LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, PALEO FESTIVAL, NYON, SWITZERLAND, 17 JULY 2018

For part 2 of the Paleo festival review. we welcome Michael Pinzon for his first solo review. Michael has featured before when he co-wrote the Hamburg review with Claudia Schulzi and Thomas Ostermann so it's great to have him back again with this excellent review. Thank you very much for this Michael and for the pictures too. 

After Zurich on 18.6.17 and St Gallen on 30.6.18, Depeche Mode honours the Swiss for the third time. This time it was at the Paléo Festival, Nyon. 

The Paléo Festival Nyon has been in existence since 1976 and is thus the oldest and also the largest open-air festival in Switzerland. 

It will be held for the 43rd time this year. On six days more than 230,000 music fans meet here for over 250 concerts. And Depeche Mode were here before: They inspired the audience during their "Playing The Angel Tour". 

The Swiss fanclub

The journey to Paléo, about 200 km away, was organized by the Swiss Depeche Mode Fanclub (www.depechemode.ch) with a bus trip. In the bus, my wife Dominique and I, along with many other fans, also met Alexandra Fuchs (Red Goth) and her friend Thomas, with whom we enjoyed the whole concert. 

Michael (left)

The special thing about the "Paléo Nyon" is that it's not just about music. There is also a big culinary variety and a new theme is added every year. This year the theme of the festival was Southern Europe. There were a lot of food stands from the Mediterranean. 

After a refreshment and a walk through the many art installations, we soon had to queue up to get a good place for the concert. 

The great thing about the festivals is that after each gig a large part of the audience move to the toilets and food stalls and half the space in front of the stage emptied. Of course we took this chance to stand only 5-10 meters behind the Front Row center stage. I even fought my way to the Front Row to make a selfie with two colleagues who were already there at 10:00 in the morning. 

After only 45 minutes of waiting, Depeche Mode entered at 10:15 p.m. with a loud scream of catch. and started as usual with Going Backwards. Since we were very close, we could see Dave's facial expressions and facial expressions, Martin, Fletch, Gordeno (Jingling-Bernd) and Eigner (Drumming-Clown) very well. 

Everyone was radiating and obviously had a lot of fun at the concert. Dave was powerful as always, fired up the audience, never let them rest. 

The setlist is no longer a secret, the "Global Spirit Tour" which started with 22 tracks has long since become the "Best-Of Tour" with just 15 songs. With Just Can't Get Enough my 35th concert of this tour ended shortly before midnight. 

After a never ending car ride we arrived home at 04:30 o'clock satisfied and tired. Depeche Mode inspired at the "Paléo Festival Nyon".

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Thanks you Michael

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, PALEO FESTIVAL, NYON, SWITZERLAND, 17 JULY 2018

In the first of a two part Paleo Festival special, we welcome back Luisa Carones who has previously and splendidly covered Berlin and Milan for this project. It's great to have Luisa return once again and, as you'll expect, her review is another excellent read. A special mention too for Going Bankrupt - I think many of us feel that way! Thank you for this Luisa and see you in Berlin next week. Thanks also to Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group for the pictures.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

Festivals? 

So, here I am again at a DM gig – or, is it a proper gig? Because, as we all know, DM and Festivals are an over-debated issue in the devotees world. 

I am well aware that many of you are not super happy about our boys being part of a bill with acts sometimes – very often should I say? – DM fans couldn’t care less about. 

And that was my attitude too. As soon as festivals dates started to be announced, I said to myself: “I’m definitely not going to go: too many people who are not real fans, participation will be absolutely rubbish, too much stress, a whole day in the sun, or worse in the rain, listening to boring music, being pushed and trampled on, security levels below zero and, above all, a shortened setlist. No way!”. And I meant it. The only exception would have been Barolo because it’s not far from home, Italian fans are great, and I knew DM would be the only act on the night, simply supported by a short opening act. 

But then, you know, and I mean most of you REALLY know, how the DM bug starts working in your brain... What if it’s the last tour? I know I want to see them again. I am sure I will regret it if I don’t go. And so on. 

And so, from one only festival I was supposed to attend, Nyon is my sixth festival (and last, I promise), my 24th overall concert on this tour, and my new fix with the boys. In a way, I am really glad the tour is coming to an end because, as my friend and co-devotee Roberta said, “We are Going Bankrupt” more than Backwards.... 

Anyway, as I have written in my previous reviews, I always get ready for gigs just as if they were military operations because I want to make the most of the experience, but especially because I want to be as close to the stage as possible (as does much of the female part of the audience – I reckon I know the reason for this, right ladies?). Doing that at a festival is even more demanding because it requires not moving from your spot for hours and hours, with all that that entails... 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

The Wait 

Around Europe, for regular gigs, we are used to starting to queue very early before the concert, at least the night before (when it’s not 2 days before, as it happens in Italy and in Germany), giving numbers, following a sort of ritual which, by now, works fairly well – except for the usual drama at the time of doors opening. Well, forget about that at festivals! Which is not that bad, after all. 

Since normal festival goers are not as crazy as the Black Swarm, no one, and I mean absolutely NO ONE, starts queuing before the opening time. Paléo Festival is a very familiar and laid back event and, at 8.30 am, outside the gates, there were only just 5 or 6 of us hardcore fans, a number which got close to no more that 20/30 by the time the gates were actually opened at 3.30pm. 

Nobody even bothers about giving numbers, and all the normal people working at the venue just looked at us as if we were strange beasts. And maybe they are right: we are a little odd, aren’t we? The good thing though is that Paléo is such an easygoing event that they let us, poor crazy DM fans, in during the morning, just to enjoy the site, provided we exited by midday. I mean, WHAAAT??? Have you ever heard anything like that?! No ticket checking, no security checking, just walk in and look around... And so we went inside the area and we enjoyed the DM crew preparing the stage and sound checking....that was a real treat! 

Besides, the area of the main stage is amazing because it’s a huge field with the shape of a theatre, so everyone from the audience can see the stage perfectly, and I guess the view from the stage is amazing as well, since the artists can see people’s faces, not just an indistinct mob. 

So we stayed there for a while, we laid on the grass, and let the hours pass... sorry guys, I couldn’t resist.... 

Anyway, I went back outside the gates just past midday and it was a smart choice, because that was the only covered area of the site and at 1pm it started pouring. Well, it’s not a real festival if you don’t get a bit of rain, is it? 

Luckily, the rain lasted only half an hour and then the glorious sun was back again with a light breeze blowing from the lake, which dried the ground so that we avoided being in the mud dring the concert. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

Pre DM 

When the gates finally opened, there was just a bit of rush, but, with barely 50 people who were not even running to get to the main stage, I could peacefully walk – fast – the 400m to the stage and place myself in my favourite spot: front row, slightly on Dave’s left (and if you have read my reviews from the other gigs, you know why: I won’t go over the matter again, the ladies reading this will understand anyway). 

There were just 2 bands before DM started and I must say they were both pretty good. The first act, starting at 6.00 pm, was Altin Gun, a Turkish-Dutch group which, in my opinion, perfectly represented the folk spirit of a music festival. They sang in Turkish, with a fantastic Oriental flavour, but they also sounded very international, with a hint of a ‘70s vibe, but still very contemporary. I would suggest you check them out. After all, this is the aim of a festival: you get to hear things you didn’t know of. 

The second act was a more traditional rock group, from Iceland, Kaleo, whose lead singer really has a great voice, controlled and educated a bit more, but that is my personal taste. He is really goodlooking: he had his share of teenage fans screaming. Overall, they were good and they made the whole crowd dance, which is always a nice way to spend your time while waiting for the main act. Much better than other festivals I have been to this summer (Liam Gallagher anyone? errm...) 

By the time the second band had finished their set, the place was absolutely packed and the atmosphere was full of excitement. It was finally getting dark and the weather was absolutely perfect. So, it was time for me to plunge into my personal DM trance. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

15 songs 

As we know by now, the setlist for the festivals is made up of just 15 songs, but, even though I would love to have Dave singing all night, I have to say that for a festival it is the right amount of time. People have been on site all day, at least the whole afternoon, they have had plenty of music to enjoy, it is a mixed audience, it is often very hot (or, worse it could be raining), so, no one can really complain if the concert does not last 3 hours. And the majority of DM fans are not getting any younger... 

I know that many diehard fans are not happy about the choice of the songs, but I think it is a good setlist for a festival, with a good balance created to engage festival goers who may not be familiar with DM and their music. The first part is perfectly balanced with A Pain That I’m Used To setting the crowd into motion with its fast pace and then the melodic structure of Precious which is a popular tune and which is always well received. I’m not going into World In My Eyes because I do not want to get carried away by talking of certain moves with that damn mic stand, you know. And then the second part is just amazing: hit after hit after hit. 

The Nyon crowd was really participating, they all answered to Dave’s inputs and prompts, even during the first songs which in other dates fell a bit flat. At least that was my impression from up front, where, of course, the most devoted people were. But from what I heard, the reaction was great for every song. And I could see it reflected also in the faces of the band on stage. They looked to be enjoying the show as well. 

By now I know every single move and gesture of everyone on stage, since they tend to repeat what they know works with the audience, so we got the usual stuff, always delivered with utmost skill and craft. It still amazes me that they can look so fresh and on top of their game after so many concerts. 

I can just underline a couple af different things: the Pollock backdrop to Going Backwards is slightly different from the one used throughout the tour (I noticed it had changed at Mad Cool in Madrid, I do not know in any other places), and Dave knelt down during the instrumental part of Everything Counts, when he shouts “Take it boys!”, just before pretending to yawn. So much for the innovations! 

But they are so good, their music is so brillant, that, no matter how many times you have experienced them live, they just blow your mind. Dave’s vocals were absolutely outstanding, he was really focused on delivering a stunning vocal performace, especially before the final rush from Everything Counts on, when, of course, the entertaining aspect takes the upper hand. He introduced variations and subtleties that the attentive fan could notice and appeciate, and, maybe thanks to the place itself, there were moments of sheer emotion. I noticed that especially during Stripped and the chorus of In Your Room, when Dave let the crowd sing “Will I always be here” standing with his open arms: in those moments, the darkness on stage, the spotlight on Dave, the smoke around the scene, and the wind from the lake, created an utterly magical combination: goosebumps. 

Another great moment was, of course, the wheat field: at festivals something astonishing happens. Even normal people take part in the wave, everyone is so involved that they lap up Dave’s commands in a flash and, when the whole floor waving is shown on the big screen, the roar from the audience is absolutely deafening. Last night in Nyon was exactly like that and my hair literally stood up at the back of my neck, even though I have often been part of the wave and I do not usually really get emotional with it. I think this is because festival goers are not used to such scenes and so their reaction is over the top, while we DM fans are really spoilt and we usually just look around to see if our ritual is working fine. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

See You All Some Other Time 

Yes, Dave said that at the end, but I am not going to speculate. I’m sure that if and when they feel like it, they will get together once more and the cycle will start all over again. 

So, all in all, my festival experience was really worth it, at least at smaller festivals, because I got to enjoy different aspects of the DM world. 

Now, it’s time to say goodbye to this wonderful journey which has been the Global Spirit Tour for me. Thank you David for having me on this huge project and I’ll see many of you in Berlin for the final bow. Take care!

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Thank you Luisa

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, OPEN'ER FESTIVAL, GDYNIA, POLAND, 5 JULY 2018

Phew - this was a close one. Every day there is a gig, I post about on Facebook, tagging the reviewer in the photo. After I'd done that for this gig, I was emailed by the reviewer who said he wasn't going and had forgotten to tell me. Ah. Luckily, my Facebook feed then showed my friend Mototaka Fujii had checked in at Gdynia Station ahead of the concert and, two emails later, I had a reviewer. Having met up with Moto a couple of times already on the tour and ahead of us meeting up again next week in Berlin, it's great to have him write a review too and I know you'll all love it. Thank you so much for stepping in Moto and thank you for this superb review, pictures and video. 

To me it all started with yoghurt. 

Whilst waiting for a airport coach to Skavsta airport, which is a 80 minute ride from Stockholm Central I saw Pressbyrån, a local "Seven Eleven" opening its door. Yawning and sleepy I decided to pop down and purchase a drinkable yoghurt before boarding. Living in a nordic country, paying with card is just as natural as breathing - so I had no doubt that it was going to be a quick in&out; get the yoghurt and back quickly to the queue. It was 05:30, half an hour before the departure.

Beep… the display said “Payment not allowed on this card”

“Hm, strange. Maybe I run it too quickly“

Beep… “Payment not allowed on this card”

Cleaning the magnetic area of the card, I said to the cashier again, “that’s weird, could you please run it one more time? It's not expired so it must work.”

Beep… “Payment not allowed on this card”. She asked me if I had cash with me.

“Yes I think I do...”. Taking out the last remaining coins in my wallet, I settled down the deal reluctantly.

Upon leaving the place a horrifying thought came up in my head. Having all packed and ready and you are almost there but travelling with a non-valid card? Even though all was pre-booked and sorted you still need something for transport and eating! Then I suddenly remembered receiving a new card from my bank for a while ago due to possible fraud. T minus 25. Race against the time has began.

The following half an hour was spent on a hell ride of bicycle back & forth. Luckily my flat was 10 minutes away from the station at full speed, so I grabbed my bike and cycled as fast as I could. As if my arse was on fire, I threw the bike away at the door and flown into the house searching for the letter from the bank. Luckily it was left where I last saw it. “This darn thing better work!” - convincing myself I checked the time again. It was 05:45 - 15 minutes until the departure. Missing this will cause another hour of waiting. What if something happens on the road I will definitely miss the plane and ruin the whole trip! Grabbing the bike I set my arse on fire again and headed back to the terminal like a rolling stone. 

A fair number of travellers were already inside the bus by the time I arrived. How ironic, you thought you were among the very first one in the queue and the next moment you are the very last one! 

Finally securing the seat, I felt sweat running down the spine like I was taking a cold shower. “What a brilliant start, this trip is going to be interesting…” 

So it began. The trip to Gdynia, Poland to see Depeche Mode live at Open’er Festival. How scary, things would’ve come out differently had I not been thirsty and popped into Pressbyrån.

After a stressful start the only way was up. I started thinking of the trip, festival, all the fun I had looked forward to. Being a food lover I was eager to try local food. Poland is famous for its dumplings and soup in bread. So there was no way I would leave the country without trying them. 

Then a thought kept coming back. One that has been lingering since the last show I saw in Odense about a week before:

Depeche Mode on a festival tour. More than a year after the start. What is it left to enjoy when they have been touring for so long? What is the focus of the tour now? Would they stick to the standard setlist that they have established on the latest leg (15 songs)? 2 songs from the latest album Spirit. Is it still possible to call it for Global Spirit tour? Would they change a song or two considering that they are given a 105 minute slot? Would Martin sing The Things You Said tonight? 

Following the Home forum for its wonderful real-time setlists as well as fabulous live reviews on Almost Predictable, Almost, it was clear that the chance of any changes was down to 1:100 tonight. Same old? Yup. No more surprises? Nope. Just another gig? Most certainly, yes. For going to see multiple shows you would need to see it with another perspective. Having seen 18 shows in 13 countries on the current tour my mind was therefore set elsewhere. For me it was no longer about the music only but about being “in the moment”; being away from family, enjoying the whole trip, trying local food/culture, and hopefully meeting a few friends I knew. 

So it went. Arriving at Gdynia Główna train station, 8 odd hours later I was starving for food. Having remembered pork dishes being very popular in Poland, I opted for Żeberka, pork ribs at a local restaurant. Slow boiled and well flavoured with grill sauce the meat was incredibly soft and tasty. Simply exquisite! Happy and stuffed I checked in at a youth hostel around the corner. Funny enough, as soon as the receptionist saw me she smiled and without an intro said “you must be Mototaka, here is your room number” I guess being an Asian devotee in Gdynia is like coming across a limited edition of Spirit “red vinyl” on a shop display in a very small town; it’s so obvious… Haha

It's Called A Pork

The festival site was easily accessible by free bus services from Główna, the main train station of Gdynia. A wonderful treat by the organiser, making it easy and trouble-free for the visitors. Within 20 minutes we were left outside the Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport. Further walking down, the massive stage emerged at the end of a huge parking. As with any concerts the sight of a stage is always exciting, enough to make your expectation grow again.

Thanks to the place being an airport, the stages were built on one gigantic catwalk. “Orange main stage” on one end and the other “tent stage” on the other end. The whole runway was like a mile long mall packed with food court and various shops; all from clothing to vinyl, play areas for kids, and plenty of lawn to sit on. It simply offered everything you could ask for to have fun and comfort.

Well on schedule Ørganek, a local band came on playing an edgy & powerful set of rock ’n’ roll. Sounding like a Polish answer to 70’s punk (Ramones) & 90’s alternative rock (Foo Fighters), the response from the fans was loud and positive. The singer was very active on the stage, inviting the audience for singalong. A pity that it was all in sung in Polish and i didn’t understand a single word. All in all every country has local heroes only popular among the locals. I imagine they are like Kent in Sweden, another band that I have followed for many years.

Festivals are about discovering new bands as well. After the loud rock it was time for MØ, a Danish pop diva that I’ve never really checked before. A nice mix of electronic pop and dance music accompanied by an energetic performance, it reminded me of Grimes and Robyn. She stepped off the the stage quite a lot, standing among the audiences and singing with them. What an entertainer and pleasant surprise! Will definitely check her out more.

By the time DM were starting the place was getting packed. I mean literally jammed with 60,000 strong fans. It was so crowded that there was no more space to move around in the area before the stage. Standing on the right side of the soundboard I positioned myself to catch the best sound possible (for those who don't know me, I am Kompakt Mode on Youtube putting out self-filmed material). Martin Gore edited pre-DJ music slowly building up the mood. ”Deeepeche Mode! Deeepche Mode!", inpatient crowd clapping hands shouting for the boys to start. I knew Polish fans are one of the loudest, so being there gave me a total shiver down the spine. What an atmosphere! 

22:00 - VSK’s “Echinopsis” suddenly faded out and The Beatles Revolution kicked in. What an effective way to start the pre-show intro. Still loving it after having heard the same thing so many times before!

The rest is history to me. Again the band was in top form. How they can keep up with this level of intensity night in night out is still beyond imagination and a great mystery to me. Dave looked in a great mood, looking very impressed with the number of people. He screamed “Gdynia!” several times during the show, proving that he really WAS having a great time. The show went on without any lengthy chat between songs. Funny how little they talk after all these years. The only talk-ish moment was the intro to the last number where Dave said “We are going way back in time, you weren’t even alive!”. For this reason I can totally understand why it matters so much for many (including myself) with what Dave says at the end of the show: “See you next time” or “See you some other time”? The former means they would be back again with another album and tour? The latter no more? 

The setlist was indeed the same old one. However, the audience was different to any other that I had seen. They were really loud! Even though I was standing fairly far from the stage you could really see many happy faces enjoying the time with the band. The show ended with Just Can’t Get Enough with an extra singalong. Being a festival I thought it was a ok closing song. A song everyone remembers with the lyrics so easy to remember. Even though long time fans would consider the set to be one of the weakest and predictable in the DM history, I’m hoping it would’ve left some impression on newer generations that may have heard their songs but not really known who was behind it. All in all, that’s what a festival is for - getting to know new bands and checking out who they are. In that term Depeche Mode managed to offer a good selection of tracks. 

PS: At the end of the show Dave said “See you some other time!” Well, I for one hope he meant just for this festival, not necessarily for the next tour and album…

So it was over with the show. 100 minutes of rock solid performance. However the festival was not ending yet. It went on with Massive Attack, true headliner of the evening. Having seen them twice before (1999, 2009) and loved the first 3 albums, my expectation was high. Like I remembered from the last one in Stockholm they played a set of chill-out electronica with hypnotic and organic sounds. The inventor of trip hop? To me they are beyond that. It was extra nice to see them playing instruments like analogue synthesisers to re-create the album sound, but with so much depth and sonical dimension. 

So the festival ended for me. An evening with a well-organised festival that I really didn’t want to leave. Tired but happy I arrived at the hostel almost 4 am so all I needed was to crawl into the bed and get some sleep. 

4 hours later I was up again. Funny how your body works when you are determined for getting something like food… No matter how tired you are, the body wakes up on time and ask for nutrition in exact time of the day. After a quick sandwich and coffee from Zabka, a local convenience store, I checked out the hostel and set my course to Pierogarnia u Dzika in Gdansk. 

Built in the 10th century Gdansk is an old seaport in Poland. Within a few minutes walk from Główny main train station, you are in the middle of the old town surrounded by what look like buildings in Amsterdam. No wonder, it was the Dutch architects who originally designed the entire city in the 16th century, to be rebuilt again in the same style after the destruction in WWII. Pierogarnia u Dzika, the restaurant I checked out was located right in the old city.

Like I had read on Tripadvisor, they came with food quickly, serving first the mushroom soup in bread, Tyskie beer, then the much awaited pierogi. The soup was excellent, what a nice way of eating whilst scratching for the bread pieces inside the bowel and eating it altogether. The pierogi was very tasty and filling as well, topped with crispy bacon and onions which made additional flavour. Even though my feed were killing me after having walked miles at the festival it was totally worth coming! 

So that’s how it went. A short but super-intensive in&out. A Depeche Mode concert in the wonderful city of northern Poland was nothing but a pleasure. If they came back to Poland on the next tour I would certainly do all I can to go back again and try all that the country has to offer and more.

Last but not least below is the entire film that I put together. Those who went to see it - I hope it brings back lots of nice memories. It certainly did to me.

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Thank you Moto!

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, MAIN SQUARE FESTIVAL, ARRAS, FRANCE, 7 JULY 2018

Today's review comes from Stephen Lawson from Richmond, North Yorkshire. Stephen has been a long time supporter of this blog from its initial days as something I rambled about on Twitter, so it's really cool to have him review a gig for the Project, following on from his mini review of London Stadium, a gig that seems at least 3 lifetimes ago. As part of his mini tour of Depeche's slightly bigger tour of France, Stephen went to Arras and here's what he thought. A really enjoyable read Stephen - thanks. Thanks too to Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group for the pictures. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

For my first overseas DM show (I’m English), I headed to Arras in France. Not last weekend, but way back on 29th 2006 on the Touring the Angel tour.

I have fabulous memories of that gig. The amazing Goldfrapp were support, the small city was gridlocked and it took hours to crawl from the motorway to the city. And it was very hot and sunny.

I think there was a danger that such a great show could perhaps not be repeated 12 years later. It turned out that show wasn’t repeated, and I’m pleased it wasn’t. This was the same city, the same band, but a different experience. The weather was hot again, the traffic was pleasantly far better organised and there was no support as such as this was festival time. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

The venue had changed. In 2006 the show was right in the city setting in the ACTUAL Main Square, surrounded by arcaded Flemish style architecture. That had a really magical feel. This time the festival, which has outgrown single shows in the city, is set a little out of the centre in the picturesque area around the citadel. The crowds were big but for once I wasn’t doing that really fast walk/run to get as near to the front as I could. Why? Because there was a World Cup Quarter Final game to watch! Without going into too much detail, it wasn’t hard to find bars showing the game and lots of people were gathered to watch before heading off to the show. For once, that all went rather well and relatively stress free. So my feet were already bouncing as I headed into the festival.

It was a fairly large area and the crowd was big. I couldn’t get that close but was comfortable to have a bit of room, especially in the heat. The other acts were ok and came and went. Even got a few Oasis tracks from Liam which I enjoyed and which got the crowd singing along. On to Depeche Mode. Like most or us, if not all, I would prefer a normal show to a festival but for this leg that’s what we’ve got. The familiar sound of The Beatles announced the imminent arrival onto the festival stage (not the same set up as the previous legs but what appeared a generic festival set up). Now I know this is still Global Spirit, but I don’t think Going Backwards is the right opener for a festival crowd. It’s not recognised and it’s not a song that you “get” on first listen. Having said that, Dave gave it his usual gusto and strutted on with all the familiar moves.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

The set list followed what is now familiar and the boys certainly seemed bouncy and energetic. It’s clear they are still enjoying performing even after well over 100 shows! Maybe the football result had something to do with that?

The audience was pretty good for a festival, a bit patchy, but large sections of Devotees were probably in the majority. For the casual fans, there was enough in the performance to entertain and enough familiar tracks. Cover Me is a great song and holds its place well, Somebody is a beautiful track but not what this setlist really needed and it sapped the energy a bit.

The first half of this particular set list isn’t packed with the biggest of hits and for the crowd to really get going the combination of the darkening sky as night settled in, and the opening notes of Everything Counts were the triggers. For me, Everything Counts has been ‘the’ track of this tour, sounding fresh and relevant and getting audiences at every show to bounce up and down and sing along. From then on the audience was carried along and sections of Devotees were not so easy to spot now amongst the crowd. Personal Jesus rocked the arena and the hands were swaying in the familiar field of corn wave as Dave orchestrated the mass participation as Never Let Me Down Again closed the main set. 

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

The encore is pretty punchy for festival goers with the epic Walking in My Shoes and the masterpiece Enjoy the Silence. By now, the band had the audience just where they wanted them and Dave was doing what he does best, getting us to respond to his every command like a puppet master expertly controlling his puppet show. The final track was Just Can't Get Enough, not one I particularly enjoy, but it really does go down well with the festival crowd. I’m not ashamed to admit I was singing along, and whatever the band really think of this song, they certainly performed it like they believed in it. That done, I hauled my sweaty (recently turned 50-year-old) body back to a waiting bed. It was worth the journey - it always is.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

Is it a perfect festival setlist? For me a 15 or 16 song set should have packed in some more big hitters and especially in the first half of the set. If the band can throw in Just Can't Get Enough, then surely they can stick in something like Strangelove or Master & Servant early on. But that’s being picky I guess. From Everything Counts on, the set is so energetic and carries the festival crowd along on a wave of collective euphoria when the Devotee numbers swell for an hour or so to include most of the obviously happy crowd. For me, next stop Lollapalooza Paris and I can’t wait to see the best band in the world again as I know just how lucky I am to still be able to enjoy these spiritually lifting experiences, having been a fan since way way back from the time of A Broken Frame.

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Thank you Stephen.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, OPENAIR ST GALLEN FESTIVAL, ST GALLEN, SWITZERLAND, 30 JUNE 2018

For the last time on this tour, Claudia Schulzi returns, providing her 6th review for this Project. It's safe to say that I couldn't have completed this without Claudia's help and the fact she's taken time out from her own mammoth touring effort and her own blog to write for me is something I'll be eternally grateful for. There are few people I've met who are more devoted to Depeche Mode than Claudia so her views of the live show are always worth reading. As you'll see, and as many of you are experiencing yourselves, a Depeche festival set offers an entirely different perspective than a Depeche standalone gig set. Thanks so much for this Claudia - see you in Berlin.

Picture courtesy of Depeche Mode Classic Photos & Videos Facebook Group

Depeche Mode at Openair St. Gallen or "Going Backwards"

Thank you David for the great opportunity to write a review again for your amazing blog. You've done an unbelievable job to organize a reviewer for really every concert of the Global Spirit Tour. And I like the different views of all this devotees from all over the world. This is networking in its best way, wow, I'm impressed. So I'm proud the be a part again of your great work. 

I took a flight on Friday evening to Zurich. The weekend started with 2 and a half hour wait for the plane. I arrived so much later than I thought, I was tired after along working day and the evening with the friends I visited was not as relaxed as I thought it would be. But we spent a wonderful Saturday in the garden of friends, most of the time in the pool and this was a good way to prepare for the Openair in St. Gallen. However, in St. Gallen I stayed in a different hotel than my friends and through strange circumstances I lost them and so I spent the festival alone.

In earlier times, in the 80's, I traveled alone most of the time and sometimes I liked it really much, you are free to go where you want, when you want. The festival was very well organized, you picked up your bracelet at the "Welcome desk" at the St. Gallen main station. It was loaded money on a chip, with which you then could pay everything cashless. Then you took the Shuttlebus to the festival - a huge area with so many huts with different food and drinks. It was really easy to get a beer because nobody has to look for money, you paid with your chip very fast.

I came just in time to see the last few songs of Chvrches. I think a lot of you know them as supporters of Depeche Mode on the Delta Machine tour. The mood was very good, they got a lots of applause. After their set all the fans left the lawn to enter the food and drink area, so it was really easy to get in the fourth row in front of the microphone of Dave, but I decide to wander around while the concert. At the beginning I stood on the right side, very close to the stage, but the mood was not so good there - a typical festival audience. Depeche Mode was only one of many bands for them, so I found a better place on the left site where many people sang and danced to the music. 

Depeche Mode started with Going Backwards. This song is a very good opener, strong music, very good lyrics:

We are not there yet

We have not evolved 

We have no respect

We have lost control 

We're going backwards

Ignoring the realities.

Don't forget, dear devotees, this is my view. I really confess I don't like the festival setlist. There are only two songs left from the new album, only hits, a bit like a carousel ride, up and down. It's No Good, A Pain That I'm Used To but then Precious....  I missed Barrel Of A Gun, one of the best songs of this tour. I know it is not easy to play on festivals and you have to play hits, but they have so many hits yet every time they play the same songs. Basically this meant for me it was a very good decision to stand so far away from the stage. It was time for another beer. 

After World In My Eyes, Dave sang Cover Me with great verve. There was no catwalk, but he danced his moonwalk on the stage and this was a wonderful moment. Martin sang Somebody. This song makes me really sad every time. The lyrics are strange: "Though things like this, make me sick, in a case like this, I'll get away with it."

Dave came back with In Your Room. I love this song, but I'm so bored by the video of Mr. Corbjin and for the festivals it would been better they didn't use the the videos, because everybody was looking at the video and not at Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode are very professional, they did a very good show, Dave smiled very often, but much of the time he is more an actor than a singer. He always makes same moves. I know, he always did, but on this tour he became a parody of himself, a living anachronism. I asked myself if I had become an anachronism as a Depeche Mode fan? Maybe we survived ourselves......"Going backwards"

Everything Counts is always a highlight but this version lacks the impact it had on the Winter tour. Now it was only another hit single of Depeche Mode, not the star of the show like on that leg. The carousel struggled up the mountain with Stripped, then went into freefall with Personal Jesus. Last week I was at the Isle of Wight Festival and was really surprised by this setlist change. Personal Jesus not as the last song? My world broke at this moment, it was such a hard shock. I cannot understand why they do this. As the last song plays, you can dance one last time with everything you have, but  Personal Jesus at this point uses up all your energy, leaving you exhausted to fight through Never Let Me Down Again. 

I decided to drink another beer while Depeche Mode sang Never Let Me Down Again. I never thought I could do this, I went to buy a beer while that song played but there was no best friend in this moment. I was alone in Switzerland, lost in Switzerland. Depeche Mode came back after a short break with 3 encores: Walking In My Shoes, same situation with the boring video of Mr. Corbijn, then Enjoy The Silence. They changed the setlist! I thank god, because at the Isle of Wight festival it was the last song. They cannot leave the stage when Enjoy The Silence is the last song. I love this song, but it feels like standing in a never ending rain, a rain of tears - it doesn't work as the last song. So „ Just Can't Get Enough is a worthy end for this part of the tour. It is time for this old song. Dave announced it with "We are going back a long time..." We are going backwards? I did not care, I danced happily to this easy listening song, singing every word with Dave.

Depeche Mode and me, anachronistic as we are.

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Thank you Claudia.

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, COLLISIONI FESTIVAL, BAROLO, ITALY, 2 JULY 2018

For her last show on this tour, Katia Gigliotti returns to review her second show for this project following her Turin review on 11 December. As we'll see, a festival crowd is very different from the usual Depeche crowd, but once again Dave wins them all over. Thank you very much for this superb review Katia and for the great pictures too. It's great to see the blog t-shirts getting out and about!

I do not like festivals. That's a fact. But I do love Depeche Mode, so when I heard about my fave band coming to one of the nicest spots in Piedmont, I couldn't help going.

People have been queuing for two days before and when I arrived in Barolo, after work (somehow I have to earn money to spend for music and football), it was around 5 p.m.  and the small Colbert square was already crowded in the front rows. It was so hot that, to survive, I decided to stay aside, by some trees, to enjoy some shadow, but I wore very high heels, trying to see from an higher perspective: I can assure you it was a physical act of bravery.

I could not work out where to base myself at the festival: where I was, you could breath, but you were continuously punched and pressed by people looking for their way to the bar, to the toilet and to find other friends. That happened not only before the show, but also during the opening act  - Marlene Kuntz, a quite famous indie rock band of the late 90s from the area.  Very good musicians, but I personally have found their music not very interesting; it seemed to me the singer's voice disappeared in the noise of the other instruments.

Katia wearing some exclusive merchandise

But in the front rows, you could not breath, you were packed like sardines in a can, continuously pushing and fighting to keep the position. We were very close to the stage though -  if you stretch your arms you feel can almost touch them with your fingers.

Another thing about festivals, or, at least, festivals in Italy, is the security staff. Their mantra is live and let die: that is, as long as you do not bother me and, instead, bother other people, we are ok with that.

I found the DM fans community one of the most gentle, kind, amiable and I always found good friends in Italy and abroad, devotees are unique and this project is one expression of that (thank you David!). During festivals however, you can find a lot more of rude, unkind and uninterested people, and this affects also the pleasantness of the concert. At the end, that is why I do not like festivals.

Another side effect of festival is the reduced set list: DM started with the usual Revolution intro at 21:15. Dave jacket on, appeared from one side of the stage (smaller stage: no catwalk, no top stage as per other concerts).

Dave was, as usual, so elegant and self-confident from the very beginning: his voice warm and overwhelming, but too much confidence led him to make an error on the first song. No problem, he recovered immediately, dominating the stage, his voice perfection, but he is human after all and I enjoy these small mistakes that break the routine.

Jacket off for the second song, It's No Good, and Barolo is already in flames. Martin looked so pure in his white suit and shining with a nice glitter under his eyes, whilst Fletch caught the audience moving and shaking since the very beginning (sooo cute, I adore him).

After many concerts, and many reviews, the setlist is probably not the most interesting thing to read, but even if you can hardly find a surprise in the show, every gig is different and every song has a slightly different effect on the crowd.

Dave shaking and rotating with the mic stand (I would fall on the ground after the first turn!) on A Pain That I'm Used To", then the sweet Precious led to World in my Eyes. Dave kept going with his usual touching, even if he started songs before his personal sensual show in the show: half of the crowd wish they were the mic stand.

Cover Me is by far the best track on Spirit, and it is incredible how it caught the audience, even without the usual trip on the catwalk.. As my devote friend Emilia says, this music, like the song of the sirens of Ulysses, imprisons you in an ultra-earthly dimension: takes you away, in the Cover me spacecraft, to another galaxy with a pentagram structure.

It is one of the best moment of the show, or at least the one that touched me more: from love to love. After Cover Me, the only Martin moment of the show, one of the most passionate, intense, touching renditions of Somebody I have ever heard. I guess I was not the only one that brought into tears. This song is my religion, it is the best love song ever without ever using the word love a single time.  It was so incredible and all the crowd was so taken, that, coming back on the stage, Dave asked Barolo: "Wasn't that nice?" and then "wasn't that beautiful?" Yes, it was, Dave. Indeed.

To recover from such emotions, here is the wonderful In Your Room (another of my favourites) and oh that video! I love those dancers, the colours. I saw it several times already (this is my 7th and, unfortunately, last date for the Spirit Tour), and I never get bored.

Dave looked very chatty, inspired, sending kisses to the audience. He seemed happy on the stage, like he tasted one of the finest wines in the world, Barolo (no idea if he loves wine, but maybe Fletch and the crew did enjoy it - David, if you haven't yet, you should come here and try).

Time flies and the songs rapidly follow one another: "Everything counts", "Stripped", "Personal Jesus"; the setlist is quite short, with the unavoidable (luckily!) Never Let Me Down Again and the usual wheat field, in the land of vineyards and it is, sadly too early, time for the encore.

Time to appreciate the beautiful video on Walking In My Shoes and then Enjoy the Silence (I still found a guy in the crowd dressed like the king of the video: with such a hot temperature!) to end with the one and only surprise for this leg: an incredible Just can't Get Enough.

I know most DM fans do not like that song so much and maybe neither DM themselves, but I was so impressed by Christian and the band keeping the song so up-to-date with this drum sound, and its impact live has remarkably improved, compared to its first appearance in this tour.

I kept singing and thinking I just can't get enough. And I really can never get enough of Depeche Mode, despite all of this sweat, beer pouring, feet hurting and neck elongation trying to see something over that sea of heads and dozens of mobile phones (we luckily get rid of one old guy using a tablet during the opening act!). I would be ready to do it that again and again, because Depeche Mode are not only a band, they are my religion, they are a way of living, they are a link among fans, that link that seems to have existed forever even if you just met.

Maybe I am not impartial being a fan, but a friend, commenting the show wrote "Only once in my life had I seen an equally seductive frontman: it was another time I had seen Depeche Mode". Would you disagree?

See you another time, promised Dave leaving the stage. I'm counting on it.

A special thanks to Depeche Mode for being what they are, and an incredible thanks to David for letting me be part of the project "Almost Predictable. Almost".

Setlts:Intro Revolution (The Beatles) Going Backwards It's No Good A Pain That I'm Used To (Jacques Lu Cont remix version) Precious World in My Eyes Cover Me Somebody In Your Room Everything Counts Stripped Personal Jesus Never Let Me Down Again

Encore: Walking in My Shoes Enjoy the Silence, Just Can't Get Enough

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Thank you Katia

LIVE REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE, VOLT FESTIVAL, SOPRON, HUNGARY, 26 JUNE 2018

As the festival season continues, Depeche Mode's final lap of the Global Spirit Tour continues too. On 26 June, they headlined the Volt Festival in Hungary and Stephan Bobinger was there to review it for the blog. You might recall Stephan's wonderful Nuremberg review from January and once again he has written something I know you will all enjoy. Thank you for this and the great pictures Stephan.

It’s strange. I saw 17 DM concerts in 30 years (1984 – 2014) in total, seeing them much more than I saw other band, yet I am here in Sopron, Hungary for concert number 17 only on my personal Global Spirit Tour with Depeche Mode. But for the first time for me, it’s a Mode concert at a festival – and a special one indeed. 

You may have read my report on the concert in Nuremberg in January 2018 which marked my thirteenth on this tour which was followed by concerts in Vienna, Helsinki and Riga, each special and - like always - really good experiences. They were also my last indoor concerts on this tour. That meant they were all dry and, in the case of Helsinki, even so clean that you could eat from the floor AFTER the concert. As they concerts were indoors, the temperature was always nice and cool too. 

Going to a festival, I expect something different, in summer maybe hot temperatures, maybe a lot of rain or the opposite. The weather forecast for Sopron was 22 degrees (3 days before it was 10 degrees hotter) and no rain at all, or only a bit in the late evening. I went to Sopron by train via Vienna and when I arrived at the station (still sunny) there were the first guys in Mode shirts to be seen. The festival signs in the magenta color of Telekom were everywhere in the nice town. 

A special thing about this festival is that every headliner gets a special designed chair as a present, to sign or paint something on it. And the chair stays afterwards in Sopron in public. The chair of our boys will be (after the festival) in the outdoor area of an ice café/restaurant in the center, next to the chair of Linkin Park (headliner in 2017 and the singer remembered through the festival in spots, r.i.p.). 

There are two type of festivals Depeche Mode are playing to, most are typical festivals with dozens of bands, a few headliners, a lot of very young people (more into fun and drinking) all of which last for about 3 days. Usually the VOLT-Festival is about the same I think, but for one day it was the other type of festival Depeche Mode are playing to. This day, June 26th, was officially Day 0 (Zero!) of the 5-day-festival with day tickets more expensive than for the other four days with other well-known bands like Hurts or Iron Maiden. 

Day 0 was the Depeche Mode day – in many respects. 

A bus shuttle brought me from the station to the festival site. At 3pm there were still not so many people inside, with many people building their tents next to the festival area before going in. About 4 bands were already playing at different stages, most of them Hungarian, and some of them played just to a handful of people. At 4 pm it started pouring - I guess there is a law that on the first day of any festival the floor has to be changed into mud? Well, finally it wasn’t that bad in Sopron and the last of the rain stopped just a quarter of an hour before Depeche Mode entered the main stage. That meant they could even dry the stage floor a bit. 

Three hours before, right opposite to the main stage on the smallest festival stage, a Hungarian DM tribute band called “Das Modell” played a concert, so about 100 Mode fans got a nice warmup with Black Celebration, A Question Of Time, Behind The Wheel and Photographic. Not a good band sadly. If you want to see a really good tribute one I really recommend the Berlin band “Forced to Mode”. But still it was nice and fun, anyway. 

On the main stage there were only two bands on that day. First a Hungarian hiphop band Belga, which I didn’t like but to get a good place I had to “enjoy” them and Depeche Mode entered at 9 pm. 

After 8 pm the whole festival site filled and everybody came to (and for) Depeche Mode. In the end it should have been about 30,000 people there. It was much more like a Mode concert with the people knowing even the Spirit songs (only 2 in the festival setlist with Going Backwards and Cover Me) and the band were received with an enthusiastic welcome. As always, the band played as if they were having a lot of fun and seemed to enjoy that concert. 

There were two big side screens and a bigger one behind the band. So everyone in the back could watch them. The sound was really good for an outdoor concert (at least at my position, centre, maybe row 20 from the stage). 

After 16 concerts I had seen 32 different songs on this tour, so I didn’t expect any new ones until a few days before the concert. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew which setlist they played on their first festival in UK and so I hoped for two personal tour premieres for me: The Things You Said and Just Can’t Get Enough. 

The concert started as usual with Going Backwards but for my first time with Dave starting singing in the front (I liked that). It’s No Good showed Fletch much more often on the screens than usual (one more like). Barrel Of A Gun is missed in the festival set however. They speed things up however with up with the next song -  A Pain That I’m Used To. 

Now according to the UK festival, Precious was expected but as a small surprise the band played Useless before Precious. No other song is welcomed so differently in concerts. In Vienna or Riga it was the breakthrough to elevate the mood , here in Sopron it was just nice. World In My Eyes elevated the mood even more again and Cover Me is always one of the highlights on this tour. 

Now, waiting and hoping for the Martin song… YES. The Things You Said. I was lucky to hear/see this song about 30 years ago in Munich, but hell, now it sounds so much more grown up – how could they dismiss it for 30 years? 

In Your Room – a fantastic song – but make sure not to watch the video on the screen but Dave’s performance. After that the Depeche Mode party really gets running and the audience got really wild – and how! Everything Counts better than ever followed by my all time favorite Stripped and next Personal Jesus, no longer a closer on the tour (and that’s right!). About one year ago, I was in the stadium concert in Budapest and the most impressive thing was the 100%-waving audience at Never Let Me Down Again. The Hungarian mode fans are really the best at this and they were again in Sopron. Really fantastic! 

The encore started with Somebody (still my favorite love song) and Walking In My Shoes but then a small (negative) surprise for me when Enjoy The Silence started and I had expected that it would be their last song. But they just changed the sequence to the festival before and finished this fantastic concert with Just Can’t Get Enough (announced by one of the longest speeches of Dave in history: “Thank you very much, than you. We’re going to take you now far back ln time now. A loooong looong time ago.”)  You can love it or hate it but it’s a perfect festival song. 

Which brings me to an interesting but academic question: Which is the perfect closer for a Mode concert? Never Let Me Down Again like on last tour? Personal Jesus like on this tour? Enjoy The Silence like in the Isle Of Wight Festival? Or Just Can’t Get Enough like in Sopron? Or one of the very special closing songs like Goodnight Lovers, Waiting For The Night or Goodbye? 

Sorry my answer is: Behind the wheel with Route 66. 

That’s all!? No, not in Sopron that night. The festival continued with live bands and a lot of DJs on the other stages and the longer the night, the more Depeche Mode songs were played. On the biggest stage the DJ even dared to play songs like Here Is The House and Sacred. Also, just 50 metres opposite on another stage, the DJ Black Asteroid mixed live songs from different artists including of course  Depeche Mode. You might remember that he made some official remixes for the band, e.g. on Soothe My Soul. 

So, it was a really good festival experience with Depeche Mode and it eased the waiting time for my final three stages on this tour in Madrid and Berlin. 

See you (almost) all at the Waldbühne.

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Thank you Stephan