Depeche Mode Exciter Tour Diary

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Blog #49 Stuttgart, Germany

Stuttgart, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Wednesday, October 3, 2001

Now we are in Switzerland, performing at the Hallenstadion, then tomorrow a day off.

The band and crew party we had in Munich was a lot of fun. There was tons of food and there was a really good atmosphere. We closed down a beer hall in the middle of town and it was a great night, especially since Oktoberfest had just started.

Both Munich shows went well, and again, on the second night, the guys switched it around a bit and played Condemnation and Martin sang Dressed In Black.

When we got off the plane in Munich, we let our plane go for about a week since the next few shows were within driving distance, and it made more sense to do that than to try to go on 5 minute flights.

The next two shows flew by in Germany, Nuremburg and Stuttgart. We drove to both of them which was very different - we have not had drives that long in a while! After the show in Stuttgart, we had a little after party at the bar which turned out to be fun. We are seeing a lot of the same fans at these shows and parties, and I always wonder how they have the time to follow us around for such long periods, but I guess they make it work somehow. Too each their own I guess!

Our hotel here in Zurich is beautiful and has the most amazing view of the lake, mountains and forest. I am so happy that we have a day off here in this gorgeous town.

 

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Blog #50 Oberhausen, Germany

Oberhausen, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Saturday, October 6, 2001

Tonight we are on Oberhausen - back in Germany! We got our plane back as well, with new pilots and one new flight attendant. Martin sang a song tonight that he has not sang this entire tour - Judas. It sounded amazing and the crowd loved it. Peter and him practiced for such a short time backstage before the show, and Martin was a bit nervous, not knowing if he could pull it off, but of course he did and it was great.

We all had a very nice and relaxing day in Zurich. After the show that night, some of the guys went out to a club and met a man named Mark that worked for Cirque Du Soleil. The show happened to be playing that next night, so Martin, Peter, Jordan, Andrew, Georgia, Darrell and I all went. What an amazing show it was! And we were taken care of so very well by Mark and the staff, and got to go backstage afterwards and meet many of the performers. Some things they were doing you just could not believe. We ended up staying there with the performers until they basically kicked us out of their catering tent! It was one of their birthdays, so we felt the need to stay there with them and celebrate as they all drank vodka.

Tomorrow we are in Belgium, then we will do a runner to Paris - yeah! We will then be in Paris until Thursday, so that will be nice, to be in one place for a while.

 

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Blog #50 (2)

 

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Blog #51 Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Thursday, October 11, 2001
We are now in Frankfurt at a gig, having had 2 Paris shows the days before and wow, those were great. Not only were we in beautiful Paris, but we stayed at this amazing hotel and had the most incredible weather. To top things off for me, my mother and sister came out to visit. It was so nice to see them and to be able to spend some time with my family.

Also during these 2 Paris shows we filmed the upcoming DVD. Anton came out to take charge and seemed to be happy with all the footage he got. The guys, as well as others did a bunch of casual interviews backstage, and Anton and Richard Bell had cameras all over the place, catching things you all will be very happy to see. I am very excited to see how it all turns out. The audience for both of the shows were incredible too - I was very impressed.

 

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Blog #52: Madrid, Spain

Madrid, Spain
author: Nichelle
date posted: Sunday, October 14, 2001

We are leaving beautiful Barcelona today to fly onto Madrid. The show went well there, though a bit overcrowded. The security does not seem to be the same at the venues here in Spain - they tend to let people stand wherever they like. A few times I tried to go out into the seats to find friends, but the aisles were so full of people that it was impossible.

The venue we are playing in Madrid is where they have the bullfights - hmmm, that should be interesting!

 

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Blog #53 London, UK

London, UK
author: Nichelle
date posted: Monday, October 15, 2001
We got into London early this morning. The Madrid show went well - we were not there for very long though - we flew in, performed, then flew out straight to London. We had 2 radio contest winners that flew with us on the plane from Barcelona to Madrid which was interesting - I think that we were all so exhausted from our fun nights in Barcelona that most of us slept the whole flight which I am sure was not exciting for the 2 young women - but then again, that is a pretty nice prize regardless. The women brought each of the guys a Mickey Mouse hat with their names on it - I will send some of the pictures of them modeling the hats.

It is so nice to be able to unpack for a while now that we are in London. We are actually here from today on until the following Tuesday, with one night in Manchester. The nice thing is that we are going to keep our hotel rooms even when we are in Manchester, so we can just pack a small bag for that one journey.

 

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Blog #54 Manchester, UK

Manchester, UK
author: Nichelle
date posted: Friday, October 19, 2001

The Wembley shows went well and everyone was very surprised by the audiences. I was told that the English have always been very reserved during the shows in the past, but they really got into it this time. After the first Wembley, we had a large party at the Marriott which was great. There was a Polynesian theme with dancers on podiums and amazing food. We all stayed there until it was over - about 4:00 am - then of course some of us stayed up a bit longer enjoying the night.

On the second Wembley night, Mute Records threw an aftershow party at a bar upstairs at the venue which seemed fun though I left pretty early to go to bed. Tomorrow is another day off, then off to Manchester.

 

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Blog #55 Birmingham, UK

Birmingham, UK
author: Nichelle
date posted: Sunday, October 21, 2001

We are in Birmingham at the NEC and they are onstage performing Freelove. Manchester was fun, though it did take us about 4 hours to get there from London. The best part about the drive was that we took a tour bus - something that we had not done on any of our driving journeys. We usually always take vans, but this was definitely different and it was fun to be able to walk around and sleep in beds if we liked. Most of the drive though was consumed by Ali G videos - damn he is funny. I had never seen him before and now I know why all the guys always comment on how great he is.

Then the drive from Manchester to Birmingham was awful - we were told it was only going to take under 2 hours - of course it took about 3+. There was traffic the whole way and awful weather - I guess that is normal in Northern England. We all kept discussing how spoiled we are with our own plane and cars, and how the crew travel on tour buses EVERYDAY with no complaints. We are taking the tour bus back tonight to London, then it is goodbye and we are back on the plane. Thank Goodness! Do you see how jaded I have become? I cannot even travel on a bus for 3+ hours without complaining - wow!

Tomorrow is a day off, then we are going to Lyon, France.

 

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Blog #56 Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey
author: Nichelle
date posted: Monday, October 29, 2001

Wow, we have been busy lately! It is so nice to have a couple days off to relax for a minute. We just had 3 shows in a row - Lyon, Milan and Bologna. We did not get to see much of any of these places since we basically just flew in and flew out. That is too bad when all of those places are so beautiful, but I am sure I will be back there sometime soon.

The Greece show went well. It felt good to have a show after 2 days off since you begin to miss it - the whole concert feeling. Tomorrow we travel to Turkey for quite a few days. We were all a bit nervous with all that is going on in the world, but we have been told by numerous people that everything should be fine. UGH - I hope so!

 

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Blog #57 Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey
author: Nichelle
date posted: Monday, October 29, 2001

The Istanbul show was great - and the best part about it was Martin sang "Somebody." I was so shocked that he did that, especially since I remember him saying at the beginning of tour he would never play it. I was really busy before the show began, so I had not heard anything about him wanting to do that song, and then all of a sudden, from the production office during the show, I heard Peter begin playing the song. It sounded amazing and the crowd was singing louder than Martin. It was such a great moment.

We have several more days off in Turkey - we do not leave until the 3rd. There seems to be a lot to do around here though, so I should be able to keep busy, besides all the work that I have to do. I think all of us are beginning to feel the exhaustion of it all. Once we all stop for a second, the tiredness sets in, and now since it is almost over, it does even moreso.

Tonight we are going to dinner with the crew to a belly dancing restaurant - should be interesting!

Happy Halloween!

 

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Blog #58 Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey
author: Nichelle
date posted: Friday, November 2, 2001

The belly dancing proved to be quite interesting. We all enjoyed it at first, but after the third hour, we all began to get a bit tired. There was this host that went on and on and on, so as you can imagine, we got a little weary after 3 hours. All in all though, it was nice to spend time with everyone and do something fun on Halloween.

One of the best times I had on tour though occurred yesterday. A few of us rented some boats and went fishing early in the morning and had the best time. Though the other boat only caught 2 fish, my boat caught 28! And to think that it was only two of us fishing. It was a great experience and I have now decided to become a professional fisherwoman!

Tomorrow we are off to Croatia - oh my goodness, 2 more shows!

 

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Blog #59 Mannhein, Germany

Mannhein, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Tuesday, November 6, 2001

Wow, to think that we played our last show yesterday is pretty amazing. It has not really hit me that it is over, ya know?

The show was incredible and so were the fans. They held up balloons and thank you signs - it was so moving. You could tell that they wanted this show to be remembered by the band and forever stick out in their minds.

Martin sang "Somebody" again, and then sang another acoustic song after the encore and before "Home" called "World Full Of Nothing". Then they sang "Condemnation" which was so beautiful. I had not realized it earlier, but David told me after that he got really emotional during that song and was trying to keep himself together to finish it. I think all of his emotions had come to him at once and he could not control it. It was a touching moment, one that I believe all the guys felt.

Then the best part came when they sang "Never Let Me Down Again" and all of us went on stage - the entire band party and crew, it was great. The funniest part of that moment though was when Peter went and picked up Bean, our tour accountant, and put him on his back and finished playing the song - it was hysterical. We all would always get angry at Bean because he would work through the entire show and never come out once to see a song, so this time, we made sure he was out there!

After the show was very emotional yet at the same time a great feeling of achievement. It was incredible to realize that you had just completed a world tour of 84 shows. We all went to the lads room after and joined Marek in a toast to congratulate everyone. Of course I began getting sad immediately - so typical of me!

Then we went onto the hotel bar and had a rather quiet night. Everyone was enjoying themselves while at the same time taking it easy and realizing we were not quite done yet - MTV Awards were coming as well as the video shoot.

Tonight Marek (Lieberberg) is taking us to an "end of tour" dinner - should be good!

 

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Blog #60 Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany
author: Nichelle
date posted: Wednesday, November 7, 2001
Today is my birthday and I get to spend it at a video shoot - oh yeah! They are filming a video for "Goodnight Lovers" and it looks like it is going to turn out really cool and different. The weather outside is dreadful, so it is a good day to stay inside.

Last nights dinner was fantastic. Besides the food being delicious, Jonathan made a beautiful speech, commenting on each and every person there. It was nice to have everyone together for one last time. The sad part was to think that it most likely will never happen again - oh no! I do not want to get teary just typing this!

After the wonderful dinner, we began to celebrate my birthday a day early and I received an amazing cake as well as some very nice presents. Marek also spoiled all of us with presents which was very kind. All in all, it was a memorable night, one that none of is will forget.

 

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Blog #61 Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles, CA
author: Nichelle
date posted: Saturday, November 10, 2001

Well, the tour is over and I am back home. It has not hit me yet that it is ALL actually over - pretty crazy! The MTV Awards went really well and we all had a great time. It was a nice way to end it, and we all had so much fun at the party afterwards.

I hope all of you have enjoyed my diary and I have given some insight on the tour. It was an amazing trip, and though there were days when all I wanted was for it to be over, I look back now and realize what an incredible opportunity this was and how lucky I was to be a part of it. Thank you all for everything!