Depeche Mode Exciter Tour Diary

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Blog #36 Los Angeles

Los Angeles
author: Daniel Barassi (Webmaster)
date posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2001

Now this was a show to be proud of. VERY loud singing, a turbo charged David, and (gasp) a flare gun!

This was the first show that I actually had the chance to catch Poe's set. If you are getting to the final shows (Pond) late, you are missing out! She puts on a fantastic show. In hindsight, I should have skipped on the "meet & greet" sessions with DM (held during the Poe set). Why take pictures of people meeting DM? Are you that person? Percentages say no. I'm sure you all would rather see shots of DM performing anyway (which the L.A. shows have plenty of).

Now to DM. Two words - the crowd! Even David commented on how great the crowd was, compared to the first night's show. A shocking highlight was the moron who decided to shoot off a flaregun a few times during the show. Man - if you thought mystery liquid being flung at band members is bad, how would you like to be seeing the business end of a flare? I saw two of them (someone said there were more - I was too busy taking pictures to see). The first one landed in section 114 , and the second one apparently got about halfway from it's launch point, from the back of the venue. The show, however, went on. Martin's acoustic number of the night was "Sister of Night".

 

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Blog #36 (2)

 

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Blog #37 Anaheim

Anaheim
author: Daniel Barassi (Webmaster)
date posted: Saturday, August 18, 2001

Besides the fact that David kept referring to the (Orange County / Anaheim) crowd as Los Angeles, the only other extreme highlight was this -

Martin sang "Dressed In Black".

I already heard it via an MP3 off of the net from the Jones Beach show, but that recording sounded something like this -

"She's dressed in MARTIN - I LOOOOOOOVE YOU again, and I'm WOOOOOOOOOOOO - SQUEAL - SCREAM, but oh, what can you do when she's MAAAAAAAAAARTIN - SCREAM - WHISTLE".

This performance sounded exactly the same, but at least I had the opportunity to see it as well.
Images:
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Blog #38: Anaheim

Anaheim
author: Daniel Barassi (Webmaster)
date posted: Sunday, August 19, 2001
The final North American show, and it was not one to be missed!

If you missed Poe on any of the North American dates, you should go buy her CD('s) right now as an apology to yourself. She put on a great show.

As for the DM portion - where do I start. Since I'll never be able to do this in proper paragraph formatting (I hate typing, yet I'm a webmaster - go figure), I'll do it like this:

> Martin sang "Condemnation", as a special request from David.

> During "When The Body Speaks", David told Martin to get real close to him, since it was the last show.

> During "Enjoy The Silence", Poe's entire touring group (band, family, assistants) came onto the stage and danced along to the song. David also thanked them again for opening up for them (see - I told you not to get to the shows late!). Towards the end of the song, Poe's bass player stage dived into the crowd (Fletch's side of the stage - looked like he made it to about fourth row).

> During "In Your Room", a few inflatable sharks were being tossed around (on the tour projection for "In Your Room", there is a shark and some goldfish on screen). One of the crew got a hold of one of the sharks, and was walking through the media pit (front of front row), moving it up and down to simulate it swimming. David had a very visible smile from this.

> During "Personal Jesus", Peter grabbed Poe's keyboard player, and had him playing the end of the song!

> David completely messed up "Clean" on the first verse, but eventually recovered (smiling the whole time).

> Before "Home", Martin teased that he was going to play another song they had not performed in years. Personally, I thought that was an evil joke!

A great show to end the North American tour. Still, the thing sticking in my head is what I saw at their hotel the next day. I was going to say goodbye to a member of the crew at the hotel, and what greets me outside but David, driving around in a big ol' Suburban type vehicle. Something about seeing him behind the wheel (no pun intended) just looked wrong. I work for the band. I know they have normal lives (more or less) offstage. But that just freaked me out.

In case you didn't notice, there are no images from the Pond shows. Thanks to the Pond / Nederlander policy, we were not allowed to even take one still image (thanks guys - big warm cuddly hugs to you all! ). At least it allowed me to finally "see" a show, without worrying if my batteries were running down, or if the flash was going to accidentally go off while I took a picture. Anyway, I put up over 400 images from the last couple of shows. How many ass shots of David does one site visitor need (that is a rhetorical question - do not email me with an answer)?

Nichelle will be back to her tour and image duties when the European leg starts on August 28th, in Tallinn. Thanks to all the people who walked up to me at the shows (sorry I didn't talk longer - I was working my butt off), with all the kind words.

 

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Blog #39 Tallinn, Estonia (day off)

Tallinn, Estonia (day off)
author: Nichelle
date posted: Saturday, August 25, 2001

So Nichelle is back - woo hoo! I am not sure if too many of you are excited about that because everyone seemed to be so very impressed with Mr. Barassi's comments over the last few weeks. I am sure he did a wonderful job and now you are stuck with me for the European leg.

So today I am going to leave for the airport in about 2 hours to meet Martin and travel to Tallinn, Estonia. We had a week break between the US and European legs, yet I was stuck in Los Angeles working away. I am sure everyone will be excited and ready to go when we all meet up in Tallinn.

 

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Blog #40 Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn, Estonia
author: Nichelle
date posted: Monday, August 27, 2001

Yeah, we have arrived safely into beautiful Tallinn, Estonia. Our flight was okay - I got upgraded because I was traveling with Martin, so that was nice. We both had trouble sleeping the majority of the flight from LAX to London, yet when we arrived into London Heathrow, we had a few hours before our flight to Tallinn, so we all got hotel rooms at the airport and tried to get a few hours of sleep before being forced back into the confines of a commercial plane.

After about 3-4 hours of sleep, Martin and I met Darrell, Ed and David, as well as our entire DM crew at Estonian Air. Yes, the airline was really called Estonian Air. Martin seemed to get a kick out of that for quite a while!

After a 3 hour flight, we made it into Tallinn. In order for Martin and I not to feel too jet lagged and out of it, we decided to hang out for a bit at the hotel bar with the crew to stay up until at least midnight. We did that and then crashed pretty easily. Everyone kept telling me that I would wake up a few times in the early morning, but for some reason, I slept the entire night through until my alarm call at 9:30 AM. That made me VERY happy.

Today Martin, Darrell and I walked around Tallinn in the morning and hit up a few record shops. Then, at 1:00 PM, David did a mini press conference for all of the media in Estonia. The turn out was nice and I was told we had ALL of the largest TVs there, but then again, it is Estonia - not very big!

Martin, Darrell and I again went out after the press conference which was not the smartest thing because we were then followed around town our entire walk. One woman was filming us while another few were snapping away. We knew we had enough when a nearby car parked near us and starting blasting "Somebody." It was quite amusing at the time, but a bit freaky!

Then at 3:30 PM today, David and Martin went down to the middle of Tallinn and met the mayor at a beautiful church from the 16th century. They were given the honor of getting the keys to the city - one of the first bands EVER in Tallinn to do so. The mayor was a very friendly man and greeted us as we got out of the car. Then, he told us the story of the church and how he was hoping to make Estonia the capitol of the entertainment world. Something, he said, that they have been working very hard on. He then told David and Martin that he wanted them to ring the bells at the top of the bell tower in this church. As we began our way up the stairs, he kept saying that we were almost there and that it was only 50 meters.

Let me tell you, it was MUCH more than that and we all had to stop a few times before FINALLY getting to the top. All of us, including about 15 photographers climbed up this narrow stairway made of cobblestones, many falling apart.

As we got towards the top, he then asked Martin and David to come out to the balcony and look at the amazing view. The view indeed was amazing, but the fact that the ledge on the balcony was sloped, and that the railing holding you in had a few screws loose did not make any of us feel the most comfortable. Martin would not go out very far on that ledge and kept a hand inside the entire time. Needless to say, he felt a bit nervous up there.

Then we went back inside and Martin and Dave each rang a bell, a very memorable experience for the both of them.

Each of them felt very honored to be given the keys to the city and to have been able to see this beautiful church and ring the sacred bells. It was truly a day that cannot be repeated.

 

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Blog #41 Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn, Estonia
author: Nichelle
date posted: Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Show day - YES! I feel like we have not had a show in SO long. The bad news is that is it raining like crazy - and the venue is outside. The promoter has told us that almost always, for every show it will rain.

Last night we - David, Martin, Christian, Darrell, Ed and I went out to a great Italian restaurant with the Promoters - Peeter, Ingrid and Helen. They then told us about the Depeche Mode bar, a place the guys had never heard of. Some loyal fans turned this place into basically a Depeche Mode shrine. We were told that the week before they had 3 different parties preparing for the show, each with different themes. They also had just renovated the place.

So after dinner, Martin, Christian and I decided to go see what this place was about. As we walked in and down the stairs, we began hearing applause. I am sure that these people were shocked to see one of their idols walking into their place and I am sure they NEVER thought this day would come.

As we walked in and the applause stopped, people began flashing pictures left and right. Darrell stepped in and asked everyone to put their cameras away and just hang out and enjoy themselves. As we sat there, we looked around the room at all of the things. There was a TV on one side playing various Depeche Mode videos as well as clips from interviews, etc. Then of course, over the speakers was constant Depeche Mode music. It was a bit funny sitting there with Martin Gore and watching him on TV as well as listening to him sing, but at the same time, I was so happy that these die hard fans were able to say they hung out with him.

It was odd when we first sat down because there were not too many people there, and those they were there basically turned their chair towards where we were sitting and stared at Martin the ENTIRE time. As the night went on, it began to get a bit more crowded which helped the scene out a bit.

At about 11:00 PM, Fletch had arrived in from London and joined us there as well. He too received a standing ovation and seemed to enjoy himself once inside.

I am really glad that we decided to go to that bar because I know that it made those that work so hard on it very happy.

 

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Blog #42 Riga, Latvia

Riga, Latvia
author: Nichelle
date posted: Wednesday, August 29, 2001

I am sitting at a show right now in Riga, Latvia. Let me tell you, things work so differently over here. The show seems to be going fine as of now. They are on stage performing "I Feel You" at the moment and I am just about to go out for "In Your Room" as I do every show night!

This venue we are playing is brand new and the only other show that has been here is Elton John back in July. It is a nice venue - general admission, so people are all over. Not sure how they enjoy being squished in there, but they seem to be having fun.

Last nights show in Tallinn went over well too. It had rained all day, and even rained during soundcheck, but luckily, as the concert began, it stayed very clear. It is so nice when those things work out like that.

After the show, we had a party at a club called Hollywood which the promoter set up for us. Overall, we all had a lot of fun and it was a great way to spend our celebration of our first date of the European leg. All of the people at FBI (promoter of the Baltic States) have been great to us - Peeter, Ingrid and Helen have everything SO darn organized that it makes everyone's life that much easier.

Today we flew on our new European plane from Tallinn to Riga and boy is it nice. We could probably fit about 100 people in there. The flight attendants are a bit different though and very formal, something we are not used to. I am sure that they will become a bit more relaxed once they see how informal we are!

That is all for now. I must organize my things to get ready to go - they are singing the second to the last song Black Celebration as we speak. Bye for now!

 

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Blog #43 Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Friday, September 7, 2001
The Berlin shows were amazing and probably the best crowds we have had so far. They were singing so loud to the songs that you could barely hear David!

The venue was so very beautiful and had a great deal of history behind it. It is in the middle of the woods and Hitler used to make speeches there at the heighth of his glory. And the way you walk to the stage is through this underground tunnel that constantly curves toward the stage. Hitler used to walk through the same walls, so when you make your way down it, you get this eery feeling - it is rather creepy. The reason why the tunnel is curved, I was told, is because tat way, no one could hide behind anything and make a straight shot at Hitler. With it curving, his guards could see ahead and make sure he was safe. Crazy!

The venue is also amazing because instead of the audience going straight back, the venue goes steeply up a hill (you can see from the pictures). That way, from the stage, you can see ALL the people rather than just the ones in the front half. So during "Never Let Me Down Again," I cannot even tell you how great it looked. That song is always incredible, but with that setup, it looked amazing.

Today is a day off and the wonderful Anne Berning invited me on a sightseeing tour of Berlin. Let me tell you - she definitely can go into that business if her music career does not work out! She know Berlin amazingly well, so we had a great time and got to see a lot of pretty sights. We then went to the zoo and then home for a quiet night.

Off to Hamburg tomorrow.

 

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Blog #44 Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria
author: Nichelle
date posted: Monday, September 10, 2001

So both of our largest shows of this tour, and even of Depeche Mode both were ruined by rain. I guess the audience ended up enjoying themselves regardless, it was just a shame that the rain had to be there at all.

In Hamburg, the winds were rather high and small spurts of rain would come in and pound away. The about 10 minutes later, the sun would be out and it would look nice - and this continued on throughout the whole day and night.

MTV was there and filmed the guys as well as some of our crew. Of course Jez entertained them the most, showing them Martin's guitars and cracking them up - he must be the funniest person in the world!

It was a bit scary though because when we got there and did soundcheck, one of the PAs fell down due to the wind - and we thought that if this happened during soundcheck, it could easily happen during the show. So after this and due to the hard rain, we were thinking about canceling the show. And if the rain had gotten harder and caused more damage, it was going to be cancelled. But luckily, the audience was amazing, and with all that rain and getting soaked, they seemed to enjoy it regardless.

It was crazy because I was out at the mixing board at the beginning with my TV crews, and when we left during the third song, we were trying to get out and it felt like we were walking miles and miles to get away from the audience. The people went SO far back on the grass, and when you passed this certain point, there were just HUGE speakers playing the concert, and these people obviously could not even remotely see the band, yet were having the best time listening to the music and dancing. It was a great sight.

Leipzig went on the same way with the rain again. Though it was not as bad during the show, people still waited a long time in the rain and seemed to still be excited about the show. This one was even bigger - 70,000 people versus 60,000 the night before.

The guys had to cut a few songs because they were freezing their butts off, but hopefully the audience enjoyed it just the same.

It was awful that our two largest shows EVER had to come with those conditions, but I think that they came off pretty well and the fans would have enjoyed themselves regardless of the weather. As we know, DM fans are so very dedicated - that is why they are great!

 

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Blog #45 Moscow, Russia

Moscow, Russia
author: Nichelle
date posted: Friday, September 14, 2001

We had the Vienna show on Tuesday and the Budapest on Wednesday. Vienna went well - it was inside, so that was nice and we did not have to worry about the weather. Since Christian, our drummer is Austrian, we had a large after party with most of his friends and family. I think he enjoyed seeing all of those he had not seen in a while.

Budapest went well, though of course because it was outdoors, it had to rain. We are not doing very well with our outdoor shows lately! But anyways, it did not rain TOO much, just a bit throughout the show. We left right after and went back to the hotel bar and hung out for a bit, then a few of us went out to another bar.

Eddie Murphy is filming a movie in Budapest at the moment and is staying at our hotel, and the other night a few of us ran into him at the bar - it was pretty funny.

Last night a bunch of us went to dinner at a GREAT Hungarian place - the food was delicious. Today is another day off, hopefully we can all relax.

Tomorrow, off to Moscow - that should be interesting.

 

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Blog #46 Moscow, Russia

Moscow, Russia
author: Nichelle
date posted: Sunday, September 16, 2001

So I am sitting in the management office behind the stage at the Moscow show and the guys have been on stage for about an hour already. Things seem to be going well and Moscow is definitely an interesting city.

We got here last night about 7:00 PM and were greeted by numerous fans. In fact, many of them followed our bus all the way to the hotel. There were a few times there when we thought they were going to cause some accidents!

After we arrived and were greeted by even more fans at the hotel, some of us made our way down to the bar for some cocktails and food. After a bit of socializing with each other and our several interpreters, some of us went out while others went off to bed.

Today we made it out for a walk to Red Square which we are right across the street from, and the buildings are amazing. Some of them do not even look real. We are going to leave in about an hour for the venue, so I will check back in after the gig.

 

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Blog #47 Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki, Finland
author: Nichelle
date posted: Wednesday, September 19, 2001

The show in Moscow went very well, though the press was not as smooth as I would have liked. The guys enjoyed it a great deal because we had a couple of days off in Budapest to rest, so it felt good for them to get back into their routine.

After the show, we went to this club called "Most" which was very cool. They had a private room for us upstairs which was nice, and there was even a fashion show going on downstairs that we all watched. It was rather interesting clothes, and the designer walked out at the end in a see-through gown. We all swore that she flashed a bit of herself at Martin as she swayed passed us.

We all stayed a bit too long at this party, but all in all, it was a fun night out. After that, we went back to the hotel to listen to the entertainment of Martin and Andrew Phillpott singing away at the piano - woo hoo!

The next day on our day off, a few of us went on a tour around the Kremlin, then later met up and went to this club about 30 minutes from our hotel. It was some sort of Depeche Mode night, and one of our support bands was playing, so we all attended. There were only 2 bands the entire night, but it was an interesting crowd. When Technique played, at the end of their set, Peter joined them to sing "Home" which ended up sounding really good though they did not have much practice.

After the club, we got back to the hotel and made our way down to the casino - you can always find Mr. Fletcher down there winning away! After about an hour, we all decided the night was over, and we carried our winnings away to bed with us.

Then we went onto St. Petersburg - very beautiful place. The show went well and we left the next day, so not too much time to do anything, but we did make it out before our flight left to see the amazing sights.

All in all, Russia was very interesting, yet I think we were all very happy to leave. A couple things I can say that we all agree on is that the food is not the best, and the drivers of our vans have got to be the scariest drivers in this world. We had so many close calls I cannot even tell you!

We are off to Helsinki today which should be nice.

 

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Blog #48 Munich, Germany

Munich, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Saturday, September 29, 2001

So let me backtrack now since there is a bit I have not told you guys about.

Our day off in Copenhagen last Monday was pretty uneventful - most of us just went to dinner and had a quiet night in. Then the next day we were off for another 3 shows in a row.

On Tuesday we played Amneville which was very beautiful, yet in the middle of nowhere. We had about an hour drive from the airport to the venue, then after the show, we did a runner to Cologne. It was the same drive back, so one hour after the show, then once we landed in Germany, we had an hour and a half drive to the hotel, so all of us got in about 2:30 AM Wednesday morning. Talk about an exhausting day!

Then on Wednesday we had a show at the Kolnarena which was very nice, and the best part about it was that it was SO close to the hotel, so we had much of the day to wander before we had to leave for the venue. Also, the crew was staying at our hotel which is rare, and because we were doing two shows in a row at the same venue, we were all able to hang out together at the bar afterwards. It is so nice when we all get to see each other because more times than not, they leave right after the shows, and if they are around, they usually are not staying with us. So anyways, as you can imagine, we had a great time, though the majority of us felt AWFUL the next day.

Thursday was the second show in Cologne, and that went well too. The guys mixed up the set a bit by Martin and Peter singing Dressed In Black as the acoustic song, and Condemnation replaced Clean. They both sounded amazing, and the crowd really enjoyed it.

Again that night we had a bit too much fun and ended up in one of our rooms making up songs while Martin played guitar. Also, Andrew and I borrowed the luggage trolley from downstairs and pushed each other around on it in the hallways and into the rooms. It was fun until we got yelled at by the hotel staff saying that they had been looking for it for ages. Oops!

Yesterday was a day off and most of us relaxed and slept - this is what usually happens on these days off.

Right now we are in Munich performing at Olympia Park, and again, since it is two in a row, we have planned a big dinner tonight after the show with the crew. It should be fun, and since they are celebrating Oktoberfest here already, it should be a blast!