliefs?fref=ts

INTERVIEW - APACHE DARLING

As regular readers will know, I'm something of a fan of Glasgow's synthpop duo Apache Darling, having first fallen under their spell last year when I heard their superb debut single More Than Me. I'm not alone in this as the band's fanbase has steadily grown since that song's release through a series of much talked about live shows, radio appearances (including an appearance on Radio Scotland's Janice Forsyth show this week) and their second single Firebird. Big things are surely about to happen for Apache Darling and this Saturday they take their first steps towards whatever those big things may be with an appearance on the T Break Stage at T In The Park. That will swiftly be followed by an appearance at Glasgow's King Tut's on 21 July as part of that venue's Summer Nights 2015 month of gigs. I caught up with Apache Darling, who are Stefanie Lawrence (vocals) and Andrew Black (synthesizers), to have a chat about T in The Park, King Tut's and more.

APA: You've got some fairly high profile gigs coming up, starting with your appearance on the T Break Stage at T In The Park. Daft question I suppose, but are you looking forward to it?

Stefanie: YES! We honestly can't wait. Although Apache Darling is just over a year old, I've been wanting to play T In The Park for years. For this to be our first U.K. festival show, and with it being the 20th anniversary of T In The Park, it feels like a perfect start.

APA: What can we expect from your T In The Park show?

Andrew: People who have seen us playing live before can expect a totally new experience with this show. We've ditched all trace of backing tracks, which was something we felt strongly about doing, and the band has a much greater energy as a result. Expect huge electronics and pop writing, but with the feel of a pretty heavy rock band. Mixed with the atmosphere of T, it should be an epic sound!

APA: Hot on the heels of that you have King Tut's on 21 July with AmatrAnt, Miracle Strip and Le Thug. That's a rather cool line up - you must be excited?

Stefanie: Yes again! We're really just excited to unleash this new live sound and I think that the line up for Tut's will make for a really exciting night. We still have some tickets available for this one which you can buy via our Big Cartel store for only £5 (http://apachedarling.bigcartel.com)

APA: King Tut's obviously has quite a status as a live venue. What are your thoughts about playing there?

Andrew: We love it. It's of course a very famous venue, but it really does live up to the hype. It's kind of the perfect size and when it's full of people, the energy is amazing on stage. We've played there once before. We've played there once before, but it was a last minute thing and our band weren't involved, so it'll be fun to play there with live bass and drums, and in front of a crowd who know our sound.

APA: You recently played in Toronto at NXNE - how was that?

Stefanie: Toronto was a really special one. We're unsigned and don't even have a manager, so the trip was fan-funded, something we're immensely grateful for. We played two packed out shows in one night and gained a lot of new fans. Canadian audiences are great fun and take live music very seriously: they really have a sincere respect for musicians and Toronto especially is a great artsy town.

APA: What are you plans for the next few months? Can we expect an album?

Andrew: We've just spent a week working on our live show with a musical director from England. He's worked on stadium shows for guys like Robbie Williams and currently tours with Bryan Ferry, so he really knows what he's doing and has really helped us enhance our sound. We're aiming to record some new material in Autumn and start putting out new tracks by the end of the year. We also have some more shows coming up that we'll be announcing soon, so follow our socials for updates on those shows (links below).

Thanks very much to Stefanie and Andrew for sparing the time to chat. As you've read above, keep an eye on the band's Facebook page (Apache Darling Facebook) and follow them on Twitter at @APACHEDARLING for all upcoming gig info.