Review: Depeche Mode @ First Midwest Amphitheater

Saturday night I attended the Depeche Mode concert at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater and left beyond happy. Depeche is a band that I have followed since the 80’s and here it is 2013 and they are still touring and releasing new music (they released their 13th record called Delta Machine in March of this year).

Musician David Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher are alive fit and healthy men in their early 50’s. The FMB Amphitheater was nearly sold out and the audience consisted of gays, straights, twenty something’s thru fifty something’s, Goths, families with kids and I even spotted a few punks with Mohawks. These were loyal dedicated fans who knew every word to every song. Lead singer David Gahan knows that as well, as he perpetually turned his microphone to the audience and everyone sang along to songs Policy of Truth & Enjoy The Silence.

Depeche formed in 1980, recorded 13 records and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.  They make every effort to engage the audience with very spectacular visual shows. On this tour, they worked with filmmaker and director Anton Corbijn on the black and white films that were shown on the massive rear screen on the stage.  The screen had several triangular screens showing videos, images, and the band themselves during their songs.  Considering those in the lawn and those of us in the 200 seated sections, it helps to see what was going on the stage.

Martin Gore, the mastermind and main songwriter for Depeche, got his 2 songs to sing during the show. He takes his guitar and his high quivery voice and attempts to belt out a couple of songs for the audience, this is usually the best time to run to the bathroom or grab a drink. Martin just can’t capture the audience’s attention the way David Gahan does.  Not many performers can capture the swagger of David Gahan. He is the band’s lead singer and he commands the stage like a hungry wolf. He will definitely get your attention. He’s fit, confident, and a dynamic singer. He knows how to use that microphone stand with his body, the girls behind me at the show screamed several times as David gyrated and grinded around the stage.  (Also, to the hardcore Depeche fans who couldn’t attend the show, so you will know, Martin did not wear his wings.)

I listed the setlist below. It was great to hear early tracks from the 80’s like Black Celebration, A Question of Time, and Just Can’t Get Enough. The band surprised me and stuck to keeping Just Can’t Get Enough in its original version as I have heard that song remixed to sound more electronic but Andy Fletcher turned it up with that synthesizer and it sounded so 80’s, it was great.  Probably the best song of the evening went to Personal Jesus, it was guitar heavy and the visuals, and David’s perfect vocals, made the song sounded bigger and bolder than on its original recording.

Welcome to My World
Angel
Walking in My Shoes
Precious
Black Celebration
Policy of Truth
Should Be Higher
Barrel of a Gun 
Higher Love
But Not Tonight  
Heaven
Soothe My Soul
A Pain That I'm Used To 
A Question of Time
Enjoy the Silence
Personal Jesus
(Encore)
Home
Halo
Just Can't Get Enough
I Feel You
Never Let Me Down Again

As for the FMB Ampitheater. It needs to go. I am no fan of this venue. It was built in 1990 and holds 28,000 fans and is currently owned by Live Nation. The parking lot is terrible and as we all know, you need to leave during the encore and run to your car so you are not stuck in that parking for over an hour trying to get out. Drinks and food are very overpriced and there is no air conditioning in the bathrooms. I am surprised the venue still operates.

Email musical comments and thoughts to radioruta@ameritech.net.

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