depeche the modelator

see, so depeche mode have this song called 'john the revelator,' so i thought i'd do a funny little play on that and... wow, it really didn't work, did it? *sigh*

so kerry and i went to see depeche mode last night! at key arena!

this would be my 4th time seeing them. the 3rd time being in vancouver in '89 or '90. at that show, we saw dave gahan and his now-wife at a club afterwards, and we walked up to him and said, 'hey great show!' and he stared us, turned around, and walked away. oh. ok, asshole.

eh hem.

anyway, so depeche mode was MY band in the 80s. they were my duran duran. they were the first band i can remember needing to know every last detail about, needing to get every single album and 7" (yes i'm dating myself, shut up) that came out. the only part of my room where i could hang posters was in my bathroom, and it was WALLPAPERED with depeche mode posters. i was martin gore for halloween one year!

loved them. love love loved them.

up until 'violator.' then i never listened again.

alan wilder (aka the cute, classically trained one) quit in '95, dave gahan (the wirey, freaky, rude-to-me one) skipped on over to rehab, and now they've put out their first record in 4 years, 'playing the angel.' they've gone deeper into the industrial sound that martin gore (chief songwriter) loves oh so much, and dave gahan even penned a couple of songs, which are actually quite good. so they're touring in support, not surprisingly.

the ravonettes opened up, but we blissfully skipped them and had an 2 hour meal (not by choice, hence the lack of tip) at a local indian place. we got in the doors just in time for depeche.

the visuals were quite impressive. everything looked like a space ship. the keyboards were all wrapped in these little pod thingies that lit up in time with the music, there was this big ball with bits of the lyrics of whatever song they were playing scrolling by on it and flashing lights and various messages, and the lighting was just spectacular. all green and black and cool and spacey looking.

they had an actual live drummer, which is new, and a nice addition.

gore spent most of his time on the guitar (which he has thankfully gotten better at playing since 1989). he looks pretty much the same, except a little fuller in the facial department. same really amazing, delicate-yet-strong voice. the things he can do with his voice are still really impressive.

andy fletcher did his usual kind of hanging around, clapping his hands, and looking like he wasn't doing anything. and besides a hairline that has receeded a bit, he looks like he hasn't aged a second.

they had a stand-in for alan wilder who was never introduced, but he took up most of the keyboard slack and sang backup for gore and gahan. and was quite good. they really should have introduced him.

gahan was his usual gyrating, whirling dervish self, with a body that still looks like a 15 year old boy, and i am not exaggerating. a few more tattoos than you'd hope your 15 year old boy would have, but lordie that's a man who's stayed in fine shape. i guess heroin will do that for you. he also has aged beautifully, and is much better looking than he was even back in the 80s, during depeche mode's prime. his voice was booming and almost too powerful, at times overwhelming the music. but then again, it does that. you forget how strong that baratone is, and i swear he made the speakers shudder. out of that little wirey body comes just the most amazing noise. i chalk it up to the extra-long neck. he really does have a freakishly long neck if you really look at it.

anyway, they played a really great mix of old and new so that the new stuff didn't alienate the fans, like kerry and me, who were there specifically to hear stuff like, 'never let me down again,' and 'everything counts.' they were able to craft their setlist so that everything blended well together and nothing felt out of place.

and they played the best song ever written by a human being on this planet, 'enjoy the silence.' i was a happy happy girl. i had never heard that live again, and it hit me as the show was starting that, omg, this is the band who does 'enjoy the silence,' and omg, they might like, PLAY it tonight er somethin! and they did. aside from the guitar solo-ish thing in the middle (wa...huh?), it was a religious experience.

and yes, they played 'just can't get enough.' it was the cutest ever. at first i was thinking, 'you know, this song actually has aged nicely!' then you realize, with lyrics like, 'we walk together... we're walking down the street... and i just can't get enough! i just can't get enough!' set to the plinky plunky backdrop of the Happiest Synth on Earth(tm), that no, no it really hasn't aged nicely. especially not with the power of gahan's voice belting out sunshiney lyrics like that.

one song that they played, that i almost lost my mind over, that has aged remarkably well was 'everything counts.' the lyrics are great, and just as relevant today as they were in the 80s. everything in that song just worked beautifully. they could re-release it and people wouldn't know the difference.

many times gahan wanted the audience to sing along, and for the older stuff, that's great. but a lot of the audience simply didn't know the newer tunes. so his cries of, 'SING IT WITH MEEEE!' were met with crickets. at least from where we were sitting (floor seats, row 34). they could have been singing up front, but we certainly couldn't hear them. so that was a little odd.

a few times gahan sat by the edge of the stage and let the front row, literally, fondle him. they were touching his hair and his feet, and he was drinking it in. it was actually really cool to see, and when you realize how overtly sexual most of depeche mode's lyrics are, that kind of stage show fits in beautifully.

the biggest thing that struck kerry and i was how relevant the show seemed. it didn't seem like a 'reunion' tour (it wasn't... but other 80s bands who shall remain nameless also didn't technically do 'reunion' tours, but it managed to feel like that). depeche mode felt solid and fresh and vital and just... well, like it did back in 1989. the visuals all worked and were cutting edge and interesting, and the band has lost not one ounce of their energy and range.

overall, a really solid show, and one i would not hesitate in recommending to both newcomers to the depeche world, or old schoolers like me. they managed to keep it cool for all of us.