WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME : DEPECHE MODE - LiVE SPiRiTS

I'm often accused of being unable to criticise Depeche Mode, seen as a cheerleader for the band unable to analyse their work objectively. Certainly my deep love of Depeche means that any new album is greeted with almost unbridled enthusiasm - my Spirit review is evidence of that alone - but when I do criticise the band, as I did when they released the pointless and amusingly expensive Mode boxset, I get criticised for offering a negative opinion. That's life I suppose, and if I'm silly enough to expect people to read things that I put up online about a band whose fanbase is, to put it mildly, dedicated then I am of course fair game. 

Depeche Mode split opinion in many areas, not least within their own fanbase. Everything they say, do or release is subject to levels of analysis that would make a United Nations debate seem under prepared. You know the battle grounds by now - Alan or no Alan, drums or no drums, obscure album tracks or greatest hits, anything new not being as good as anything old and so on and so on and so on until the internet runs out of space because someone in the Ukraine is telling someone in Montreal that the whole world changed for the worse when Alan left over two decades ago. It'll never end. 

Tours are one of the great uniting factors among Depeche Mode fans however. Everyone loves a Depeche Mode tour and the gigs are now huge communal meet-ups celebrating the best band there has ever been (note lack of objectivity - it was quite deliberate).Ok, not everyone loves the tours. People will always complain about setlist variation (very little of that since 1984 fact fans) or the new band set up, more of which in a bit, but, in the main, Depeche Mode fans love a Depeche Mode tour.

And Depeche Mode fans loved the Global Spirit Tour. The band played their biggest tour ever, taking in 130 mainly sold out dates. The enthusiasm for the tour was such that I managed to get all 130 gigs reviewed on this blog by fans who were at them and, in the main, the reviews were all positive. I went to nine gigs in total, from the Barrowlands to both nights in Berlin, and every one I went to was an incredible experience. Things like the new remixes of Everything Counts and Walking In My Shoes, "Heroes" at the London Stadium, Personal Jesus at the Barrowlands and three days in Berlin with friends old and new that I will never forget meant that the Global Spirit Tour was a remarkable event for me. I know many other people felt the same and so there was great interest in the live film that would inevitably follow the tour when cameras were noted at the Waldbuhne gigs.

Now, no live recording will replicate the feeling of being at the gig that was actually recorded; no-one would ever expect that. I was lucky to have been at the Waldbuhne and I genuinely thought that gig was one of the best Depeche shows I've been to as my review said. That night, Stripped sounded as good as it ever has done, a titanic track played against a backdrop of a glorious deep pink sky as the sun finally set over the stage. Never Let Me Down Again was louder than I had ever heard it and all the better for it and the whole set with the exception of the mood slowing Poison Heart and Where's The Revolution flew by, positively crackling with electricity from beginning to end. It was a special gig to be at and the crowd had an edge, infused with an unspoken agreement between us all that we would celebrate this glorious band in case, as is always rumoured, that this was going to be the last Depeche Mode show ever. The feeling that everyone present had that night could never be replicated but surely it could at least be hinted at on any release?. Surely LiVE SPiRiTS should show people just how good it was?

Sadly, it doesn't. This live album is flat. It's badly mixed, it seems too slow in places (play Stripped from this and then listen to the bootlegs - something has gone wrong somewhere) and, in places, it just sounds awful. It lays bare things you don't acknowledge on the tour such as a Depeche Mode gig being no place for a bass guitar or the sounds the band use on tracks like Everything Counts are weak cover band versions of the real thing, a real thing the band played for years with no need to alter it. There is far too much here that just doesn't fit - it's really strange.

Ultimately, it's just really disappointing. There are moments of absolute genius of course, such as The Things You Said (sigh...), Everything Counts' incredible intro (though PLEASE lose those bloody tom- tom fills - ARGH) and a quite glorious "Heroes," one of the night's emotional high points, but there are not enough of those moments. I usually try to shy away from the whole things-aren't-as-good-as-they-used-to-be thing, but it's no Devotional or 101. To be perfectly honest, the live tracks on the Limited edition 12" singles of Get The Balance Right, Everything Counts and Love In Itself have more life to them overall. 

The live album, a few tracks aside, isn't one I'll return to much if at all. The DVD is great to have because it takes me back to that glorious night in Berlin and there are moments on it that brought me out of my seat like I was celebrating yet another glorious Mo Salah goal (Liverpool have just won the league - let me have this) but it doesn't get across the energy the whole arena positively fizzed with that night. I've seen people take issue with a number of the performance aspects on the DVD but I'm not that interested in analysing Dave's dancing, Martin's bouncing/dancing thing or Peter's petering. I'm interested in the music and sadly, this release doesn't hit the heights I need it to.

As I've mentioned above, I would never expect that this release would allow me to feel what I felt at the gig - even for a Depeche Mode fan that would be a demand too far. What I expected though was something that at least sounded like I know the band sounded that night at what a special gig. What we've got instead is a decent enough show that sounds like it was played at a decent enough venue during a decent enough tour. Nearly two years on from the Waldbuhne, it doesn't serve as a memento of a great tour; it serves as nothing more than a reminder a tour happened.

And, believe me, as a band cheerleader, I hate saying that.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, WALDBUHNE, BERLIN, 25 JULY 2018

It's time for the final review of The Global Spirit Tour Project. When I started this I had no idea what it would involve, how many people want want to write blogs for it and how big it could get. At the time I type this (2pm on 26 July having just got back to Glasgow from Berlin), there have been a total of 625,463 individual views of the reviews and that frankly blows my mind. Thank you very much to every single one of the reviewers who are all absolute heroes, thanks to everyone who has helped promote the articles and thank you to you for reading. Here then is the final review. Part 135 of the Global Spirit Tour Project is a review of the last concert on the Global Spirit Tour at the Waldbuhne in Berlin and it's written by me.

Photo by Stuart Cowan

I'm back home after three days in Berlin where I saw both Depeche Mode concerts at the Waldbuhne. It seems appropriate that the band ended the tour there given their links to the city and the size of their German fanbase, so to say I was eagerly anticipating the concerts would be something of an understatement. Kevin May has covered night one already so I'll say nothing more about that gig other than to say Kevin's review is spot on. 

Onto last night then. I'd never been to the Waldbuhne before and I was amazed at how stunning a venue it is. The setting is incredible and the sound is perfect. I was travelling with my walking blog adverts Paul, Stuart and John and they were equally amazed at the venue. It is truly a magical place. We wanted to make sure of two things last night  - a good seat but, more importantly, a seat in shade. We're Scottish so the insane heat of Berlin was something very, very new to us. We survived the queue and got ourselves set up for the night to the left hand side of the stage.

L-R: Paul, me, Stuart and John. 

Every time that a Depeche Mode tour ends, the inevitable "the band are stopping after this" rumours circulate. I remember someone confidently telling me that the band were splitting up after the Tour Of The Universe for example. Was last night's concert the last time we will see Depeche Mode play live? I don't know and, beyond the band and their inner circle, no-one else knows either. The thought that this was to be their last show, a thought inspired by many more people than normal saying that was the case, was certainly on the minds of the crowd last night however. While there was certainly an air of celebration, that was flavoured with a sense of sadness in case this was it. I know I felt that way. If last night was their last ever show, then they ended on a spectacular high.

From the off the band were on top form. Going Backwards boomed across the Waldbuhne, setting the tone for the evening. While So Much Love had had a welcome return on Monday, It's No Good returned as the second track last night and absolutely thumped out of the speakers. You hear a song like that or like the titanic version of Stripped that came later in the set in this setting and you just know that this venue was made for Depeche Mode. The opening synth line of Stripped last night is possibly one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. It was breathtaking -  hearing that, watching the stage as the sun finally set and dusk fell, every single hair on every body in there standing on end, the entire crowd in a trance. 

In other words, I quite enjoyed Stripped last night.

I'm not going to labour the whole "is it over" thing, but there were points last night where the combination of that thought, the emotion of the whole event anyway and the overpriced beer in the bewildering selection of Depeche cups got me a little emotional. During World In My Eyes, the importance of that song and Depeche Mode to me dawned on me. I suddenly thought that this could be the last time I ever saw it played live and it was a really odd moment. I will admit to getting a few tears in my eyes at that point but so what? You want music to inspire emotion in you. You want it to move you. That's what Depeche Mode have always done for me as long as I have been a fan and last night was no different. I imagine 22,000 other people in the crowd felt the same at many points last night.

The setlist was interesting. I don't think anyone saw Poison Heart returning to any concert any time soon, but there it was. It does work in a huge venue with the "woah-oh-oh" part still sounding huge but it slowed things down a bit. Where's The Revolution had that affect too sadly but they are minor quibbles - everything else was spot on and the band played one of the best concerts I have ever seen them play.

Cover Me and Everything Counts were both magnificent. The singalong at the end of Everything Counts seemed like it would never end as everyone of us sung ourselves hoarse. Personal Jesus seemed to have an extra air of menace to it and Enjoy The Silence, my favourite song of all time, was just magical. The return of "Heroes" was nice too given the city we were in, and I though Dave delivered it magnificently. In London last June it transfixed the entire Olympic Stadium and it did that again last night in the Waldbuhne. Dave ended the song by saying "That one's for you Dave" pointing skyward as he did so. A lovely moment.

The version of Never Let Me Down Again last night was one of the loudest and most sinister versions I've heard on this tour. A towering electro-beast played at a volume that could flatten a city. Outrageoulsy good. During that song, I turned into one of those people that live streams gigs on Facebook. I know it's annoying but I felt I had to capture it. Suspend your disgust at the phone fuckwittery, ignore the fact my hand keeps "hilariously" appearing in the shot and enjoy the song for yourself:

Martin made my night by bringing back The Things You Said. I had never seen that song played live and it was just perfect. Again, I seemed to get something in my eye at that point. His other two tracks, Insight and I Want You Now were gorgeous too with I Want You Now having an epic singalong at the end. The absence of Home was a surprise but his three tracks were all wonderful. 

The night ended with the most recent surprise addition to the setlist, a surprisingly rousing and actually bloody enjoyable Just Can't Get Enough. There was a slight delay between the end of Personal Jesus and the start of Just Can't Get Enough and you wondered what was going to come next. At these points you always hope for Lie To Me or Rush or insert name of fan favourite, but the choice of Just Can't Get Enough was a good one. As with I Want You Now, it ended with a mass singalong, with both the band and the audience reluctant to stop. All good things must end though and Dave wrapped it up. As he did he shouted "That's all folks!" before the much analysed "We'll see you all some other time" followed. Cue speculation for the masses.

It genuinely was a stunning gig last night and it ended what has been an epic tour on a high. No-one left the venue feeling shortchanged, no-one left feeling flat. Everyone left on a high, buzzing after yet another incredible performance by this incredible band.

Depeche Mode and Waldbuhne are made for each other. See you some other time I hope - I'll keep my 2021 diary clear just in case.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

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And with that, The Global Spirit Tour Project is over. All 130 gigs have been reveiwed by fans and we've had a few specials too. The effort everyone has put into them has been incredible and I can't believe that people have given up their time to indulge this bizarre plan of mine. I have loved every second of it. To everyone who has been involved, thank you very much and I hope everyone enjoys reading and re-reading the reviews in the future.

What am I going to do with my time now?

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, WALDBUHNE, BERLIN, 23 JULY 2018

Throughout this project I've not asked anyone to review a specific gig as I didn't want to put pressure on people or ruin the show for them by making them feel they had to take notes etc. I made an exception to that rule however for this show as I really wanted Kevin May to review it. Not only are his reviews always excellent (this is his third for this blog) but, as Kevin wrote the second review of this thing for the Amsterdam show, him covering this show would given the whole project a nice shape. I asked and much to my delight Kevin said yes. Here's his review then and I know you'll love it. Thank you very much Kevin for the review, the pictures and for saying yes.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

This review, perhaps rather cheekily, is written with the benefit of having a few days to both absorb the gig and knowing what took place at the final show in Berlin two days later (thanks, David, for the breathing space). 

It makes sense, in a way, to have waited - so much emphasis has been placed on these last two dates as some kind of overall event on the tour, so neither can be taken in isolation. 

This, therefore, is a review of the first show, with a nod towards the Wednesday night extravaganza, written by David. 

***** 

Observers of the Global Spirit Tour specifically and Depeche Mode’s career generally will know that the closing months, weeks and days of a tour is a combination of excitement and concerns. 

Excitement because it’s the last time that thousands of fans will get to see the band and, equally, concerns because it’s the last time that thousands of fans will get to these the band. See what I did there... 

The four-year period of mourning that comes with such an occurrence is only heightened with each album and tour, as the band get older and creep up, ever to closer, to their sixties. 

This time it’s more acute: the length of the tour, the celebratory nature of many of the shows, even the recent change in Dave Gahan’s farewell at the end of each gig - elements that have conspired to give many fans the idea that this is finally it. Or at least there is going to be a change to four-year cycle. 

It’s with all that conjecture in mind that I head to Berlin, unable to see both shows due to work and family commitments but with a sense of relief that I have a ticket for the first night. 

Interestingly, despite the downbeat speculation littering the forums and fan pages over the last few months, there is no sense of foreboding in the air in Berlin. 

On the contrary, in fact - perhaps a sign that the introduction and widespread use of social media has often only served to amplify the noise that surrounds a band of Depeche Mode’s size. 

There are, in other words, thousands of fans who simply love going to see their band and have little time for the speculation. 

Such a lack of doom and gloom is very welcome, feeling slightly worried before flying out that fans may treat the two nights as some kind of sad goodbye, rather than a party to commemorate a 38-year career. 

(c) Kevin May

Indeed, there is a particular feeling in the air throughout the time that I am in Berlin. 

The day before the show, Sunday, for example, after wandering through the Tiergarten and listening to the extraordinary and massive Carillon tower (it has 68 bells, each connected to a keyboard some 42 metres feet high), a man and his partner stand beside me, decked in Depeche t-shirts. 

I hear the man say: “I reckon Martin would love a go on that!” – they both chuckle to one another, see me smile, too, and then nod knowingly and say: “Enjoy the gigs!”. 

Other moments include seeing a family, with fairly young children, all clad in black, climbing out of a van with Depeche flags and other paraphernalia on it. They’re all laughing and jostling around, messing about, on the morning of the gig, clearly excited about what lay ahead. 

The vibe is everywhere – let’s have a (black) celebration, not a funeral. 

The word on the street is that “free seating” ticket holders (i.e. general entry) have a good chance of getting into the first block behind the standing area if they 1) arrive early, as there are only a limited number allowed in, and 2) head for a specific entrance gate. 

With warm wine and beer (it’s a sweltering mid-afternoon) in bags, we head to the venue and find ourselves in a queue with several hundred other fans. We’re in the heart of the so-called Black Swarm.

(c) Kevin May

Strangely enough, this brief period of waiting is when the mood turns slightly low-key – the chants that were springing up as happy fans arrived from the various u-bahn and s-bahn stations have now stopped. 

It’s not a stony silence – just a contemplative and more hushed tone in the conversations between friends and loved ones. 

Once the gates open, the high spirits and high jinks return. The chanting resumes, the venue fills extremely quickly and early (it’s still only 5.30pm), the party atmosphere returns. 

I have probably not experienced the energy from a crowd as those filling the steep sides of the Waldbuhne since the Royal Albert Hall in 2010 or the Crystal Palace gig of 1993. 

It’s an extraordinary, perhaps slightly unworldly, feeling to be a part of it – something that the naysers will snort at but deep down will know that there are very few moments when a collection of people can create such an uplifting environment. 

And this is two hours before show time. 

DAF, the support act, do a solid job in the early-evening dusk but I would suspect many members of the audience would be hard pressed to see the German band’s presence as no more than mildly tasty hors d’oeuvres ahead of the main course. 

It’s a shame, but probably to be expected. 

There are a few factors about the night that will ensure anyone who attended the gig (or Wednesday’s climax) will remember it for a long time. 

But it’s not the set-list. All but two of the songs – Strangelove and A Question Of Time – were played at the first show that I saw, in Amsterdam, in May 2017. 

It’s not particularly the interactions onstage (they still outwardly appear to be enjoying themselves and one another a lot, 15 months in), or the always strong connection between the band – in particular, Dave - and the crowd. 

Nor is it the near-perfect delivery of the material (apart from Dave’s slip-up on the opener, Going Backwards), in part probably knowing that Anton Corbijn and crew are in town to shoot the final two gigs. 

Instead, consider elements such as the Waldbuhne location - it’s extraordinary, and should be a template for outdoor venues across Europe, rather than often lifeless stadiums and arenas that change their brand name every few years. 

Also, consider the energy of the crowd – creating enough goodwill and, dare I say it, love and adoration for their band, to ensure the intensity only increases as each song comes and goes. 

This isn’t the festival crowds of the previous month or so – this is a crowd that cheers the start of each song with the same gusto as the previous one, rather than waiting for recognisable tracks. It must be a relief, somewhat, to be back in front of a “home crowd”. 

Finally, consider that the party atmosphere that has been building for days and in the hours ahead of the show’s start has continued. 

It’s almost as if the crowd suspects that this may be their last chance to experience the thrill of a Depeche Mode show, so they demand the highest standards of themselves in terms for providing an atmosphere that will then be felt by the band. 

Some (myself included) have lamented the inclusion of I Feel You since, well, 1993 – yet tonight, for some reason, it doesn’t annoy me so much, if at all. 

We forgive the boys on this one occasion. 

The crowd welcomes back the wonderfully seedy Corrupt, also the best live version of Wrong that the band have ever created.

Cover Me has become one of the strongest moments in a set for any new song in the last 20 years, and even the criminally bare version of Strangelove seems to work. 

Still, one aspect of the Depeche Mode live experience that often gets overlooked is how sometimes the predictability works in a show’s favour. 

For example, at end of Home, the entire crowd know when to sing unaccompanied (unlike in New York City a few weeks back) but they also know that this is the moment that it’s likely that Dave will lead a rendition of “Happy Birthday” in the direction of the 57-year-old, Martin Gore. It starts in a section of the crowd in front of me before Dave even comes on-stage. These fans know what to do. 

It’s the familiarity with knowing that certain moves, lyrics, crowd chants, expressions, etc, are what make people feel good about themselves, which is therefore at the heart of the Depeche Mode experience. 

There is a collective jump in the crowd when the first thumping bars of World In My Eyes strike out, followed later in the song by the finger silhouettes of spectacles. 

The audience knows the exact moment when to carry on the final refrains of Everything Counts, or start the wheat field arm-waving display during Never Let Me Down Again (it is particularly jaw-dropping in a bowl-like venue like the Waldbuhne). 

These aren’t guilty pleasures, nor are they things to be scoffed at – there’s something to be said for thousands of people simply enjoying themselves, letting go and absorbing the energy that an experience can create. 

As Personal Jesus comes to a close, and the now continually cryptic “we’ll see you some other time” rings out, there is no obvious sadness still that this could be one of the band’s last ever shows. 

There is a group of four people, two rows in front of me, hugging and crying – not through sorrow but I can hear them saying (they are British) what an amazing time they’ve had. 

The crowd moves up to the top of the Waldbuhne, and many people look back down towards the bottom of the bowl, perhaps their own moment of reflection that it may be a last glimpse of a Depeche Mode stage. 

But then, as the audience drifts away to the various public transport areas, pockets of chants are heard everywhere – Home, Enjoy The Silence and, perhaps most beautifully, a gentle but long recital of the closing backing vocal of Waiting For The Night. 

Sometimes, words are very unnecessary... 

This is what Depeche Mode do/did to people. I guess we’ll find out how to end that sentence some other time. 

Footnote: 

It was somewhat (perhaps unintentionally) poetic that David asked me to review the penultimate show of the tour, with the blogmeister himself taking on the final gig – he started the ball rolling on this mammoth project at the opener in Stockholm, and then I penned the review of the second show in Amsterdam. Our respective reviews have book-ended the entire project! 

As someone who has edited newspapers, magazines and now online publications, I know about the tireless work that goes on behind the scenes to produce a body of work that readers will find valuable and enjoy reading. 

It goes without saying that without his unbounded enthusiasm for the project and passion for Depeche Mode, this series of reviews of EVERY SINGLE SHOW on the tour (just let that sink in for a moment) would have never happened. 

He’s edited every piece, been unfailingly polite with everyone who has contributed, and I’m sure has had a few hair-raising, frustrating and exhausting moments along the way. That’s what happens when you take on a project of this size. 

I am thrilled and honoured to have been involved with it. 

As this was the last review written by one of his contributors, I would like to – if my comrades will allow it – thank David on behalf of us all, for organising, hosting and connecting us, and for being an all-round top fella. 

Cheers. Kev and the Gang 

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Thank you Kevin