Depeche Mode
Olympic Stadium – Berlin
7 July 2023
“God, I wish that guy wasn’t so tall”.
It’s a different feeling when “that guy” blocking the view of the stage is your son and you’ve dragged him halfway around the world to see your favourite band.
The last time I took my family to one of my favourite bands (U2 in Sydney) their response was polite at best, so I was a little nervous. “it was like seeing a bunch of old men on stage” “they were running out of breath”. Those were some of the comments. It felt a bit like U2 didn’t quite reach top gear. Not that they were phoning it in so much as they were keeping something in reserve if they needed it. It kind of felt a bit like they were cruising.
It turns out I had nothing to fear.
Seeing Depeche Mode in their spiritual home is definitely a bucket list item. They’ve got quite a history in the city (recorded 3 albums here) and I think the Berliners have taken them to heart.
To be fair, it took the band a little while to get out of first gear. They had a bit of a slow start by playing a couple of tracks from their (admittedly very good) new album but the crowd mostly tolerated those songs, rather than give them a euphoric reception.
However, the crowd really lifted when they started playing their hits. It certainly felt like both the band and the audience went up a gear or two. Dave Gahan must surely be one of the greatest front men ever and you can see how the death of Andy Fletcher last year has brought him and Martin Gore closer together.
For a band that have has a career of 40 years they played something for everyone - 80s pop (Everything Counts and Just Can’t Get Enough) their black goth phase (Stripped), 90s classics (I Feel You, It’s No good) their big hits (Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, Never Let Me Down) and more recent songs (Precious, Wrong).
One of the highlights might have been Violator album track “Waiting for the Night”. Martin and Dave’s voices combined beautifully and the harmony was carried by the crowd for minutes after the song was over. We would still be there singing if they hadn’t put on the afterburners (Sorry, I’ve taken this “gear analogy” a bit too far) and came home with a wet sail (now I’m mixing metaphors). Anyway, the closing trio of songs (Just Can’t Get Enough, Never Let Me Down Again and Personal Jesus) were more than enough to leave everyone happy.
They left nothing in the tank and certainly weren’t cruising.
But never mind all that. What did that tall guy think about the concert?
Before the concert I was pretty confident I could predict my family’s reactions.
I anticipated my “grow your own concert buddy” daughter would be very excited. She was. One down.
The “tall guy” is the only proper musician in the family and is hard to please. He’s got very high standards. I was fearing what he would say. But I saw him sing along to the songs and it looked like he had a great time. That’s two!
My wife? I feared that she would probably not be happy having to stand for hours and complain about having a sore back and not being able to see. This also proved to be true. So, three from three for my predictions, but probably I’d need to work on the last one.
Let’s chalk this down as a success.
But maybe next time we’ll get seats…
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