This concert was Depeche Mode's first London concert following the huge success of New Life and was a compete sell-out. It also happened to be Martin Gore's 20th birthday .
The concert was notable for a number of reasons. It was the first time the band wore their new stage costumes put together by Vince Clarke's mother . Prior to this, the band had basically worn whatever they fancied, with leather jackets and leather jeans being the most common. Only Dave had regularly made a point of dressing up in a stylish way . Vince had decided that the band should look more professional with smart fashionable outfits.
This concert also saw the unveiling of the first new songs to the bands set since the beginning of the year . Dave announced the 2 new songs as "Operator" and "Pretty Boy". By Autumn and the release of the debut album Speak & Spell, these titles had been changed to Puppets and What's Y our Name?, respectively . This information is mentioned in the Smash Hits magazine, issue October 1, 1981 review by Mark Ellen who attended the gig at 1981-09-19 The Venue, London, England, UK.
The night also had the first ever real example of fanaticism in the ranks of Depeche Mode fans. One young woman managed to climb onto the stage and grab and hug Dave before being bundled away by a member of the stage crew.
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