Essential Mode Music
[Manchester Evening News, 31st March 2006. Words: Sarah Walters. Picture: Uncredited.]
Depeche Mode
MEN Arena
On a dank night in March, it seems oddly fitting to spend the evening with Depeche Mode.
The one-time pioneers of palatable synth pop morphed into purveyors of dark – dare I say – gothic rock during the 1980s, a sound that has served them well ever since.
But, while they may all be the wrong side of 40 these days, Gahan & co still look and sound surprisingly dynamic.
They emerge to an ear-blistering combination of German techno and 16,000 roaring fans and fly into recent album opener A Pain That I’m Used To. Gahan’s deep vocals invoke a pleasing sense of familiarity, but not so delightful as his on-stage antics – he canters across the dazzlingly-lit stage like a camp matador and his gyrating hips spark waves of excitement.
The Mode are quick to tear up the decades, reinventing 1986 track A Question Of Time and freshening up Policy Of Truth. The set is surprisingly heavy on new material, with much of a mid-section dominated by Playing The Angel.
Precious and Suffer Well are contenders for tracks of the night, but the evening starts to lose direction when Gahan surrenders the mic to Martin Gore for Damaged People – a definite low point. Gore’s ostentatious Broadway vocals on Home seem to rescue him, though, and he skips down the catwalk to rapturous applause.
But it’s clearly no accident that the set is played out with a host of classics – I Feel You and Personal Jesus sound timeless and exciting, and Enjoy The Silence is beefed up to a raucous rock anthem with the audience picking up vocal duties during the chorus.
Nor is it a coincidence that the encore is stuffed with 1980s hits – Shake The Disease is given a sensitive makeover by Gore, while Just Can’t Get Enough and Everything Counts are pure summery innocence.
But it is 1987’s Never Let Me Down Again that convinces everyone to stay put and miss the last tram home.
Essential stuff.
[Manchester Evening News, 31st March 2006. Words: Sarah Walters. Picture: Uncredited.]
Depeche Mode
MEN Arena
On a dank night in March, it seems oddly fitting to spend the evening with Depeche Mode.
The one-time pioneers of palatable synth pop morphed into purveyors of dark – dare I say – gothic rock during the 1980s, a sound that has served them well ever since.
But, while they may all be the wrong side of 40 these days, Gahan & co still look and sound surprisingly dynamic.
They emerge to an ear-blistering combination of German techno and 16,000 roaring fans and fly into recent album opener A Pain That I’m Used To. Gahan’s deep vocals invoke a pleasing sense of familiarity, but not so delightful as his on-stage antics – he canters across the dazzlingly-lit stage like a camp matador and his gyrating hips spark waves of excitement.
The Mode are quick to tear up the decades, reinventing 1986 track A Question Of Time and freshening up Policy Of Truth. The set is surprisingly heavy on new material, with much of a mid-section dominated by Playing The Angel.
Precious and Suffer Well are contenders for tracks of the night, but the evening starts to lose direction when Gahan surrenders the mic to Martin Gore for Damaged People – a definite low point. Gore’s ostentatious Broadway vocals on Home seem to rescue him, though, and he skips down the catwalk to rapturous applause.
But it’s clearly no accident that the set is played out with a host of classics – I Feel You and Personal Jesus sound timeless and exciting, and Enjoy The Silence is beefed up to a raucous rock anthem with the audience picking up vocal duties during the chorus.
Nor is it a coincidence that the encore is stuffed with 1980s hits – Shake The Disease is given a sensitive makeover by Gore, while Just Can’t Get Enough and Everything Counts are pure summery innocence.
But it is 1987’s Never Let Me Down Again that convinces everyone to stay put and miss the last tram home.
Essential stuff.