Depeche Mode<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”writer-band-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”22px” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
O2 Arena, London, January 2024<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code module_class=”star-rating-container” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”] The black-and-white film playing across the \u201cM\u201d-shaped screen at the back of the stage shows Dave Gahan and Martin Gore in Grim Reaper hoods, playing a Seventh Seal-style chess game in the video for Ghosts Again, the first single from last year\u2019s Memento Mori. The real-life figures beneath, however, are spinning quite a different story. Twirling around in hectic circles, arms outstretched in his turquoise-panelled waistcoat, Gahan suddenly comes to a figure-skater stop and holds the pose like he\u2019s waiting for the judge\u2019s perfect score, a moment of preposterous theatricality that highlights the ever-fascinating dichotomy at the heart of this band.<\/p>\n This is, inescapably, the Memento Mori tour, Gahan and Gore now operating without Andy \u201cFletch\u201d Fletcher, who died in 2022 and whose face poignantly fills the stage during a monolithic World In My Eyes. They have always been (as artist Jeremy Deller\u2019s 2008 film Our Hobby Is Depeche Mode underscored) a band who demanded to be taken very seriously indeed: \u201cI give in to sin \/ because I like to practise what I preach,\u201d sings Gore on tonight\u2019s underground cabaret take on Strangelove, a perfect summation of their peak transgressive appeal.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u201cWe Had To Find A Way Of Becoming Friends\u2026\u201d Dave Gahan speaks to MOJO about the loss of Andy Fletcher and how it ultimately brought him and Martin Gore closer together.<\/p>\n Yet while their music might proudly bear the smuts and residues of Berlin dungeons and LA rock\u2019n\u2019roll corruption, the survivor of many dark scenes, tonight\u2019s show also underlines their devotion to spectacle, to melody, to fun. They come onstage to the abrasive grind of Memento Mori scene-setter My Cosmos Is Mine \u2013 a harsh scruff-of-the-neck way to grab the audience\u2019s attention, but an arch reminder that from now on, the O2 is their universe. Repeatedly tonight \u2013 from the robotic gasps of Policy Of Truth to the rock-Mephisto singalong of Black Celebration – it\u2019s clear that there\u2019s no real need to stuff so many hooks into even the heaviest songs, unless it\u2019s just for the sheer profligate glee of it. They might be consummate stadium-rock professionals, but it\u2019s interesting that the live video feeds are treated to make it look like some kind of Samizdat Iron Block Betamax from 1980. As the video skulls that rotate behind a glorious Enjoy The Silence have scrawled across their foreheads: \u201cEnjoy!\u201d It\u2019s later than you think.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/01\/Depeche-Mode-live-at-the-O2_Chiaki-Nozu.jpg” title_text=”Depeche Mode Perform At The O2 Arena” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Gahan embodies this brilliantly, occasionally venturing into the audience on the well-deployed runaway, veering between imperious toreador strut, graceful black-swan gesture, filthy bend-and-snap and – on the high biblical camp of John The Revelator – a Zoolander Nick Cave. Gore is a more delicate presence, his torch-song versions of Strangelove and Heaven (from 2013\u2019s Delta Machine) a welcome gear change. \u201cThe beautiful angelic voice of Mr Martin L Gore\u201d says Gahan, as he returns to the stage. There\u2019s a lot of affection visible \u2013 a high five, hugs, a gathering round the drums after a formidable I Feel You, laughter during the encore as Gahan conducts the audience in a teasing coda to Just Can\u2019t Get Enough (no slight synth caper but a joyous pop fractal). \u201cThings get damaged, things get broken,\u201d sings Gahan on Precious (from 2005\u2019s Playing The Angel) but tonight he and Gore show just how effectively they have held the corners of Depeche Mode together. Like that existential chess match, they have played one hell of a game. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] Setlist:<\/strong><\/p>\n Speak to Me (instrumental outro) Encore:<\/strong> Photograpy:\u00a0Jim Dyson\/Getty; Chiaki Zozu\/Wireimage<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWe Had To Find A Way Of Becoming Friends\u2026\u201d Dave Gahan speaks to MOJO about the loss of Andy Fletcher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"kschwarz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions\/625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"star\"](\"https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/12\/star.png\")
\t\t\t<\/div>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]\u201cWhile their music might proudly bear the smuts and residues of Berlin dungeons and LA rock\u2019n\u2019roll corruption, tonight\u2019s show underlines their devotion to spectacle, to melody, to fun.\u201d<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
The encore (“are you ready to have a little bit of fun, then?”) also sees Gore and Gahan hitting the runaway again for an earnest Condemnation, before the singer conducts the crowd in the crab-like arm-waving choreography of Never Let Me Down. The final crescendo comes with Personal Jesus, the thundering drop into \u201creach out, touch faith\u201d delayed but very gratifying, knowing nearly too far is just about right.<\/p>\n
My Cosmos Is Mine
Wagging Tongue
Walking in My Shoes
It’s No Good
Policy of Truth
In Your Room (Zephyr Mix)
Everything Counts
Precious
My Favourite Stranger
Strangelove (Acoustic, sung by Martin)
Heaven (Acoustic, sung by Martin)
Ghosts Again
I Feel You
A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
World in My Eyes (Dedicated to Andrew Fletcher)
Black Celebration
Stripped
John the Revelator
Enjoy the Silence<\/p>\n
Condemnation (Acoustic)
Just Can’t Get Enough
Never Let Me Down Again
Personal Jesus<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-names” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]