Future Unknown
[L.A. Daily News, 21st May 1994. Words: Mark Brown. Picture: Anton Corbijn.]
Call it the “Songs of Fights and Incarceration” tour.
First, Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan gets locked up in a Quebec jail cell after punching out a hotel employee. Then singer/songwriter Martin Gore is hauled off to the slammer in Denver after refusing to turn his music down at 4a.m. in a luxury hotel and being less than cooperative with the responding authorities.
The explanations are simple, Gahan said.
In Quebec, “The staff was very rude to us and wanted us to leave. We tried to convince them we were guests in the hotel. I ended up smacking one of the guys,” Gahan said. “Martin got in trouble because he was having a party and music was playing. People kept complaining, so in the end the police came and arrested him.”
The result? Dismissed charges for Gahan, but disorderly conduct charges, a $50 fine and headlines such as “Rock singer lands a gig in the brig” for Gore. [1]
Nothing really out of the ordinary, Gahan said.
“We just happened to get arrested this time, that’s all. No one was really hurt in the end.”
The public problems might just be a ripple effect from the turmoil within the band, which Gahan agreed hasn’t been on shakier ground since the defection of Vince Clarke in 1981. Keyboardist Andrew Fletcher has left the band, and not under the squeaky-clean pretences that the official press release listed. [2] And after this tour ends, the future of the group is unknown.
Depeche Mode brings its high-tech sound to the Southland tonight with a concert at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore.
In recording and touring on “Songs of Faith and Devotion”, Gahan just couldn’t bring himself to repeat the formula that has been so successful for Depeche Mode since its debut 13 years ago, “Speak and Spell”.
Gahan felt the band – which also includes keyboardist Alan Wilder – was too mired in its synthesized, sequenced past. The alternative-music revolution gave him a yearning for harder rock, as opposed to Gore’s classical and electronic leanings.
Thus began the transformation from clean-scrubbed Euro-twits hiding behind banks of keyboards to the scraggly, guitar-playing band that hit the Forum in Inglewood for five sold-out nights last November.
“I have had a hand in pushing the band in this direction,” Gahan said. “I really felt I was getting incredibly bored sitting around and waiting for a computer to tell you what to do. I was pushing for us to play together more.”
The tension threatened to derail the band, Gahan said, until the members tried it and found it worked.
While the format may have been a bit different, Gore’s songs remained the same.
“It’s basically the same three subjects – sex, love and partying. And then guilt about it,” Gahan said.
After a successful album and tour in the new style, “it’s all water under the bridge now,” he said.
Gahan is thrilled because Depeche Mode is now… well, now just like a real live band.
“It’s just a completely different feel. Alan’s playing a lot more live drums. He’s right behind me on stage; I can feel him, hear him. Martin’s playing guitar right next to me on stage,” he said. “We wanted more emphasis on us playing and doing the songs, with the energy more coming from the band rather than the lights and theatrics of a modern-day rock show. It’s a lot sleazier, a lot more live, basically a lot more fun.”
Not for everyone.
When it was announced that Fletcher would no longer be touring with the band, the official reason was that he planned to attend more to the business side of the group. A couple of months after the fact, Gahan admitted that there was more to the story.
“Basically, Fletch is going to spend some time sorting out his problems,” Gahan said. “His wife’s about to have another baby as well. Being away from the people you want to be with for a long while probably had a lot to do with Fletch’s feelings.”
While declining to expand on it, Gahan acknowledged that Fletch’s defection “pushed the band hard and made us all think.”
Still, it hasn’t slowed the band’s trek. This tour takes the group to South Africa, Australia, South America and other places for the first time.
“We wanted to go to the places we’d always ignored – not ignored, but were too tired to go to,” he said.
The time in Johannesburg, just before the elections, was particularly eye-opening, Gahan said.
“It was kind of like just before the L.A. riots. I remember the feeling at the time, on the streets and stuff. It was just the same. You could feel it,” he said. “I despise politics. I just play in a band. But it was interesting to just be there and read the news every day.”
The tour ends in Milwaukee this year.
“We’ll say goodbye to each other… go away, spend time at home and do stuff with our families, doing normal things,” Gahan said. “We’ll get together at the end of the year and talk about what we want to do. We do that every tour.
“If we’re going to make a record together, we have to be ready. If we’re not, we won’t.”
[L.A. Daily News, 21st May 1994. Words: Mark Brown. Picture: Anton Corbijn.]
Call it the “Songs of Fights and Incarceration” tour.
First, Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan gets locked up in a Quebec jail cell after punching out a hotel employee. Then singer/songwriter Martin Gore is hauled off to the slammer in Denver after refusing to turn his music down at 4a.m. in a luxury hotel and being less than cooperative with the responding authorities.
The explanations are simple, Gahan said.
In Quebec, “The staff was very rude to us and wanted us to leave. We tried to convince them we were guests in the hotel. I ended up smacking one of the guys,” Gahan said. “Martin got in trouble because he was having a party and music was playing. People kept complaining, so in the end the police came and arrested him.”
The result? Dismissed charges for Gahan, but disorderly conduct charges, a $50 fine and headlines such as “Rock singer lands a gig in the brig” for Gore. [1]
Nothing really out of the ordinary, Gahan said.
“We just happened to get arrested this time, that’s all. No one was really hurt in the end.”
The public problems might just be a ripple effect from the turmoil within the band, which Gahan agreed hasn’t been on shakier ground since the defection of Vince Clarke in 1981. Keyboardist Andrew Fletcher has left the band, and not under the squeaky-clean pretences that the official press release listed. [2] And after this tour ends, the future of the group is unknown.
Depeche Mode brings its high-tech sound to the Southland tonight with a concert at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore.
In recording and touring on “Songs of Faith and Devotion”, Gahan just couldn’t bring himself to repeat the formula that has been so successful for Depeche Mode since its debut 13 years ago, “Speak and Spell”.
Gahan felt the band – which also includes keyboardist Alan Wilder – was too mired in its synthesized, sequenced past. The alternative-music revolution gave him a yearning for harder rock, as opposed to Gore’s classical and electronic leanings.
Thus began the transformation from clean-scrubbed Euro-twits hiding behind banks of keyboards to the scraggly, guitar-playing band that hit the Forum in Inglewood for five sold-out nights last November.
“I have had a hand in pushing the band in this direction,” Gahan said. “I really felt I was getting incredibly bored sitting around and waiting for a computer to tell you what to do. I was pushing for us to play together more.”
The tension threatened to derail the band, Gahan said, until the members tried it and found it worked.
While the format may have been a bit different, Gore’s songs remained the same.
“It’s basically the same three subjects – sex, love and partying. And then guilt about it,” Gahan said.
After a successful album and tour in the new style, “it’s all water under the bridge now,” he said.
Gahan is thrilled because Depeche Mode is now… well, now just like a real live band.
“It’s just a completely different feel. Alan’s playing a lot more live drums. He’s right behind me on stage; I can feel him, hear him. Martin’s playing guitar right next to me on stage,” he said. “We wanted more emphasis on us playing and doing the songs, with the energy more coming from the band rather than the lights and theatrics of a modern-day rock show. It’s a lot sleazier, a lot more live, basically a lot more fun.”
Not for everyone.
When it was announced that Fletcher would no longer be touring with the band, the official reason was that he planned to attend more to the business side of the group. A couple of months after the fact, Gahan admitted that there was more to the story.
“Basically, Fletch is going to spend some time sorting out his problems,” Gahan said. “His wife’s about to have another baby as well. Being away from the people you want to be with for a long while probably had a lot to do with Fletch’s feelings.”
While declining to expand on it, Gahan acknowledged that Fletch’s defection “pushed the band hard and made us all think.”
Still, it hasn’t slowed the band’s trek. This tour takes the group to South Africa, Australia, South America and other places for the first time.
“We wanted to go to the places we’d always ignored – not ignored, but were too tired to go to,” he said.
The time in Johannesburg, just before the elections, was particularly eye-opening, Gahan said.
“It was kind of like just before the L.A. riots. I remember the feeling at the time, on the streets and stuff. It was just the same. You could feel it,” he said. “I despise politics. I just play in a band. But it was interesting to just be there and read the news every day.”
The tour ends in Milwaukee this year.
“We’ll say goodbye to each other… go away, spend time at home and do stuff with our families, doing normal things,” Gahan said. “We’ll get together at the end of the year and talk about what we want to do. We do that every tour.
“If we’re going to make a record together, we have to be ready. If we’re not, we won’t.”
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