Depeche Mode Bong 45 (2000-09)
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- Start date
BONG IN BASILDON
[From Bong 45, September 2000. Words: "Red & Billy Bob".]
The year 2000 won’t only be remembered as the start of the millennium, but for the 240 Mode fans in Basildon, it will bring back memories of the year Bong took a brave step forward into a new era of conventions. Goodbye to the familiar “comfy shoe” feel of Camden Palace and a leap forward into the unknown with a totally new idea and completely different style venue. Camden has an instant sleazy atmosphere – it’s dark and dingy making us feel at home and it matches the sensual tones of the music perfectly, so would it work having a Depeche Mode convention in the clinical setting of a hotel function room, and would the hotel staff be able to cope with mad Mode fans descending on them for a whole weekend? Yes on both counts! Admittedly it did seem odd at first, people were sat down at tables instead of wandering around the dance floor chit chatting, it felt a touch like a wedding reception, if a bride and groom appeared, they wouldn’t have looked out of place!
Travelling to Basildon was a welcome change to the usually stressful time we spend driving around central London. We had no hold ups and didn’t get lost, resulting in no nasty arguments! Having everything in house took away a lot of the normal hassles, not just for the convention weekend but beforehand too. One of the biggest problems, when the convention is held at Camden (and we’re sure many other fans will agree) is trying to find a hotel that isn’t a dump and doesn’t cost a fortune, with reasonably priced parking facilities and not too far from Camden – not an easy task. Having the accommodation already taken care of was greatly appreciated. The Post House Hotel was a great choice – and sharing a hotel with that many other Mode fans was a wonderful experience, we had the best company, good rooms, decent food and bar staff with stamina! We don’t think poor Carlos (Well that’s what we called him) slept while we were in the vicinity!
From the time we were arrived we were taken care of, we received our “goodie bags”, containing two T-shirts, two Singles Tour badges, a Singles 86-98 promo album sampler CD, an interview CD, all the relevant paperwork and wristbands needed on convention night – a really thoughtful welcome appreciated by everyone. Thanks Lynn and Michaela for all your hard work. We checked into our rooms, and after the all important trip around Basildon, we returned to the hotel and hit the bar, not that drinking was the only entertainment available – the complex boasts a cinema, bowling alley and various eating houses, but boozing was our preferred pastime! It was in the bar that we made friends with Christophe, who taught us some Belgian phrases (we’d like to say we hope he’s not “dropping his ape” while he’s reading this or we’ll have to fine him £2.00) we would explain but it’s too rude to print! It’s always a pleasure meeting up with familiar faces, we make it a rule to make new friends at every Mode related event we attend, and later that evening in a pub across from the hotel, we met Gary and Anthony (a blue version of Ant and Dec!) some of us have met up since the convention and are going to do so again sometime this week. It’s amazing how many lifelong friendships and relationships are formed each time DM fans get together.
Later still, we decided to try out one of the three night clubs on site, it wasn’t everyone’s taste, so some of us returned to the hotel bar – it was nice to have the choice of staying or not without having wasted an age travelling across London and spending a fortune on taxis, as the hotel was only a two minute walk (or piggy back ride) away, thanks Tony!! On the Saturday, it was so relaxing to be able to chill out and have a lie in (for those of us with kids at home, this was a real luxury). Breakfast was buffet style and created for all tastes and appetites. We took our time and intended catching a film at some point in the day, but after landing in the bar around lunch time, we didn’t move apart from a brief visit to Pizza Hut. “Hello” to Ella from Germany – it was a pleasure meeting you. Walking along the corridors, Mode could be heard blasting from behind the closed doors. One room in particular was like a scene from a Carry On Film – thanks to friends deciding to get ready in the same room, a kidnapped CD player, and mistaken identity resulting in the door being opened in one’s underwear. By the sound of it though, the couple next door had an even better pre-convention get together than we did. Just one question – who did get room 101?
As we’ve already said, the start of the convention did feel strange as no-one was dancing, but we soon put a stop to that. We were the first on the dance floor and we persuaded, blackmailed and generally bullied others to join us and apart from the necessary trips to the bar, that’s where we stayed for most of the duration. What a damn good time we had, the atmosphere soon built up and became just as good as all the other conventions we’ve attended, an added bonus with all the advantages this venue provided. The buffet was fantastic and helped soak up many a person’s beer over-indulgence. Those who’d attended under sufferance at their partner’s request could take themselves off to their rooms, and those football crazies were able to sneak off to the main bar to watch the highlights! The night included all the usual competitions we’ve come to expect at conventions, plus the messages from the band – which were received with applause, but Dave’s message about the Band’s future plans caused an uproar – there were screams and shouts of pure joy and the whole place felt charged with electricity. As always the convention suddenly came to an end, just where had the time gone? The last track, in typical Mode fashion, was Everything Counts – everyone just carried on singing, well after the music ended and the lights had come on. At about 1.30am, as we made our way to the general bar still buzzing and ready for more, the fire alarm went off and we were evacuated. When a hotel is cleared in the early hours of the morning, you’d normally expect the residents to be in their night wear, but when the fire brigade arrived, they were confronted by a sea of black clad bodies chanting “the grabbing hands grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts”. Who knows what they were thinking!! More partying went on ‘til all hours in various forms all over the hotel, but what a relief it was when bedtime came to be only a short lift ride away, instead of a long drive.
Some left early the next day much later for the others (time being influenced by the amount of alcohol consumed the night before!), we left with mixed feelings – on a high thanks to the wonderful time we’d had and hearing the band’s news, but a bit down because it was all over and time to return to normality. That is until the next time we get together!!!!
[From Bong 45, September 2000. Words: "Red & Billy Bob".]
The year 2000 won’t only be remembered as the start of the millennium, but for the 240 Mode fans in Basildon, it will bring back memories of the year Bong took a brave step forward into a new era of conventions. Goodbye to the familiar “comfy shoe” feel of Camden Palace and a leap forward into the unknown with a totally new idea and completely different style venue. Camden has an instant sleazy atmosphere – it’s dark and dingy making us feel at home and it matches the sensual tones of the music perfectly, so would it work having a Depeche Mode convention in the clinical setting of a hotel function room, and would the hotel staff be able to cope with mad Mode fans descending on them for a whole weekend? Yes on both counts! Admittedly it did seem odd at first, people were sat down at tables instead of wandering around the dance floor chit chatting, it felt a touch like a wedding reception, if a bride and groom appeared, they wouldn’t have looked out of place!
Travelling to Basildon was a welcome change to the usually stressful time we spend driving around central London. We had no hold ups and didn’t get lost, resulting in no nasty arguments! Having everything in house took away a lot of the normal hassles, not just for the convention weekend but beforehand too. One of the biggest problems, when the convention is held at Camden (and we’re sure many other fans will agree) is trying to find a hotel that isn’t a dump and doesn’t cost a fortune, with reasonably priced parking facilities and not too far from Camden – not an easy task. Having the accommodation already taken care of was greatly appreciated. The Post House Hotel was a great choice – and sharing a hotel with that many other Mode fans was a wonderful experience, we had the best company, good rooms, decent food and bar staff with stamina! We don’t think poor Carlos (Well that’s what we called him) slept while we were in the vicinity!
From the time we were arrived we were taken care of, we received our “goodie bags”, containing two T-shirts, two Singles Tour badges, a Singles 86-98 promo album sampler CD, an interview CD, all the relevant paperwork and wristbands needed on convention night – a really thoughtful welcome appreciated by everyone. Thanks Lynn and Michaela for all your hard work. We checked into our rooms, and after the all important trip around Basildon, we returned to the hotel and hit the bar, not that drinking was the only entertainment available – the complex boasts a cinema, bowling alley and various eating houses, but boozing was our preferred pastime! It was in the bar that we made friends with Christophe, who taught us some Belgian phrases (we’d like to say we hope he’s not “dropping his ape” while he’s reading this or we’ll have to fine him £2.00) we would explain but it’s too rude to print! It’s always a pleasure meeting up with familiar faces, we make it a rule to make new friends at every Mode related event we attend, and later that evening in a pub across from the hotel, we met Gary and Anthony (a blue version of Ant and Dec!) some of us have met up since the convention and are going to do so again sometime this week. It’s amazing how many lifelong friendships and relationships are formed each time DM fans get together.
Later still, we decided to try out one of the three night clubs on site, it wasn’t everyone’s taste, so some of us returned to the hotel bar – it was nice to have the choice of staying or not without having wasted an age travelling across London and spending a fortune on taxis, as the hotel was only a two minute walk (or piggy back ride) away, thanks Tony!! On the Saturday, it was so relaxing to be able to chill out and have a lie in (for those of us with kids at home, this was a real luxury). Breakfast was buffet style and created for all tastes and appetites. We took our time and intended catching a film at some point in the day, but after landing in the bar around lunch time, we didn’t move apart from a brief visit to Pizza Hut. “Hello” to Ella from Germany – it was a pleasure meeting you. Walking along the corridors, Mode could be heard blasting from behind the closed doors. One room in particular was like a scene from a Carry On Film – thanks to friends deciding to get ready in the same room, a kidnapped CD player, and mistaken identity resulting in the door being opened in one’s underwear. By the sound of it though, the couple next door had an even better pre-convention get together than we did. Just one question – who did get room 101?
As we’ve already said, the start of the convention did feel strange as no-one was dancing, but we soon put a stop to that. We were the first on the dance floor and we persuaded, blackmailed and generally bullied others to join us and apart from the necessary trips to the bar, that’s where we stayed for most of the duration. What a damn good time we had, the atmosphere soon built up and became just as good as all the other conventions we’ve attended, an added bonus with all the advantages this venue provided. The buffet was fantastic and helped soak up many a person’s beer over-indulgence. Those who’d attended under sufferance at their partner’s request could take themselves off to their rooms, and those football crazies were able to sneak off to the main bar to watch the highlights! The night included all the usual competitions we’ve come to expect at conventions, plus the messages from the band – which were received with applause, but Dave’s message about the Band’s future plans caused an uproar – there were screams and shouts of pure joy and the whole place felt charged with electricity. As always the convention suddenly came to an end, just where had the time gone? The last track, in typical Mode fashion, was Everything Counts – everyone just carried on singing, well after the music ended and the lights had come on. At about 1.30am, as we made our way to the general bar still buzzing and ready for more, the fire alarm went off and we were evacuated. When a hotel is cleared in the early hours of the morning, you’d normally expect the residents to be in their night wear, but when the fire brigade arrived, they were confronted by a sea of black clad bodies chanting “the grabbing hands grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts”. Who knows what they were thinking!! More partying went on ‘til all hours in various forms all over the hotel, but what a relief it was when bedtime came to be only a short lift ride away, instead of a long drive.
Some left early the next day much later for the others (time being influenced by the amount of alcohol consumed the night before!), we left with mixed feelings – on a high thanks to the wonderful time we’d had and hearing the band’s news, but a bit down because it was all over and time to return to normality. That is until the next time we get together!!!!
DEPECHE ONLINE MODE
[From Bong 45, September 2000. Words: Daniel Barassi.]
Before I ran Depeche Mode dot com
I’ve been a fan of Depeche Mode since 1984 and at the same time, I was also starting to get into music production. Over the years, I’ve made friends with a lot of people “in the know” and as such, I usually found out a lot about Depeche Mode before most people. In 1995, Brian Heess (host of
Jump to May 1998. At the time, I had already done a lot of radio edits for the Warner Brothers labels and most (if not all) of the employees already knew me as “the Mode guy”. I also proposed an idea I had for a “bonus disc” for the forthcoming “The Singles 86>98” project. After I was done with that, I walked down the hall to the New Media department, where after introducing myself to its V.P., I made my rather un-business-like comment regarding the official DM site…
To cut to the end of this pre-story, I was to make a “proposal” DM site, which ended up being the archives area of today. After two weeks, I delivered my “proposal” on disc. The Warner Bros. People were very happy with the result, but I still had Mr. Kessler to convince of its advantages. However, shortly after that, I was hired as the webmaster. When the site re-launched in September 1998, I was updating a site designed by Entropy 8. The success of the site during the tour was great, mainly due to Jody’s Diary, pictures, plus I had JD Fanger and Jonathan Kessler throwing the latest DM news my way. Then… the tour ended – what now? What do you do on a website to keep fans happy and busy until the band comes out with new material? Well I decided to devote more time and energy into building the archives – more than I care to admit!
[the descriptions of the sections of depechemode.com have been omitted here]
Net Full Of Depeche Mode
To say that there is an abundance of non-official Depeche Mode sites on the net is an understatement. Besides the sites created by the band’s various labels around the globe, many fans have also created their own sites. There’s even a section on depechemode.com where you can make your own 20 meg DM web site, hosted by Warner Brothers. Most of these are small sites that express a fan’s love for the band. Where depechemode.com differs from these sites is quality. Being the official site, the content comes directly from the band, the management and the record labels. When you get a picture from the site, it comes from a master slide of a digital master file. When there is news, it comes direct from the band and their management. There are no rumours on the site. While a fan site may break a piece of news a day earlier, the official site will always have more details and more accurate ones. Some DM fan sites on the net do hold merit. While bootleg info will not be found on the official site, fan sites, like Paul Rantfor’s depeche-mode.com site, doe provide fans with a way of keeping track of such info. Other sites also provide rare and live MP3 files, some even provide video clips. These files are usually of substandard quality.
The future of depechemode.com
With the site already over 1.5 gig in size – I’m sure the largest of any band’s official site on the net, the future of the site is simple… more, more, more! With more video, a complete UK discography, the likes of which have never been seen, more pictures, and a rather detailed band F.A.Q. (frequently asked questions), the site is destined to be around for a while. As it stands now, depechemode.com is one of the largest and one of the most visited sites on the entire Warner Brothers server which also includes all of Warner TV, books, music and film. That even includes big fan-bases such as “Dawson’s Creek” and “Buffy – The Vampire Slayer”! When we provided fans with a chance to download a “complete” video file of one of Anton Corbijn’s “Singles Tour” film projections, the file was downloaded by over 600,000 people in the first 24 hours! When the band get closer to finishing the new project, you can be sure that depechemode.com will be the first to bring you the latest news, soundfiles, pictures and much much more…
[From Bong 45, September 2000. Words: Daniel Barassi.]
Before I ran Depeche Mode dot com
I’ve been a fan of Depeche Mode since 1984 and at the same time, I was also starting to get into music production. Over the years, I’ve made friends with a lot of people “in the know” and as such, I usually found out a lot about Depeche Mode before most people. In 1995, Brian Heess (host of
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and the Internet mailing list “Bong” – unrelated to this magazine) was kind enough to start hosting my little website
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. I devoted a small section of the site to let people know the Depeche Mode news I had found out from label people. My policy was that I always waited until something was in my hands before I put it on the site. This was still usually weeks in advance of anyone else knowing about it. It was a decent site, and I was quite proud of what I was able to provide (with the support of Reprise and Mute Records). When I heard that DM was going to have their own official site, I figured I would be able to just go and delete my site… I was wrong. When the official Depeche Mode site launched (May 13th, 1997), I was happy. Depeche Mode had entered the “information superhighway”. Immediately though, I noticed how over-complicated the site was. While it had a lot of bells and whistles, it had no real substance and for a band that had been so “forward thinking”, the site was a literal embarrassment. It was coded in a way that no AOL people could visit it and worst of all, in the time that it existed before the September 1998 re-launch, it had only been updated a handful of times.Jump to May 1998. At the time, I had already done a lot of radio edits for the Warner Brothers labels and most (if not all) of the employees already knew me as “the Mode guy”. I also proposed an idea I had for a “bonus disc” for the forthcoming “The Singles 86>98” project. After I was done with that, I walked down the hall to the New Media department, where after introducing myself to its V.P., I made my rather un-business-like comment regarding the official DM site…
To cut to the end of this pre-story, I was to make a “proposal” DM site, which ended up being the archives area of today. After two weeks, I delivered my “proposal” on disc. The Warner Bros. People were very happy with the result, but I still had Mr. Kessler to convince of its advantages. However, shortly after that, I was hired as the webmaster. When the site re-launched in September 1998, I was updating a site designed by Entropy 8. The success of the site during the tour was great, mainly due to Jody’s Diary, pictures, plus I had JD Fanger and Jonathan Kessler throwing the latest DM news my way. Then… the tour ended – what now? What do you do on a website to keep fans happy and busy until the band comes out with new material? Well I decided to devote more time and energy into building the archives – more than I care to admit!
[the descriptions of the sections of depechemode.com have been omitted here]
Net Full Of Depeche Mode
To say that there is an abundance of non-official Depeche Mode sites on the net is an understatement. Besides the sites created by the band’s various labels around the globe, many fans have also created their own sites. There’s even a section on depechemode.com where you can make your own 20 meg DM web site, hosted by Warner Brothers. Most of these are small sites that express a fan’s love for the band. Where depechemode.com differs from these sites is quality. Being the official site, the content comes directly from the band, the management and the record labels. When you get a picture from the site, it comes from a master slide of a digital master file. When there is news, it comes direct from the band and their management. There are no rumours on the site. While a fan site may break a piece of news a day earlier, the official site will always have more details and more accurate ones. Some DM fan sites on the net do hold merit. While bootleg info will not be found on the official site, fan sites, like Paul Rantfor’s depeche-mode.com site, doe provide fans with a way of keeping track of such info. Other sites also provide rare and live MP3 files, some even provide video clips. These files are usually of substandard quality.
The future of depechemode.com
With the site already over 1.5 gig in size – I’m sure the largest of any band’s official site on the net, the future of the site is simple… more, more, more! With more video, a complete UK discography, the likes of which have never been seen, more pictures, and a rather detailed band F.A.Q. (frequently asked questions), the site is destined to be around for a while. As it stands now, depechemode.com is one of the largest and one of the most visited sites on the entire Warner Brothers server which also includes all of Warner TV, books, music and film. That even includes big fan-bases such as “Dawson’s Creek” and “Buffy – The Vampire Slayer”! When we provided fans with a chance to download a “complete” video file of one of Anton Corbijn’s “Singles Tour” film projections, the file was downloaded by over 600,000 people in the first 24 hours! When the band get closer to finishing the new project, you can be sure that depechemode.com will be the first to bring you the latest news, soundfiles, pictures and much much more…
I MET THAT BLOKE FROM DEPECHE MODE ONCE
[From Bong 45, September 2000. Words: Andrea Skoufis / Hannah Nagamine.]
Who knew that when Hannah and I “met” cybernetically on depechemode.com we would be meeting Andy Fletcher just six months later? We decided to take the trip of a lifetime to England to see all the sites, and more specifically, go on our “Depeche Mode Stalking Tour 1999” as it was come to be known. Seriously, we were very excited about this trip and survived through two weeks of castle torture chambers, rain, unique food and more rain until we got the chance to meet Andy. We both knew about his restaurant and decided that it would be the best opportunity to meet one of our idols in person.
When we finally managed to find Gascogne's (wear comfortable shoes if you are walking from the tube station – heels are not a smart choice) we just stood outside for a minute to drink it all in. Just being there was a feat in itself, as with my poor sense of direction I had us heading towards the next town, but as I looked in the door and saw Andy I knew this was our lucky night. I believe I told Hannah that Andy was sitting at a table and she said “no way” and then we both fell over each other trying to get in the door. After placing our order, we sat and watched Andy and listened to him talk to his guests and on the phone with Martin (we were very positive this was the case!) and just giggled like we were 10 years old. Who was to walk in the door at this time but Daniel Miller! Much talk ensued between Hannah and I about a new Depeche Mode album, which we felt must be in the works seeing as Daniel was there. I then begged Hannah to ask them if we could take some pictures wit them because she, being the cool, calm, colleted one, could actually form full sentences at this point, while I was a quivering mess. As Andy and Daniel got up to leave their table, Hannah asked if we might be able to take some pictures with him and the four of us went outside. Andy introduced us to Daniel (not necessary, really, the man is a legend!!) and we each snapped a photo with Andy. We chatted briefly with them and told then where we were from (who knew even the English make fun of New Jersey???) and then Andy said they must be off to meet Martin for dinner. Not once did it cross our minds to follow them, but that would have been impossible anyway, because by that time my shoes were killing me! So we went back inside the restaurant, ate a delicious meal and chatted with the staff, who were so friendly and made us feel very special.
It was a night to remember for both Hannah and I. We will always cherish those memories of our vacation and are looking forward to making a return visit to England and Gascogne's soon. And to all of our friends and family who are tiring of “The Andy Story”, get over it. We will be telling this story for the rest of our lives!!
Andrea Skoufis, New Jersey, USA
& Hannah Nagamine, California, USA
[From Bong 45, September 2000. Words: Andrea Skoufis / Hannah Nagamine.]
Who knew that when Hannah and I “met” cybernetically on depechemode.com we would be meeting Andy Fletcher just six months later? We decided to take the trip of a lifetime to England to see all the sites, and more specifically, go on our “Depeche Mode Stalking Tour 1999” as it was come to be known. Seriously, we were very excited about this trip and survived through two weeks of castle torture chambers, rain, unique food and more rain until we got the chance to meet Andy. We both knew about his restaurant and decided that it would be the best opportunity to meet one of our idols in person.
When we finally managed to find Gascogne's (wear comfortable shoes if you are walking from the tube station – heels are not a smart choice) we just stood outside for a minute to drink it all in. Just being there was a feat in itself, as with my poor sense of direction I had us heading towards the next town, but as I looked in the door and saw Andy I knew this was our lucky night. I believe I told Hannah that Andy was sitting at a table and she said “no way” and then we both fell over each other trying to get in the door. After placing our order, we sat and watched Andy and listened to him talk to his guests and on the phone with Martin (we were very positive this was the case!) and just giggled like we were 10 years old. Who was to walk in the door at this time but Daniel Miller! Much talk ensued between Hannah and I about a new Depeche Mode album, which we felt must be in the works seeing as Daniel was there. I then begged Hannah to ask them if we could take some pictures wit them because she, being the cool, calm, colleted one, could actually form full sentences at this point, while I was a quivering mess. As Andy and Daniel got up to leave their table, Hannah asked if we might be able to take some pictures with him and the four of us went outside. Andy introduced us to Daniel (not necessary, really, the man is a legend!!) and we each snapped a photo with Andy. We chatted briefly with them and told then where we were from (who knew even the English make fun of New Jersey???) and then Andy said they must be off to meet Martin for dinner. Not once did it cross our minds to follow them, but that would have been impossible anyway, because by that time my shoes were killing me! So we went back inside the restaurant, ate a delicious meal and chatted with the staff, who were so friendly and made us feel very special.
It was a night to remember for both Hannah and I. We will always cherish those memories of our vacation and are looking forward to making a return visit to England and Gascogne's soon. And to all of our friends and family who are tiring of “The Andy Story”, get over it. We will be telling this story for the rest of our lives!!
Andrea Skoufis, New Jersey, USA
& Hannah Nagamine, California, USA