Depeche Mode Bong 25 (1995-06)
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- Start date
Bong 25 (June 1995)
Articles:
Personal Files
Kessler's Korner (behind the scenes article) by Jonathan Kessler
Devotional Diary IV (tour recollections) by Daryl Bamonte
Bong on the Road (Hungarian fan convention) by Michaela Olexova
I Met That Bloke From Depeche Mode Once by "Karina"
Pictures:
page 1 page 2 page 3 Dave, Andy and Martin respectively from the Personal Files
Articles:
Personal Files
Kessler's Korner (behind the scenes article) by Jonathan Kessler
Devotional Diary IV (tour recollections) by Daryl Bamonte
Bong on the Road (Hungarian fan convention) by Michaela Olexova
I Met That Bloke From Depeche Mode Once by "Karina"
Pictures:
page 1 page 2 page 3 Dave, Andy and Martin respectively from the Personal Files
Attachments
PERSONAL FILES
[From Bong 25, June 1995.]
David Gahan
Date of Birth: 9th May 1962
Place of Birth: Epping
Star Sign: Taurus
Colour of Eyes: Green / Brown
Colour of Hair: Brown
Height: 5ft 11ins [1]
Family details: Mother Sylvia Ruth, sister Susan Christine, brothers Peter Eric and Philip Michael
Hobbies: I don’t have hobbies as such, usual stuff, going out, movies, gigs, clubs, going to dinner with friends, etc.
Previous jobs: Various, but I spent 3 years at Southend Art College, finding myself
Previous bands: None to mention
Favourite city (visited): Rome & Los Angeles (a love / hate relationship)
Favourite country (visited): Italy & U.S.A. west coast
Favourite food: Thai & Italian
Favourite drink: Vodka, wine (French, red or white)
Favourite sport: Ice Hockey
Favourite colour: Black, purple & aqua green
Favourite film: Pulp Fiction (very funny!!)
Favourite book: Not being a great reader, can’t really say I have one
Favourite TV show: I like watching films, Vanessa Warwick Sunday Night Snow on MTV and Simpsons on CNN
Favourite radio station: Classic Rock stations in the States
Favourite magazine: Q, I buy a lot of magazines, then they sit around forever until I’ve read them all
Favourite song: 3 Days and Nothing Shocking by Jane’s Addiction & Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones – I have many favourites
Favourite DM song: The same here, not really one favourite but I always enjoyed I Feel You on the last tour – it’s hard to pick one favourite
Favourite album: First Zeppelin album, Nothing Shocking by Jane’s Addiction
Favourite DM album: Songs Of Faith And Devotion
Favourite DM video: I Feel You & Walking In My Shoes
Favourite band: Consistently, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin + late sixties through seventies
Biggest niggle: Flying, airports, customs
Most hated thing ever: Flying back and forth from London to L.A.
What one thing would you take if you were stranded on a desert island: Theresa
Andrew John Fletcher
Date of Birth: 8th July 1961
Place of Birth: Nottingham
Star Sign: Cancer
Colour of eyes: Blue
Colour of hair: Strawberry blonde
Height: 6ft 3ins
Family details: Wife Grainne, two children Megan (3 ½ years) and Joseph (7 months)
Hobbies: Football, reading, arguing
Previous jobs: Paper boy, toilet cleaner, city worker
Previous bands: C. O. S.
Favourite city (visited): New York
Favourite country (visited): South Africa
Favourite food: Any apart from corned beef
Favourite drink: Diet tango, wine
Favourite sport: Football, table tennis
Favourite colour: Royal blue
Favourite film: Not at the moment
Favourite book: Anything by Mary Higgins-Clark
Favourite TV show: Chalker
Favourite radio station: Radio 5
Favourite magazine: Esquire
Favourite song: I change my mind all the time
Favourite DM song: Somebody
Favourite album: No favourite
Favourite DM album: Violator
Favourite DM video: Enjoy The Silence
Biggest niggle: Being late, Chelsea losing
Most hated thing ever: Snakes
What one thing would you take if you were stranded on a desert island: Boxes of tissues
Martin Lee Gore
Date of birth: 23rd July 1961
Place of birth: London
Star sign: Leo
Colour of eyes: Green
Colour of hair: Fair
Height: 5ft 7in
Family details: Married (wife Suzanne) with one daughter Viva Lee
Hobbies: Reading, computer games, falling over
Previous jobs: I was the eggman
Previous bands: Norman and The Worms
Favourite city (visited): Cape Town
Favourite country (visited): South Africa (it was a tough choice!)
Favourite food: Indian, Japanese
Favourite drink: Lager, bitter, port, red wine, etc., etc.
Favourite sport: Football / Soccer (recognised sport)
Favourite colour: Black (nobody got the last answer)
Favourite film: Shoah
Favourite book: Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley
Favourite TV show: The World At War
Favourite radio station: I never listen to the radio unless I’m in the car with somebody else at the controls
Favourite magazine: New Scientist
Favourite song: Dark End Of The Street by James Carr
Favourite DM song: Policy Of Truth because it’s time I changed this answer
Favourite album: White Album by The Beatles
Favourite DM album: Violator + Songs Of Faith And Devotion equally
Favourite DM video: Enjoy The Silence
Favourite band: The Velvet Underground
Biggest niggle: Laws that should have been abolished at least 200 years ago
Most hated thing ever: Hatred
What one thing would you take if you were stranded on a desert island: A pretty female psychiatrist who is good at building houses with raw materials and can light fires with twigs
[From Bong 25, June 1995.]
David Gahan
Date of Birth: 9th May 1962
Place of Birth: Epping
Star Sign: Taurus
Colour of Eyes: Green / Brown
Colour of Hair: Brown
Height: 5ft 11ins [1]
Family details: Mother Sylvia Ruth, sister Susan Christine, brothers Peter Eric and Philip Michael
Hobbies: I don’t have hobbies as such, usual stuff, going out, movies, gigs, clubs, going to dinner with friends, etc.
Previous jobs: Various, but I spent 3 years at Southend Art College, finding myself
Previous bands: None to mention
Favourite city (visited): Rome & Los Angeles (a love / hate relationship)
Favourite country (visited): Italy & U.S.A. west coast
Favourite food: Thai & Italian
Favourite drink: Vodka, wine (French, red or white)
Favourite sport: Ice Hockey
Favourite colour: Black, purple & aqua green
Favourite film: Pulp Fiction (very funny!!)
Favourite book: Not being a great reader, can’t really say I have one
Favourite TV show: I like watching films, Vanessa Warwick Sunday Night Snow on MTV and Simpsons on CNN
Favourite radio station: Classic Rock stations in the States
Favourite magazine: Q, I buy a lot of magazines, then they sit around forever until I’ve read them all
Favourite song: 3 Days and Nothing Shocking by Jane’s Addiction & Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones – I have many favourites
Favourite DM song: The same here, not really one favourite but I always enjoyed I Feel You on the last tour – it’s hard to pick one favourite
Favourite album: First Zeppelin album, Nothing Shocking by Jane’s Addiction
Favourite DM album: Songs Of Faith And Devotion
Favourite DM video: I Feel You & Walking In My Shoes
Favourite band: Consistently, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin + late sixties through seventies
Biggest niggle: Flying, airports, customs
Most hated thing ever: Flying back and forth from London to L.A.
What one thing would you take if you were stranded on a desert island: Theresa
Andrew John Fletcher
Date of Birth: 8th July 1961
Place of Birth: Nottingham
Star Sign: Cancer
Colour of eyes: Blue
Colour of hair: Strawberry blonde
Height: 6ft 3ins
Family details: Wife Grainne, two children Megan (3 ½ years) and Joseph (7 months)
Hobbies: Football, reading, arguing
Previous jobs: Paper boy, toilet cleaner, city worker
Previous bands: C. O. S.
Favourite city (visited): New York
Favourite country (visited): South Africa
Favourite food: Any apart from corned beef
Favourite drink: Diet tango, wine
Favourite sport: Football, table tennis
Favourite colour: Royal blue
Favourite film: Not at the moment
Favourite book: Anything by Mary Higgins-Clark
Favourite TV show: Chalker
Favourite radio station: Radio 5
Favourite magazine: Esquire
Favourite song: I change my mind all the time
Favourite DM song: Somebody
Favourite album: No favourite
Favourite DM album: Violator
Favourite DM video: Enjoy The Silence
Biggest niggle: Being late, Chelsea losing
Most hated thing ever: Snakes
What one thing would you take if you were stranded on a desert island: Boxes of tissues
Martin Lee Gore
Date of birth: 23rd July 1961
Place of birth: London
Star sign: Leo
Colour of eyes: Green
Colour of hair: Fair
Height: 5ft 7in
Family details: Married (wife Suzanne) with one daughter Viva Lee
Hobbies: Reading, computer games, falling over
Previous jobs: I was the eggman
Previous bands: Norman and The Worms
Favourite city (visited): Cape Town
Favourite country (visited): South Africa (it was a tough choice!)
Favourite food: Indian, Japanese
Favourite drink: Lager, bitter, port, red wine, etc., etc.
Favourite sport: Football / Soccer (recognised sport)
Favourite colour: Black (nobody got the last answer)
Favourite film: Shoah
Favourite book: Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley
Favourite TV show: The World At War
Favourite radio station: I never listen to the radio unless I’m in the car with somebody else at the controls
Favourite magazine: New Scientist
Favourite song: Dark End Of The Street by James Carr
Favourite DM song: Policy Of Truth because it’s time I changed this answer
Favourite album: White Album by The Beatles
Favourite DM album: Violator + Songs Of Faith And Devotion equally
Favourite DM video: Enjoy The Silence
Favourite band: The Velvet Underground
Biggest niggle: Laws that should have been abolished at least 200 years ago
Most hated thing ever: Hatred
What one thing would you take if you were stranded on a desert island: A pretty female psychiatrist who is good at building houses with raw materials and can light fires with twigs
KESSLER'S KORNER
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: Jonathan Kessler.]
As was briefly explained in BONG 24, we have developed this new feature specially to answer all of your behind-the-scenes questions as they pertain to Depeche Mode and the music business in general.
Jonathan Kessler first started working with Depeche Mode in 1986, as an Accountant in the Black Celebration Tour. He has been involved in the Band’s affairs ever since.
Welcome to Kessler’s Korner! I am your new guest contributor, Jonathan Kessler.
I remember being in the concert crowds in my early days and wondering how such large productions got from town to town, city to city, and even country to country. Since then I have been lucky enough to work within the music industry and now I will let you in on all of their little secrets. Well maybe not “all”.
The majority of your questions so far have focused on the different roles performed by agents and promoters. Basically it is the promoter who is responsible for bring the shows to all of you in your local cities, so I thought it would be appropriate to start with them.
The promoter is the local person who contracts to have the band appear in a given city on a given night. The phrase “local person” can be a bit misleading, since some promoters are actually large organisations covering several states or countries. Additionally, it is not uncommon lately for a large promoter to contract for an entire tour world-wide.
In the general context, the promoter is responsible for everything involved in having a band appear on a given night. These responsibilities typically include: booking the hall, advertising the show, coordinating radio and print advertising and promotion, managing the show production, selling tickets for the event, and last but certainly not least paying the band.
In the typical scenario a promoter would guarantee Depeche Mode a certain amount of money to appear on a given night, usually two to three months in advance. International touring bands, like Depeche Mode, count on promoters to be in touch with what you want to see and where you want to see it. The most important function the promoter serves, however, is to get the word out to you, the fans. Whether it’s through radio spots and promotions, print ads in the local newspapers, or flyers. All the other logistics don’t mean much if there are no fans to come to the show.
As Depeche Mode has been touring for so many years, we have developed many strong relationships with certain promoters. These promoters have basically become part of the DM world-wide family. Some of our favourite promoters (my apologies to those names I have missed) include: Harvey Goldsmith at Allied Entertainment in London, Alain Lahana with Canal Productions in France, the distinguished Marek Lieberberg at Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur GMBH in Germany, the wild outback Michael Gudinsky from Frontier Touring in Australia, and most recently in the new South Africa, Attie Van Wyk and Roddie Quin with Big Concerts.
Well, I hope this has enlightened you and answered some of your questions about the role of a promoter. As you can see, it is a huge job which encompasses a variety of tasks that are all vital to bringing you, the fans, the final show.
It is the fans that are important to Depeche Mode – so keep the questions coming and tune in for the next issue.
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: Jonathan Kessler.]
As was briefly explained in BONG 24, we have developed this new feature specially to answer all of your behind-the-scenes questions as they pertain to Depeche Mode and the music business in general.
Jonathan Kessler first started working with Depeche Mode in 1986, as an Accountant in the Black Celebration Tour. He has been involved in the Band’s affairs ever since.
Welcome to Kessler’s Korner! I am your new guest contributor, Jonathan Kessler.
I remember being in the concert crowds in my early days and wondering how such large productions got from town to town, city to city, and even country to country. Since then I have been lucky enough to work within the music industry and now I will let you in on all of their little secrets. Well maybe not “all”.
The majority of your questions so far have focused on the different roles performed by agents and promoters. Basically it is the promoter who is responsible for bring the shows to all of you in your local cities, so I thought it would be appropriate to start with them.
The promoter is the local person who contracts to have the band appear in a given city on a given night. The phrase “local person” can be a bit misleading, since some promoters are actually large organisations covering several states or countries. Additionally, it is not uncommon lately for a large promoter to contract for an entire tour world-wide.
In the general context, the promoter is responsible for everything involved in having a band appear on a given night. These responsibilities typically include: booking the hall, advertising the show, coordinating radio and print advertising and promotion, managing the show production, selling tickets for the event, and last but certainly not least paying the band.
In the typical scenario a promoter would guarantee Depeche Mode a certain amount of money to appear on a given night, usually two to three months in advance. International touring bands, like Depeche Mode, count on promoters to be in touch with what you want to see and where you want to see it. The most important function the promoter serves, however, is to get the word out to you, the fans. Whether it’s through radio spots and promotions, print ads in the local newspapers, or flyers. All the other logistics don’t mean much if there are no fans to come to the show.
As Depeche Mode has been touring for so many years, we have developed many strong relationships with certain promoters. These promoters have basically become part of the DM world-wide family. Some of our favourite promoters (my apologies to those names I have missed) include: Harvey Goldsmith at Allied Entertainment in London, Alain Lahana with Canal Productions in France, the distinguished Marek Lieberberg at Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur GMBH in Germany, the wild outback Michael Gudinsky from Frontier Touring in Australia, and most recently in the new South Africa, Attie Van Wyk and Roddie Quin with Big Concerts.
Well, I hope this has enlightened you and answered some of your questions about the role of a promoter. As you can see, it is a huge job which encompasses a variety of tasks that are all vital to bringing you, the fans, the final show.
It is the fans that are important to Depeche Mode – so keep the questions coming and tune in for the next issue.
DEVOTIONAL DIARY IV
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: Daryl Bamonte.]
This is the fourth and concluding part of Daryl’s Tour Diary bringing you all the details of the final days of the Devotional Tour. We would like to thank Daryl for giving us the opportunity to look behind the scenes of this mega-long tour and be a part of it all… at least through this magazine.
April 3rd, SAO PAULO: We just did our first run through as a “band”, which I thought went very well but in the “only perfection will do” world of these fascists, it obviously never. Just because I took too long fading the bass out on “Stripped” – Martin’s looking at me as if it’s all been a big mistake but fortunately Dave laughed and Alan remained quietly confident.
April 4th: SAO PAULO: This is just SO not funny. There’s loads of people screaming and they’re all going to be looking at me, waiting for a mistake so they can laugh and cheer and point and hold up banners saying “Bamonte’s a Wanker” in Portugese but I’ll understand it anyway… I wish I’d never agreed to this and I wish I could stand still.
April 5th: SAO PAULO: So what’s up people? Call me Ricco Suave. Hip keyboard session man. Yeh, sure, we did a show last night. It was great… The best bit was walking off after “Personal Jesus” and waiting to do the encores and Martin shouting at me “You did it, you pulled it off, it doesn’t matter about the encores ’cause you did it!” So you think I’d be more relaxed tonight, right? Wrong. Alan the Bastard has decided to change the set tonight and throw in three different songs. At least Dave and Martin look as worried as I do…
April 8th, BUENOS AIRES: I think we’re witnessing “Beatlemania” down here. These people are crazy about DM and crazy in general. They are all such nice people though. “Kill an Argie, win a Metro” seems like a lifetime away now… Somebody decided to mention something in passing today. There’s going to be 40,000 in there tonight. Thanks for dropping that into the conversation…
April 10th, SANTIAGO: I had visions of Argentina and Chile being full of fascist juntas and military coups and dissidents with false looking moustaches having electrodes attached to their testicles. Well, they’re not. People don’t go missing in the middle of the night and they don’t hate us Angleterras. Anyway, I’ve done four shows now and I think I’ve got a bit of a routine going.
April 12th, SANTIAGO: I cannot believe it. We’ve cancelled Columbia. (I mean we’ve cancelled the show.) I really wanted to go there. Great coffee, apparently. It’s probably fortunate that the two places we cancelled were Bogota and Bangkok…
April 14th, SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA: Help me God… This place is freaking me, and everybody else, out. Alan says he’s never seen me look so freaked out as when we were walking onstage. (And the tap didn’t work in the dressing room…).
April 16th, MONTERREY: Well, that’s South America out of the way. Six shows under my belt and confidence has crept up. I’ll just pop home for a week to see the nipper and then face the next big test – USA ’94!
May 11th, SACRAMENTO: We did a good run-through today. Outdoor venue, sun was shining and everyone in shorts and shades. Life is good.
May 12th, SACRAMENTO: I felt a bit nervous tonight. It’s worse when there’s people you know watching. There seemed to be a lot of our ex-crew members lurking round, waiting to witness this “novelty”. After the show, Theresa’s grandmother gave me a kiss, took my hand and said: “You did a very good show”, which made a refreshing change from some industry wanker saying to me: “Uhh, great show Fletch!”, when you know they spent the entire show in the dressing room because they’re drunk and they have guacamole all down the front of their shirt…
May 13th, SAN FRANCISCO: We left England to begin this tour exactly 1 year ago today, May 13th 1993. I actually feel about 11 years older. Only 20,000 people tomorrow night. A mere club gig compared to Argentina…
May 17th, LAS VEGAS: I love this place. Gambled and drank and gambled all night. Good show tonight. I think I almost got on nodding terms with one of Primal Scream tonight, unless he was just twitching…
May 20th, IRVINE MEADOWS: I have a special affection for this gig. I remember Dave coming round my council flat in Basildon in early 1985 and being very excited because The Hollywood Palladium had sold out in minutes and the promoter had added another show – “Somewhere near Orange County, holds over 12,000 people!” and that’s when it started getting mental. We celebrated with four cans of Fosters and sat down to enjoy another gripping episode of “The Bill” – Ahh, the good old days…
May 21st, SAN BERNARDINO: We had to stop the car on the way back to San Fran. because MLG wanted to pee. He walked towards the grass as me and John Sampson (security) formed a human shield and as we looked back we were greeted with the sight of just a pair of creepers pointing skywards and strange whimpering. “Shomeone should have shaid shomething” he cried as we pulled him out of the hole…
May 26th, PARK CITY: Kessler just phoned. The show in Denver is cancelled. That’s a shame. I really like Denver. Myself and another crew member (Andrew “Nobby” Marr) formed a band on the Black Celebration tour called “The Blah Brothers” and we played support to DM here at Park City and also at the famous Red Rocks in Denver. There was no blood red sky though, just a barrage of beer cans…
May 31, SAN ANTONIO: Getting to know the Primals a bit more now. They’re a good bunch. Six of them were arrested last night for swimming in a river. Charges of disturbing the peace were dropped but the D.A. is pushing a charge of “polluting a public waterway”…
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: Daryl Bamonte.]
This is the fourth and concluding part of Daryl’s Tour Diary bringing you all the details of the final days of the Devotional Tour. We would like to thank Daryl for giving us the opportunity to look behind the scenes of this mega-long tour and be a part of it all… at least through this magazine.
April 3rd, SAO PAULO: We just did our first run through as a “band”, which I thought went very well but in the “only perfection will do” world of these fascists, it obviously never. Just because I took too long fading the bass out on “Stripped” – Martin’s looking at me as if it’s all been a big mistake but fortunately Dave laughed and Alan remained quietly confident.
April 4th: SAO PAULO: This is just SO not funny. There’s loads of people screaming and they’re all going to be looking at me, waiting for a mistake so they can laugh and cheer and point and hold up banners saying “Bamonte’s a Wanker” in Portugese but I’ll understand it anyway… I wish I’d never agreed to this and I wish I could stand still.
April 5th: SAO PAULO: So what’s up people? Call me Ricco Suave. Hip keyboard session man. Yeh, sure, we did a show last night. It was great… The best bit was walking off after “Personal Jesus” and waiting to do the encores and Martin shouting at me “You did it, you pulled it off, it doesn’t matter about the encores ’cause you did it!” So you think I’d be more relaxed tonight, right? Wrong. Alan the Bastard has decided to change the set tonight and throw in three different songs. At least Dave and Martin look as worried as I do…
April 8th, BUENOS AIRES: I think we’re witnessing “Beatlemania” down here. These people are crazy about DM and crazy in general. They are all such nice people though. “Kill an Argie, win a Metro” seems like a lifetime away now… Somebody decided to mention something in passing today. There’s going to be 40,000 in there tonight. Thanks for dropping that into the conversation…
April 10th, SANTIAGO: I had visions of Argentina and Chile being full of fascist juntas and military coups and dissidents with false looking moustaches having electrodes attached to their testicles. Well, they’re not. People don’t go missing in the middle of the night and they don’t hate us Angleterras. Anyway, I’ve done four shows now and I think I’ve got a bit of a routine going.
April 12th, SANTIAGO: I cannot believe it. We’ve cancelled Columbia. (I mean we’ve cancelled the show.) I really wanted to go there. Great coffee, apparently. It’s probably fortunate that the two places we cancelled were Bogota and Bangkok…
April 14th, SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA: Help me God… This place is freaking me, and everybody else, out. Alan says he’s never seen me look so freaked out as when we were walking onstage. (And the tap didn’t work in the dressing room…).
April 16th, MONTERREY: Well, that’s South America out of the way. Six shows under my belt and confidence has crept up. I’ll just pop home for a week to see the nipper and then face the next big test – USA ’94!
May 11th, SACRAMENTO: We did a good run-through today. Outdoor venue, sun was shining and everyone in shorts and shades. Life is good.
May 12th, SACRAMENTO: I felt a bit nervous tonight. It’s worse when there’s people you know watching. There seemed to be a lot of our ex-crew members lurking round, waiting to witness this “novelty”. After the show, Theresa’s grandmother gave me a kiss, took my hand and said: “You did a very good show”, which made a refreshing change from some industry wanker saying to me: “Uhh, great show Fletch!”, when you know they spent the entire show in the dressing room because they’re drunk and they have guacamole all down the front of their shirt…
May 13th, SAN FRANCISCO: We left England to begin this tour exactly 1 year ago today, May 13th 1993. I actually feel about 11 years older. Only 20,000 people tomorrow night. A mere club gig compared to Argentina…
May 17th, LAS VEGAS: I love this place. Gambled and drank and gambled all night. Good show tonight. I think I almost got on nodding terms with one of Primal Scream tonight, unless he was just twitching…
May 20th, IRVINE MEADOWS: I have a special affection for this gig. I remember Dave coming round my council flat in Basildon in early 1985 and being very excited because The Hollywood Palladium had sold out in minutes and the promoter had added another show – “Somewhere near Orange County, holds over 12,000 people!” and that’s when it started getting mental. We celebrated with four cans of Fosters and sat down to enjoy another gripping episode of “The Bill” – Ahh, the good old days…
May 21st, SAN BERNARDINO: We had to stop the car on the way back to San Fran. because MLG wanted to pee. He walked towards the grass as me and John Sampson (security) formed a human shield and as we looked back we were greeted with the sight of just a pair of creepers pointing skywards and strange whimpering. “Shomeone should have shaid shomething” he cried as we pulled him out of the hole…
May 26th, PARK CITY: Kessler just phoned. The show in Denver is cancelled. That’s a shame. I really like Denver. Myself and another crew member (Andrew “Nobby” Marr) formed a band on the Black Celebration tour called “The Blah Brothers” and we played support to DM here at Park City and also at the famous Red Rocks in Denver. There was no blood red sky though, just a barrage of beer cans…
May 31, SAN ANTONIO: Getting to know the Primals a bit more now. They’re a good bunch. Six of them were arrested last night for swimming in a river. Charges of disturbing the peace were dropped but the D.A. is pushing a charge of “polluting a public waterway”…
June 1st, HOUSTON: A security man walked onstage just before the encores with the biggest birthday cake I’ve ever seen. Of course, as I said in Rotterdam, Alan would have another birthday before this tour was out. A monster of confectionery and they STILL had trouble fitting all those candles on… (This year’s party was a little better though…).
June 4th, DALLAS: I like having Saturday off. I like all day off, actually. This pop-star lark is much better than working. I hate work. As I’ve always said: “Work is the scourge of the drinking classes…”
June 6th, NEW ORLEANS: Duffy from Primal Scream drinks a lot and managed to upset Dave somehow. Did The Scream and The Mode square up to each other? No way. The Primals meted out their own form of justice – they dragged Duffy off and kicked the shit out of him…
June 9th, ATLANTA: What an excellent show tonight. It was boiling hot on stage and during the encores I almost broke into a sweat. Me and Alan have developed a bit of a rock’n’roll ending to “Stripped” which is good but I wish they would all stop laughing during “Enjoy The Silence” when I play “Move it”…
June 12th, CLEVELAND: I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist “tapping” a pair of Alan’s drumsticks on an air conditioning pipe on the way to the stage before pretending to get lost, and when Dave grabbed the mike and screamed “Good evening, Cleveland!”, you couldn’t do a thing with me. We really are Primal Tap, sorry, I mean Spinal Tap…
June 14th, COLUMBIA: The Primals’ camp is a bit tense tonight. I think the tour manager’s upset Throb, and he’s refusing to go on. I reasoned with him that if they went on late, then we would go on late and we would run over time and the unio would pull the plug on us. Lo and behold, he got up and went on stage. It shows what a bit of gentle coaxing can do (and a case of red wine…)
June 17th, NEW YORK CITY: Another night at Jones Beach tonight. Looking out of the dressing room door I’m sure that I recognise those haircuts being mobbed by Stabbing Westward – Sure enough, my brother and Robert Smith decided to “hop over” on Concorde and surprise / heckle / applaud me. [1] In fact, I think they only came because we’ve got a private box at Giants Stadium tomorrow for the Italy / Ireland game…
June 18th, NEW YORK CITY: A short trip down to New Jersey to Giants Stadium, sporting the T-shirt that Perry had made with a bedsheet and some vegetable dye. In our private box, there are 30 people – 27 supporting Ireland and 3 supporting Italy: the two Bamontes (obviously) and Mr. Smith… Italy’s flag is Red, White & Green and Ireland’s flag is Orange, White & Green, and if you look into the crowd they all look the same. I suspect that our merchandisers have printed up some flags that were Deep Tangerine, White & Green and sold them to both sets of punters: Yeh yeh, Paolo, the red’s faded a bit, Nah nah Paddy, orange always prints dark…
June 19th, NEW YORK CITY: We went to an excellent restaurant last night, Café Tabak. We were given a table in the exclusive upstairs area, and looking around at all the beautiful people, I thought, “Yes, I’m playing in the world’s greatest band, I’m in Manhattan in a noted restaurant and I’m sure that Naomi Campbell is looking across from the next table and thinking ‘Wow, look at that cool rock-star, at the zenith of his career, the way he conducts himself…’ – at which point Robert announces that he’s fed up with that skinny woman staring at HIM…
June 21st, MONTREAL: The inevitable finally happened tonight. I played a bum note in the intro to “Behind The Wheel”. I’m sure that everybody WAS laughing and pointing but the “Wanker” banners were in French, not Portugese. I was devastated. And the “only perfection will do” fascists? Dave told me to “stop being so f***ing precious” (!)
June 23rd, BOSTON: Throb from Primal Scream missed their gig tonight. He claims that it was due to bad traffic. I think it was probably because he was too busy watching the Italy / Norway game. The funny thing was that the Scream didn’t sound any different. I wonder… Brazil are playing tomorrow… taxi… wrong turning… bad traffic… lost me pass… lost me watch… etc.
June 26th, NEW YORK CITY: I think I’ve got to slow down a bit. I was in a club with Martin last night and felt unwell so I decided to leave. As I walked across the dance floor people were looking at me and going “Whooh!” and I realised that my body was shaking so much that they thought I was DANCING…
June 28th, PHILADELPHIA: Dave’s just come back from a club looking a little shaken. Apparently the doormen wouldn’t let some guy in so he went to his jeep, took out a machine gun and shot the place up. I should have done that to Racquels a few times in the Eighties…
June 30th, PITTSBURGH: Martin and I went for a walk and went into a burger bar. I was feeling a bit mad anyway, but suddenly I felt like I’d walked onto the set of the snuff version of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”… I said last September that I didn’t want to come here again…
July 3rd, DETROIT: Tried to have an early night last night. It was 3am and I’d just pulled the covers back when the phone rang. “Just another hour, c’mon”... Okay, Martin wants a drink. I got some cold beers ready, some cigarettes and, to hell with it, I’d push the boat out, I even laid some biscuits out to make it a “real” party. Martin turned up in just his pants, and three fans in tow – “I told them if they had a light, they could come to a party” he explained, puffing away. There goes my early night…
July 4th, DETROIT: The three fans, Stymie, his girlfriend and their best friend Jesus thought it would be fun to stand in the front row last night and hold up red cards (they’ve just discovered football over here). Found out that Jesus’ real name was Dave, which seemed like a funny name for The Messiah – until I REALLY thought about it… We had our end-of-tour party last night. Andy Franks spent an hour chatting up a gorgeous blonde called Brandy. No-one had the heart to tell him it was Martin in drag. The highlight of the night was “Torture Man”, who, well, tortures himself…
July 5th, DETROIT: I was so tired last night that I had to sit down onstage, and when I looked round I noticed that the others were doing the same, even Alan. (He was playing the drums though…).
July 8th, CHICAGO: Well, that’s it then. 14 months, or 612,000 minutes, of our lives completely absorbed with a tour and now it’s over. We played a show in Indianapolis tonight which was apparently good fun, but I don’t remember a thing. I missed Jez climbing out of the piano, Franksy and Primal Scream doing backing vocals, Dave diving in the audience. I do remember one thing though – it was the last night of a gruelling world tour and some clever bastards from the crew replaced my “Personal Jesus” samples with the appropriate message “You love it and you know it…”.
Until the next time…
Daryl Bamonte
June 4th, DALLAS: I like having Saturday off. I like all day off, actually. This pop-star lark is much better than working. I hate work. As I’ve always said: “Work is the scourge of the drinking classes…”
June 6th, NEW ORLEANS: Duffy from Primal Scream drinks a lot and managed to upset Dave somehow. Did The Scream and The Mode square up to each other? No way. The Primals meted out their own form of justice – they dragged Duffy off and kicked the shit out of him…
June 9th, ATLANTA: What an excellent show tonight. It was boiling hot on stage and during the encores I almost broke into a sweat. Me and Alan have developed a bit of a rock’n’roll ending to “Stripped” which is good but I wish they would all stop laughing during “Enjoy The Silence” when I play “Move it”…
June 12th, CLEVELAND: I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist “tapping” a pair of Alan’s drumsticks on an air conditioning pipe on the way to the stage before pretending to get lost, and when Dave grabbed the mike and screamed “Good evening, Cleveland!”, you couldn’t do a thing with me. We really are Primal Tap, sorry, I mean Spinal Tap…
June 14th, COLUMBIA: The Primals’ camp is a bit tense tonight. I think the tour manager’s upset Throb, and he’s refusing to go on. I reasoned with him that if they went on late, then we would go on late and we would run over time and the unio would pull the plug on us. Lo and behold, he got up and went on stage. It shows what a bit of gentle coaxing can do (and a case of red wine…)
June 17th, NEW YORK CITY: Another night at Jones Beach tonight. Looking out of the dressing room door I’m sure that I recognise those haircuts being mobbed by Stabbing Westward – Sure enough, my brother and Robert Smith decided to “hop over” on Concorde and surprise / heckle / applaud me. [1] In fact, I think they only came because we’ve got a private box at Giants Stadium tomorrow for the Italy / Ireland game…
June 18th, NEW YORK CITY: A short trip down to New Jersey to Giants Stadium, sporting the T-shirt that Perry had made with a bedsheet and some vegetable dye. In our private box, there are 30 people – 27 supporting Ireland and 3 supporting Italy: the two Bamontes (obviously) and Mr. Smith… Italy’s flag is Red, White & Green and Ireland’s flag is Orange, White & Green, and if you look into the crowd they all look the same. I suspect that our merchandisers have printed up some flags that were Deep Tangerine, White & Green and sold them to both sets of punters: Yeh yeh, Paolo, the red’s faded a bit, Nah nah Paddy, orange always prints dark…
June 19th, NEW YORK CITY: We went to an excellent restaurant last night, Café Tabak. We were given a table in the exclusive upstairs area, and looking around at all the beautiful people, I thought, “Yes, I’m playing in the world’s greatest band, I’m in Manhattan in a noted restaurant and I’m sure that Naomi Campbell is looking across from the next table and thinking ‘Wow, look at that cool rock-star, at the zenith of his career, the way he conducts himself…’ – at which point Robert announces that he’s fed up with that skinny woman staring at HIM…
June 21st, MONTREAL: The inevitable finally happened tonight. I played a bum note in the intro to “Behind The Wheel”. I’m sure that everybody WAS laughing and pointing but the “Wanker” banners were in French, not Portugese. I was devastated. And the “only perfection will do” fascists? Dave told me to “stop being so f***ing precious” (!)
June 23rd, BOSTON: Throb from Primal Scream missed their gig tonight. He claims that it was due to bad traffic. I think it was probably because he was too busy watching the Italy / Norway game. The funny thing was that the Scream didn’t sound any different. I wonder… Brazil are playing tomorrow… taxi… wrong turning… bad traffic… lost me pass… lost me watch… etc.
June 26th, NEW YORK CITY: I think I’ve got to slow down a bit. I was in a club with Martin last night and felt unwell so I decided to leave. As I walked across the dance floor people were looking at me and going “Whooh!” and I realised that my body was shaking so much that they thought I was DANCING…
June 28th, PHILADELPHIA: Dave’s just come back from a club looking a little shaken. Apparently the doormen wouldn’t let some guy in so he went to his jeep, took out a machine gun and shot the place up. I should have done that to Racquels a few times in the Eighties…
June 30th, PITTSBURGH: Martin and I went for a walk and went into a burger bar. I was feeling a bit mad anyway, but suddenly I felt like I’d walked onto the set of the snuff version of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”… I said last September that I didn’t want to come here again…
July 3rd, DETROIT: Tried to have an early night last night. It was 3am and I’d just pulled the covers back when the phone rang. “Just another hour, c’mon”... Okay, Martin wants a drink. I got some cold beers ready, some cigarettes and, to hell with it, I’d push the boat out, I even laid some biscuits out to make it a “real” party. Martin turned up in just his pants, and three fans in tow – “I told them if they had a light, they could come to a party” he explained, puffing away. There goes my early night…
July 4th, DETROIT: The three fans, Stymie, his girlfriend and their best friend Jesus thought it would be fun to stand in the front row last night and hold up red cards (they’ve just discovered football over here). Found out that Jesus’ real name was Dave, which seemed like a funny name for The Messiah – until I REALLY thought about it… We had our end-of-tour party last night. Andy Franks spent an hour chatting up a gorgeous blonde called Brandy. No-one had the heart to tell him it was Martin in drag. The highlight of the night was “Torture Man”, who, well, tortures himself…
July 5th, DETROIT: I was so tired last night that I had to sit down onstage, and when I looked round I noticed that the others were doing the same, even Alan. (He was playing the drums though…).
July 8th, CHICAGO: Well, that’s it then. 14 months, or 612,000 minutes, of our lives completely absorbed with a tour and now it’s over. We played a show in Indianapolis tonight which was apparently good fun, but I don’t remember a thing. I missed Jez climbing out of the piano, Franksy and Primal Scream doing backing vocals, Dave diving in the audience. I do remember one thing though – it was the last night of a gruelling world tour and some clever bastards from the crew replaced my “Personal Jesus” samples with the appropriate message “You love it and you know it…”.
Until the next time…
Daryl Bamonte
BONG ON THE ROAD
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: Michaela Olexova.]
Everyone might have heard of the local Depeche Mode Fan Club and its fans’ base either from the music newspapers that brought the coverage on the Hungarian devotees some two years ago or from the article we printed in Bong a few issues back. All this and several stories we heard from different ends made us even more curious and after it was suggested to us to go there and see it for ourselves, we decided to check it out…
To put you in the picture, here are some details about the Hungarian DM FC. September 1987 was the month the Fan Club was founded so it has been running now for almost 8 years. There is a party or a convention organized each month with the average attendance of 1500 fans. The programme usually consists of a video-projection, karaoke, Dave dancing, Top list, look-a-likes and of course DM music. The club members receive an information sheet each month with the latest news on the band and the FC activities. One of the FC specialities is organizing trips for its members to see Depeche Mode in concert abroad. They have virtually followed the Band on each tour since 1988. In the past, the FC has also participated in organizing concerts such as Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps, Laibach, Inspiral Carpets, Renegade Soundwave, Miranda Sex Garden, Moby and was twice honoured with a visit from Daniel Miller.
More than a half year after the international convention organized last October in Jena and only three months before our official BONG convention in London, we (Lynn, me and our two friends Ann and Paul) are here in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, to take part in yet another DM gathering.
Lajos Borbely who runs the DM FC in Hungary and one of the people whose idea it was to hold this year’s convention in Budapest, greets us on Friday afternoon at the Kelety Railway Station and welcomes us to the city. We are exhausted from the nine hour journey from Prague and it’s boiling hot. The only thing on our mind at that moment is to get to our hotel as quickly as possible and sink into a cold and refreshing bath, we’ll probably have just as much cold and refreshing drink! Friday goes by and thankfully we all feel much better after a good night’s sleep. And so we should because the convention, the reason of us coming here, is still ahead of us.
It’s Saturday and it’s still hot. We have all day to ourselves before we meet Lajos and the others at the venue tonight. After studying the map, we decide to head into the city centre and explore the old town. It’s beautiful. The posters announcing the DM FC convention are everywhere and we are slowly getting into a party mood. After a few hours of walking in the sun, we are worn out again. In the afternoon, we go back to the hotel and try to recharge our energy. Half an hour later, we are getting out of a cab in front of the Petöfi Czarnok Hall where the convention is taking place tonight. We are given “stage passes” so we have free access everywhere and Lajos shows us around the place. It feels great, it feels big, it feels almost like a real concert… but DM won’t be attending tonight. There are several stands with refreshments in the foyer and a DM shop where the fans can buy anything from CDs and vinyls to “Strangers”, a book of photos by Anton Corbijn. There are also two rooms used for playing videos and the memorabilia display. When we enter the main hall, the excitement grows. It is all decorated in DM style. The stage, several large screens hanging from the ceiling, metal-men, posters etc. Even though the doors will open in over an hour, we can already hear the fans outside. There is time for a quick meeting during which we give Lajos all the DM prizes we have brought with us from London for the winners of the competitions and freebies for the fans.
It’s 6 o’clock, the doors open and everyone’s rushing in. The international convention in Budapest begins… Old and new DM songs, original versions and remixes, videos, slides and lights – all this is under the control of a few people. There are around 1300 devotees and the party rolls on at a fast pace. The fans have a short break and relax only when a young Hungarian band goes on stage and plays some of their songs. Their sound and performance is quite good. Prior to the concert, we meet Andrea Matthews from Birmingham who seems to be the one and only fan from Blighty apart from Lynn, Ann and Paul and so we hang out together for the rest of the night. The first competition starts at 10 o’clock. It’s KARAOKE time! There are eight people entering, including our friend Paul with “Shake The Disease” but the first prize goes to Zoltán Vigh who sings “Somebody” and wins a bag full of DM goodies including a set list signed by Alan. The second winner is Bernadett Kiss with “Enjoy The Silence” who wins a goodie bag and a photocard with Martin’s signature. DAVE DANCING and QUIZ are the other competitions. These are a little confusing but nevertheless give us two more winners. Zoltán Tillinger as Dave performs “Enjoy The Silence” and wins a bag full of DM prizes. Alexandra Tóth proves to have the best knowledge of DM in the QUIZ and together with a goodie bag wins the Devotional Tour Programme signed by Martin. The competitions are followed by the TOP most favourite songs compiled by the FC members. Then even more music, more videos, more slides…
It’s 2am, Lynn, Ann and I decide to leave. After all it’s been a long day. It’s time to say ‘good-bye’ to everyone at Petöfi Czarnok Hall and it’s time to say ‘good-bye’ to Budapest.
P.S. On behalf of BONG, I would like to thank Lajos and his friends for putting together such a brilliant evening…
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: Michaela Olexova.]
Everyone might have heard of the local Depeche Mode Fan Club and its fans’ base either from the music newspapers that brought the coverage on the Hungarian devotees some two years ago or from the article we printed in Bong a few issues back. All this and several stories we heard from different ends made us even more curious and after it was suggested to us to go there and see it for ourselves, we decided to check it out…
To put you in the picture, here are some details about the Hungarian DM FC. September 1987 was the month the Fan Club was founded so it has been running now for almost 8 years. There is a party or a convention organized each month with the average attendance of 1500 fans. The programme usually consists of a video-projection, karaoke, Dave dancing, Top list, look-a-likes and of course DM music. The club members receive an information sheet each month with the latest news on the band and the FC activities. One of the FC specialities is organizing trips for its members to see Depeche Mode in concert abroad. They have virtually followed the Band on each tour since 1988. In the past, the FC has also participated in organizing concerts such as Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps, Laibach, Inspiral Carpets, Renegade Soundwave, Miranda Sex Garden, Moby and was twice honoured with a visit from Daniel Miller.
More than a half year after the international convention organized last October in Jena and only three months before our official BONG convention in London, we (Lynn, me and our two friends Ann and Paul) are here in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, to take part in yet another DM gathering.
Lajos Borbely who runs the DM FC in Hungary and one of the people whose idea it was to hold this year’s convention in Budapest, greets us on Friday afternoon at the Kelety Railway Station and welcomes us to the city. We are exhausted from the nine hour journey from Prague and it’s boiling hot. The only thing on our mind at that moment is to get to our hotel as quickly as possible and sink into a cold and refreshing bath, we’ll probably have just as much cold and refreshing drink! Friday goes by and thankfully we all feel much better after a good night’s sleep. And so we should because the convention, the reason of us coming here, is still ahead of us.
It’s Saturday and it’s still hot. We have all day to ourselves before we meet Lajos and the others at the venue tonight. After studying the map, we decide to head into the city centre and explore the old town. It’s beautiful. The posters announcing the DM FC convention are everywhere and we are slowly getting into a party mood. After a few hours of walking in the sun, we are worn out again. In the afternoon, we go back to the hotel and try to recharge our energy. Half an hour later, we are getting out of a cab in front of the Petöfi Czarnok Hall where the convention is taking place tonight. We are given “stage passes” so we have free access everywhere and Lajos shows us around the place. It feels great, it feels big, it feels almost like a real concert… but DM won’t be attending tonight. There are several stands with refreshments in the foyer and a DM shop where the fans can buy anything from CDs and vinyls to “Strangers”, a book of photos by Anton Corbijn. There are also two rooms used for playing videos and the memorabilia display. When we enter the main hall, the excitement grows. It is all decorated in DM style. The stage, several large screens hanging from the ceiling, metal-men, posters etc. Even though the doors will open in over an hour, we can already hear the fans outside. There is time for a quick meeting during which we give Lajos all the DM prizes we have brought with us from London for the winners of the competitions and freebies for the fans.
It’s 6 o’clock, the doors open and everyone’s rushing in. The international convention in Budapest begins… Old and new DM songs, original versions and remixes, videos, slides and lights – all this is under the control of a few people. There are around 1300 devotees and the party rolls on at a fast pace. The fans have a short break and relax only when a young Hungarian band goes on stage and plays some of their songs. Their sound and performance is quite good. Prior to the concert, we meet Andrea Matthews from Birmingham who seems to be the one and only fan from Blighty apart from Lynn, Ann and Paul and so we hang out together for the rest of the night. The first competition starts at 10 o’clock. It’s KARAOKE time! There are eight people entering, including our friend Paul with “Shake The Disease” but the first prize goes to Zoltán Vigh who sings “Somebody” and wins a bag full of DM goodies including a set list signed by Alan. The second winner is Bernadett Kiss with “Enjoy The Silence” who wins a goodie bag and a photocard with Martin’s signature. DAVE DANCING and QUIZ are the other competitions. These are a little confusing but nevertheless give us two more winners. Zoltán Tillinger as Dave performs “Enjoy The Silence” and wins a bag full of DM prizes. Alexandra Tóth proves to have the best knowledge of DM in the QUIZ and together with a goodie bag wins the Devotional Tour Programme signed by Martin. The competitions are followed by the TOP most favourite songs compiled by the FC members. Then even more music, more videos, more slides…
It’s 2am, Lynn, Ann and I decide to leave. After all it’s been a long day. It’s time to say ‘good-bye’ to everyone at Petöfi Czarnok Hall and it’s time to say ‘good-bye’ to Budapest.
P.S. On behalf of BONG, I would like to thank Lajos and his friends for putting together such a brilliant evening…
I MET THAT BLOKE FROM DEPECHE MODE ONCE
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: "Karina".]
We had waited for more than 6 years for Depeche Mode to come and play in Argentina. When they finally came we knew it was the first and maybe the last chance we might have to see them in concert and possibly in person. We had poor hopes but at the end of the day our dreams came true. After all…
The day after the concert (April 9, 1994), we got up very early in the morning and decided to go to the hotel where the Band were staying. The morning was quite chilly and grey, so I decided to bring my bag containing my camera and the T-shirt I had worn for the concert the night before. That T-shirt was and is very special to me, as it had been made by my friend in Germany with the lines “Never Let Me Down Again, Just Let Me See You Stripped Down To The Bone”, painted on its back.
After waiting for a couple of hours we heard a rumour that the guys were going to leave Argentina that same day for their next destination – Chile! We tried to figure out which door they would use and finally decided to go to the back door. There were about 50 fans already plus another 50 at the front. One of my friends came up with an idea of getting a taxi and following the Band to the airport which is about one hour’s drive. We eventually managed to get a taxi after three attempts.
At about 4pm the doors opened and you could hear everybody screaming. We ran to our taxi and went in pursuit of Depeche Mode as soon as we saw their three Mercedes Benz turning into the main avenue. All the fans waved and shouted “Depeche Mode! Depeche Mode!”. A minute later we managed to reach them. The cars rushed in a line. The first Mode we spotted was Martin in the last car. We shouted his name but he seemed very shy so he barely looked at us. When we reached the second car I saw a head with dark long hair tied in a small pony tail at the back. Who else could this be but Dave! I couldn’t believe it! I had been waiting to see him for so long and now I was so close. I shouted his name so loud that he turned his head my way, smiled and waved at me! We could not believe that he was actually Dave Gahan as he was so kind and normal. Then we reached the first car with Alan in it. We shouted his name and he looked at us, smiled and waved. At that moment, both of our cars had to stop at the red light which gave us an opportunity to take some pictures. One of my friends almost got out of the car to get even closer to them.
By this time we had reached the highway that goes directly to the airport. All the way there we kept meeting Dave who seemed to enjoy our chasing game. Next, as we reached Dave’s car I remembered my T-shirt. When we got close enough I showed it to him and he began to smile. Then he tried to read the lines on the back of the T-shirt and when he had finished I could see his lips saying: “Beautiful!” So the only thing I could think about at that moment was to give it to him. But then their cars sped up and disappeared into the traffic. We decided to go to the airport anyway as we were pretty sure we were going to see them again before they departed.
But not all the fairy stories finish with a happy end… Before we arrived at the airport and found the right gate it was too late. The Band disappeared into the VIP lounge. We were desperately trying to think of something to get to see them. We begged but were not allowed in. A few minutes later an air hostess came to us and said she would try to help us as she understood how we felt. She went in to the VIP room and when she returned she was giving us one free pass to get there with her. It was a tough decision but we had to say “no” in the end and thanked her for her help. We felt we had to finish this all together as it wouldn’t be fair if only one of us had the chance to meet with the Band.
We stayed at the airport for a bit longer as we didn’t want to accept that they had really gone. But even this little experience changed our lives in a way and we are very grateful to the guys from Depeche Mode for making us believe that in this world full of nothing there are still some dreams that come true…
Karina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
[From Bong 25, June 1995. Words: "Karina".]
We had waited for more than 6 years for Depeche Mode to come and play in Argentina. When they finally came we knew it was the first and maybe the last chance we might have to see them in concert and possibly in person. We had poor hopes but at the end of the day our dreams came true. After all…
The day after the concert (April 9, 1994), we got up very early in the morning and decided to go to the hotel where the Band were staying. The morning was quite chilly and grey, so I decided to bring my bag containing my camera and the T-shirt I had worn for the concert the night before. That T-shirt was and is very special to me, as it had been made by my friend in Germany with the lines “Never Let Me Down Again, Just Let Me See You Stripped Down To The Bone”, painted on its back.
After waiting for a couple of hours we heard a rumour that the guys were going to leave Argentina that same day for their next destination – Chile! We tried to figure out which door they would use and finally decided to go to the back door. There were about 50 fans already plus another 50 at the front. One of my friends came up with an idea of getting a taxi and following the Band to the airport which is about one hour’s drive. We eventually managed to get a taxi after three attempts.
At about 4pm the doors opened and you could hear everybody screaming. We ran to our taxi and went in pursuit of Depeche Mode as soon as we saw their three Mercedes Benz turning into the main avenue. All the fans waved and shouted “Depeche Mode! Depeche Mode!”. A minute later we managed to reach them. The cars rushed in a line. The first Mode we spotted was Martin in the last car. We shouted his name but he seemed very shy so he barely looked at us. When we reached the second car I saw a head with dark long hair tied in a small pony tail at the back. Who else could this be but Dave! I couldn’t believe it! I had been waiting to see him for so long and now I was so close. I shouted his name so loud that he turned his head my way, smiled and waved at me! We could not believe that he was actually Dave Gahan as he was so kind and normal. Then we reached the first car with Alan in it. We shouted his name and he looked at us, smiled and waved. At that moment, both of our cars had to stop at the red light which gave us an opportunity to take some pictures. One of my friends almost got out of the car to get even closer to them.
By this time we had reached the highway that goes directly to the airport. All the way there we kept meeting Dave who seemed to enjoy our chasing game. Next, as we reached Dave’s car I remembered my T-shirt. When we got close enough I showed it to him and he began to smile. Then he tried to read the lines on the back of the T-shirt and when he had finished I could see his lips saying: “Beautiful!” So the only thing I could think about at that moment was to give it to him. But then their cars sped up and disappeared into the traffic. We decided to go to the airport anyway as we were pretty sure we were going to see them again before they departed.
But not all the fairy stories finish with a happy end… Before we arrived at the airport and found the right gate it was too late. The Band disappeared into the VIP lounge. We were desperately trying to think of something to get to see them. We begged but were not allowed in. A few minutes later an air hostess came to us and said she would try to help us as she understood how we felt. She went in to the VIP room and when she returned she was giving us one free pass to get there with her. It was a tough decision but we had to say “no” in the end and thanked her for her help. We felt we had to finish this all together as it wouldn’t be fair if only one of us had the chance to meet with the Band.
We stayed at the airport for a bit longer as we didn’t want to accept that they had really gone. But even this little experience changed our lives in a way and we are very grateful to the guys from Depeche Mode for making us believe that in this world full of nothing there are still some dreams that come true…
Karina
Buenos Aires, Argentina