Depeche Mode Tour Of The Universe Blog

[demoderus]

Tour Of The Universe Blog

The first diary, for the Devotional/Exotic tour, was released through DM's Bong magazine. The Singles tour saw both a diary (by Jez Webb) for Bong magazine as well as a tour diary for Depechemode.com. The Exciter Tour and Tour Of The Universe also had tour diaries published on the official site. The Delta Machine tour saw eight tour reports posted in the news section. Dave Gahan's solo tour in 2003 also had its tour diary, written by its live band members. All other tours by Depeche Mode (or solo) did not have tour diaries.

In 2009, a few people who were close to the "Depeche Mode camp" were asked to keep a blog of Depeche's Tour Of The Universe. These people were: May a.k.a. "MM", Peter a.k.a. "PeterToo", Peter Harper a.k.a. "Big Pete", and Daniel Barassi (the webmaster of depechemode.com). The blog was updated as the tour went on, put onto Depechemode.com.

Blog #1: Somewhere over Germany
Blog #2: Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Blog #3: Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Blog #4: Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Blog #5: Zentralstadion, Leipzig
Blog #6: Zentralstadion, Leipzig
Blog #7: Olympiastadion, Berlin
Blog #8: Somewhere in Germany...
Blog #9: Somewhere in Germany (2)...
Blog #10: Bratislava
Blog #11: Budapest
Blog #12: Leaving Prague...
Blog #13: Copenhagen
Blog #14: Hamburg
Blog #15: Carcassonne
Blog #16: Toronto
Blog #17: Boston
Blog #18: Atlantic City
Blog #19: New York City (1)
Blog #20: New York City (2)
Blog #21: Seattle
Blog #22: "The Socal Shows" - August 16th through August 20th
Blog #23: Las Vegas - August 22nd
Blog #24: Phoenix - August 23rd
Blog #25: Salt Lake City - August 25th
Blog #26: Denver - August 27th
Blog #27: Texas - August 29th & 30th
Blog #28: Atlanta - September 1st
Blog #29: Florida - September 4th & 5th
Blog #30: Guadalajara - October 1st
Blog #31: Mexico City - October 4th
Blog #32: Monterrey - October 7th
Blog #33: Bogota - October 10th
Blog #34: Lima - October 13th
Blog #35: Santiago - October 15th
Blog #36: Buenos Aires - October 17th
Blog #37: Oberhausen - October 31st
Blog #38: Bremen - November 1st
Blog #39: Hannover - November 3rd
Blog #40: Mannheim - November 7th
Blog #41: Stuttgart - November 8th
Blog #42: Geneva - November 10th
Blog #43: Valencia - November 12th
Blog #44: Lisbon - November 14th
Blog #45: Madrid - November 17th
Blog #46: Barcelona (1) - November 20th
Blog #47: Barcelona (2) - November 21st
Blog #48: Lyon - November 23rd
Blog #49: Italy - November 25th and 26th
Blog #50: Erfurt - November 28th
Blog #51: Rotterdam - November 30th
Blog #52: Nuremberg - December 1st
Blog #53: Vienna - December 3rd
Blog #54: Zurich - December 6th & 7th
Blog #55: Dublin - December 10th
Blog #56: Glasgow - December 12th
Blog #57: Birmingham - December 13th
Blog #58: London - December 15th
Blog #59: London - December 16th
Blog #60: Manchester - December 18th
Blog #61: Berlin - January 9th
Blog #62: Budapest - January 11th
Blog #63: Prague - January 14th
Blog #64: Lieven - January 17th
Blog #65: Paris - January 19th
Blog #66: Paris - January 20th
Blog #67: Antwerp - January 23rd
Blog #68: Malmo - January 25th
Blog #69: Gothenburg - January 26th
Blog #70: Bergen - January 29th
Blog #71: Stockholm - January 31st
Blog #72: Helsinki - February 2nd
Blog #73: St. Petersburg - February 4th
Blog #74: Moscow - February 6th
Blog #75: Kiev - February 8th
Blog #76: Lodz - February 10th
Blog #77: Lodz - February 11th
Blog #78: Royal Albert Hall, London - February 17th
Blog #79: The O2, London - February 20th
Blog #80: Horsens (1) - February 22nd
Blog #81: Horsens (2) - February 23rd
Blog #82: Dusseldorf - February 26th
Blog #83: Dusseldorf (2) - February 27th
Blog #84: Echo Awards - March 4th

 

[demoderus]

Blog #1 Somewhere over Germany

author: peter
date posted: May 5th, 2009

Hello there! My name is Peter, and I will be one of the guest tour bloggers here on DepecheMode.com. I'll be out on the road, shooting a bunch of 'behind the scenes' stuff for you guys to enjoy. The tour started for me about 45 minutes ago, as my plane took off, heading to Luxembourg, where Depeche Mode will be kicking off "Tour Of The Universe" with a warm-up show in the Rockhal tomorrow night. I really have no idea what to expect, but I'm sure there will be some music involved.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #2 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

author: peter
date posted: May 5th, 2009
Arrived safely, checked in, ate lunch. Can't wait to get started, which due to camera restrictions for the Warm Up show, will have to wait a while. Walking around the area surrounding the Rockhal - it's a fascinating place. The venue is situated just across the road from what must be the biggest demolition site I've ever seen. I'll post some pictures. Perfect setting for a Depeche Mode gig really. They should be doing the whole of "Construction Time Again" as a tribute to this place... or not. The band are doing a final run through of the show at the moment. Can't actually see the show from here, but they are sounding fantastic!


Blog #3 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

author: peter
date posted: May 7th, 2009
Last nights show was so hot and so humid it actually started raining inside towards the end. Or maybe the venue's piping needs checking.

I'm sure there must have been some first night jitters doing the rounds, but they weren't showing. Everything went off seemingly without a hitch. The band were fantastic. The set list was extremely well paced, with lots of nice surprises thrown in, including a new version of "Personal Jesus", which will surprise if not everyone, then at least those who didn't catch the band's recent US and UK TV appearances.

Visually the show looked gorgeous. This tour might just be one of the best looking tours I've ever seen. All in all, I was very impressed. Judging from the crowd, I wasn't the only one. Watching the "Never Let Me Down Again" wave from the back, it really didn't seem to matter whether there was six or sixty thousand fans - it was simply stunning!

Motor, who'd done a real good job opening the show earlier, closed it as well with a performance at the "Start Of Tour/After Show" party in another part of Rockhal. As I left for my hotel to catch some Z's, I stopped by to see how the load-out was going. You will never fully grasp the logistics of a show like this until you watch them take everything down and load it onto the trucks. It's a basically a million piece jigsaw puzzle weighing god-knows how many tons that have to be put together, taken apart and boxed up - all on a daily basis. Fascinating.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #4 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

author: mm
date posted: May 7th, 2009
Luxembourg marked the first show of the European leg of Depeche Mode's Tour of the Universe. It was also the fastest-selling show in Luxembourg history. Not bad for such a tiny place!

Despite the weather, 5,400 fans from all across Europe made the trek to the Rockhal Venue in Luxembourg city. We organized a quick meet and greet for a few lucky winners who got to take a memorable group photo with the guys before the show.

I managed to get myself situated between the stage and the barricade, sharing space with the legendary Anton Corbijn, and took some shots of the live set. I hope my amateurish photographic attempts will give you a glimpse into Depeche Mode's 2009 live experience.

It was an emotional moment for many of us, including the band. After 6 weeks of bi-coastal and transatlantic rehearsals, Depeche Mode was finally able to unleash their musical fury to Europe.

For those of you who bought tickets to one of our upcoming shows: you're in for a real treat. 20-foot tall Dave, Spaceman Andy and Head-Banging Martin. I won't divulge too much. You have to be there.

After an amazing warm-up show, we celebrated with friends and family and boarded our flights to Tel Aviv!

The guys are in the middle of a press conference at the moment at the Hilton Tel Aviv. It's the first time for many of us to come to Israel so we're taking in the sights. We're off to Jerusalem to absorb the local culture after this!

Until next time, Shalom to you all!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #4 (2)

 

[demoderus]

Blog #5: Zentralstadion, Leipzig

author: peter
date posted: June 7th, 2009
Sitting in Leipzig's Zentralstadion, enjoying the few rays of sun that's finally breaking through. It's been raining pretty much non-stop since we arrived yesterday. Hopefully the weather will clear up nicely before tomorrow's show.

We arrived almost exactly 24 hours ago, to find the basic stage almost finished. As I said in an earlier posting it's an impressive bit of engineering - a gigantic puzzle. It takes a team of 30 people almost 3 days to build the thing - and that's just the basic stage. The lighting, PA, video and everything else comes after that. There's so much stuff happening at any one time it's hard to really keep up.

Spent most of the day yesterday and this morning doing photos and video of the construction, which I'll send over shortly - with a little luck they'll be appearing alongside this very blog entry.

Random observation: the stage-left speaker stack went up as I was writing this and the stage-right video screen, is going up as I type. Will jot down some more random thoughts and observations later.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #6: Zentralstadion, Leipzig

Zentralstadion, Leipzig
author: peter
date posted: June 9th, 2009
It was great seeing the band back on stage yesterday in Leipzig. Everyone was in high spirits during soundcheck, joking around, laughing and sounding great.

The show was simply put fantastic. The crowd response was phenomenal, and the band in top form. Attached a few snaps here. "Policy Of Truth" made it's first appearance this tour, in place of "In Sympathy".

The band left for Berlin straight after the show, and after a quick load out, the crew followed suit.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #7: Olympiastadion, Berlin

Olympiastadion, Berlin
author: peter
date posted: June 10th, 2009
Went to see Nitzer Ebb last night. Some of the Mode lads made it down too. Went for a walk around the Olympiastadion this morning, and took a few pictures of the scenery that are attached here.

Random observation: The weather forecast said it was gonna rain... at the risk of jinxing it, that isn't exactly looking likely at the moment. More later...

 

[demoderus]

Blog #8 Somewhere in Germany...

author: peter
date posted: June 11th, 2009
On my way home for a bit of R&R. Two shows in and I am already aching all over. Anyway... Depeche played to a packed Olympiastadion in Berlin last night. The renovated site of the 1936 Olympics (where Jesse Owens made history) proved a great setting for a great gig. Despite the best efforst of M83 and Polarkreis 18 to get everyone pumped up and ready, it did take the audience a bit of time to warm up. But dammit did they make up for it in the last two thirds of the show. Every song was greeted with a roar, and the energy in the place was simply amazing.

Former label mates and old time friends of Depeche, Nitzer Ebb was in the house, which spawned an impromptu addition of a few lines from "Lightning Man" being added to the lyrics of "Enjoy The Silence", making the LiveHereNow recording from this show an instant must-have! Dave also dedicated "Never Let Me Down Again" to Doug and Bon.

The after show party was a good bit of fun. In addition to the usual suspects, I'm sure I spotted Richie Hawtin, Dave Gooday and the members of A-Ha there.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #9 Somewhere in Germany (2)...

author: peter
date posted: June 11th, 2009
I finally found the cable I needed to unload my other camera. So without further ado, here's a few more snaps from our stop in Berlin.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #10 Bratislava

Bratislava
author: peter
date posted: June 22nd, 2009

I wanted to share some great photos with you. On our stop in Bratislava, good friend and local photographer Ivana Dvorska took some great shots of the band, which I've attached here for you to enjoy!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #11: Budapest

Budapest
author: peter
date posted: June 23rd, 2009

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday in Bratislava was a bit of a nightmare to be honest. The venue was awful, the weather was awful, and the local stage hadn't been built to the band's specifications resulting in a stressed out atmosphere the whole day and all sorts of technical problems.

A leaky "roof" on the side of the stage gave way to the massive amounts of water, and soaked a mixer, killed about 10 channels of audio, and left show opener MOTOR on stage playing with no audio on or off stage for a bit. Depeche Mode had to ditch the video sphere because the stage that had been provided wouldn't hold the weight of the entire rig.

But it was a good show - the crowd was on fire despite being soaked!! Absolutely mental.

Today, in Budapest was much nicer weather (during the day), a lovely venue and much better facilities. The stage was as it should be, which really did make a lot of difference.

The show itself was yet again fantastic. "Jezebel" was back on the set list and a "special" version of "Master & Servant" showed it's face - Dave fumbled the lyrics, and left the singing to the crowd for almost the entire song (he did thank them for their valiant efforts). Anton Corbijn was out taking pictures today, so looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labor. Till then you'll have to settle for mine.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #12 Leaving Prague...

Leaving Prague...
author: peter
date posted: June 26th, 2009

After a day off in Prague, the band took the stage last night at Eden Stadium (or Slavia Stadium or Tippentot-something Arena, depending on who you ask), for a thoroughly enjoyable gig. The venue was a fairly new, relatively intimate stadium. Felt more like an indoor arena, except without a roof. A roof would have been nice from time to time though, as sun and blue sky gave way to rain and thunder at regular intervals during the day. It wasn't too bad during the show though.

The venue was in a residential area, so it was an early show night. There's something slightly odd about seeing the show in daylight. Not that it seemed to lessen the experience for anyone - the band was on fire and into it, and the crowd was great.

Next stop Paris... for the tour at least. Everyone seems dead excited to go there, as it's gonna be the world tour equivalent of "bring your kids to work day". Not for me though... I'm heading home for a few days, before the tour hits Copenhagen.

 

[demoderus]

Blog #13 Copenhagen

Copenhagen
author: peter
date posted: June 30th, 2009

There was a red devil running around catering today. Not quite sure what that was all about... perhaps the food was devilishly good today? Motor went down a storm, and was completely over the moon after their set. Great to see the Depeche crowd embracing them. Seems Depeche made the right choice in inviting them along.

I had my family come down for the show, so we were all sat together. First time I watched the show from a seated position - seeing the floor turn into this massive moving thing during stompers like "A Question Of Time" and "Enjoy The Silence" was simply awesome. Weird how a different position in the venue makes one notice and appreciate different things.

Local heros, and 'special guests' during Touring The Angel, The Raveonettes, came back after the show to say hi. Lovely!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #14 Hamburg

Hamburg
author: peter
date posted: July 1st, 2009
An almost unbearable heat meant a lot of walks out back to grab bottles of cold water - a trip that was made increasingly dangerous, as Dave took to racing golf carts around the the place. A regular Dennis the Menace that guy - damn near ran me over... twice!!

Tonights show was nothing short of amazing. Best one yet, by my count. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made this show stand out - everything just kind of came together perfectly. The crowd was on fire from start to finish, the band were in high spirits and rocking, Dave was all smiles throughout and the sound was simply spot.

Not even a mystery-technical glitch, that temporarily shut down the PA for about 10 seconds during the epic part of "Never Let Me Down Again" could detract from the experience. If anything, it just added to it.

What a night!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #15 Carcassonne

Carcassonne
author: mm
date posted: July 8th, 2009

"Look, there's the castle."

Castle? As we were on the plane to Carcassonne from Barcelona, while gearing up to land, we noticed what looked like a castle that only an imagination can conjure - well, my imagination, at least. But it was indeed real. The "castle" is in actuality the fortified city of Carcassonne and tonight, we played the Espalanade Gambetta, a town square. It was a unique venue and refreshing from the usual stadium fare. Needles to say, we were all pretty excited to be a part of such a seemingly magical place.

We had a late time slot - 9:30pm stage - so to kill time, a few of us became embroiled in a vicious game of.....foosball. Bodyguards vs. Band. Who won? Just look at Martin's expression and I think you'll be able to figure it out.

See you in Valladolid!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #15 (2)

 

[demoderus]

Blog #16 Toronto

Toronto
author: mm
date posted: July 30th, 2009

Hello, everyone!

The North American tour has begun. After a short break, and an unfortunate calf muscle tear, Dave has returned to full form and the band is ready to take on a new continent!

We played the Toronto Molson Amphitheatre and the Montreal Bell Centre. Despite the difference in language, the thousands of Canadian fans in attendance at both gigs had one thing in common: they rock and they love the Mode!

The new leg brought some exciting changes to the set list and judging from the crowd's reactions, it was well received.

Check out the new photos and live vicariously through our North American travels.

We're currently in D.C, the capital of the US, getting ready to play our first US gig tomorrow at the Nissan Pavilion. I wonder if Obama needs tickets?

See you in America!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #17 Boston

Boston
author: mm
date posted: July 31st, 2009
A thunderous east coast storm challenged us until show time. We seem to bring the gloomiest of climates everywhere we travel! As Fletch often says, "It wouldn't be a proper Depeche Mode gig without a little bit of rain."

After a bumpy ride to Providence, Rhode Island, we drove through the lush bay town and made our way into Mansfield, Massachusetts. Interesting fact: Mansfield's twin city is Nottinghamshire, England. The more you know.

Despite the weather and travel delay, we arrived in time for another great meet and greet with some lucky competition winners. With less that 1 hour and a half until stage time, we had to get ready pretty quickly - sadly, no usual game of foosball or cards before the gig.

The Boston crowd seemed in high spirits as well! Check out some photos from another excellent show at the Comcast Center.

See you in Atlantic City, New Jersey!

 

[demoderus]

Blog #18 Atlantic City

Atlantic City
author: peter
date posted: August 3rd, 2009
The tour touched down for a night at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey last night. Having not been out to see any of the gigs since the stadiums around Europe, I was curious to see how the show would translate to what was ostensibly a large club setting, with about 2500 people. Turning around during Never Let Me Down Again, expecting to see tier upon tier of hands in the air, only to see the ceiling of Borgata's Event Center gave me a good laugh.

This was probably one of the weirdest places I've ever seen any show, really. Walking around the casino floor, you wouldn't have known Depeche Mode were about to take the stage just upstairs. Very surreal. But that's casinos for you, I suppose.

The gig was great - the show looked excellent, and the sound was fantastic. The crowd was into it, and the band seemed to be having a great time on stage.

Next up is New York City...