Entry One Hundred Two.
Monday, September 7th, 11:46 PM CST.
I saw Depeche Mode live for the seventh time... and I was severely disappointed.
Current Mood:  A bit worn out but optimistic.  Current Scent:  Touch by Burberry.

Well, I've been holding off on posting this one for a bit.  On Saturday, August 29th (the 20th anniversary of "Personal Jesus," as noted in my last Journal Entry), I saw Depeche Mode again, this time at the Superpages.com Center (formerly the Smirnoff, formerly Starplex) in Dallas.

I was disappointed.

If you know me, this will probably come as a surprise.  If you don't know me, then you here's a quick primer:  I've been a Depeche Mode fan and collector since 1987, and have been fortunate enough to acquire one of the largest DM collection in my part of the country.  I've seen them perform in concert in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2005, and now, 2009.

However, this time, I felt really let down by the show.

Granted, the way old man Dave (Gahan, DM's lead singer) has been doing during this tour, it's good that we got to see them at all.  (The band has cancelled over a dozen concerts this year due to Gahan's sudden bout with gastrointeritis, a tumour in his bladder, a torn ligament in one of his legs, and voice problems.)

But, still, I was let down.  In fact, I was downright pissed off.  I will go so far as to say that I was less of a fan of Depeche Mode when I left the concert than I was when I went into it.

*** START OF SPOILER SECTION ***

What I hope for in a Depeche Mode concert...
If this had been my first Depeche Mode concert, I would have probably really enjoyed it.  However, after seeing them so many times, there are two things to which I look forward in a Depeche Mode concert setlist:  tracks I haven't heard them peform in concert (at least for a good long time) and significantly remixed tracks that breathe "new life"* into old favourites.

*(No pun intended.)

Examples of the latter category would be the exceptional bass-heavy electronic rework of "I Want You Now" from 1994, the urban-tinged remix of "Fly on the Windscreen" (complete with awesome scratching effects) from 1993, the damn-near-metal rocked-out guitar version of "A Question of Time" from 1994, the amazing new rock-oriented rendition of "Black Celebration" from 2001, and even the spectacular remixed medley of "Behind the Wheel" and "Route 66" from the end of each Violator Tour gig in 1990.

What I don't like to hear at a Depeche Mode concert are the same, old, dreary versions of a track that I've heard time and time again.  After four or five concerts, the band ought to switch a song around a bit, give it some new instrumentation, or do something that will make it feel "fresh" for those of us who have supported them at concerts for years and years.

In short, it's cool to play the "classics" - but give us a new version every now and then!

About "Strangelove" and "Master + Servant."
Well, this time around, I really tried to avoid any surprises about the setlist online.  I really tried.   But, I stumbled into spoilers left and right, and soon found out that they were dropping one of the biggest bombshells they ever had this time around:  The return of a song called "Strangelove."  This was the debut single from their acclaimed 1987 album, Music for the Masses, and it went over huge in the clubs at the time.  In fact, I consider it one of my top 10 greatest club tracks of all time.

For some reason, after the 1990 World Violation tour, Depeche Mode opted to not play "Strangelove" again.  Even though it had been a massive hit, they didn't bring it back to play live.  I still don't know exactly why, although a popular theory is that they just didn't like the song that much and just didn't enjoy performing it anymore.

This year, I stumbled onto a video of DM in Europe performing "Strangelove" live, on this new "Sounds of the Universe" tour... and I was floored.  I was thrilled.  I was excited.  I knew that this had to be a "keeper" on the setlist.  See, when Depeche Mode tour, about 80-90% of the songs on the setlist will be played at EVERY gig on that tour.  Only a few songs get switched around.  "Strangelove" had its own custom screen show (a girl/girl foot fetish video which was actually fairly hot... and I don't even have a foot fetish).  So, it stood to reason that if Anton Corbijn took the time to create and film an awesome screen show just for "Strangelove," it wasn't a track that was going to be "rotated out" of the setlist as an interchangeable track.  This was a legendary song that they presumably would play at every stop on the tour.

Well... I was wrong.  Dallas did not get "Strangelove."  I waited all concert long wondering when I was going to hear it.  I agonized through both encores, only to see the concert capped off by the shittiest, most off-key, most badly-butchered version of "Waiting for the Night" I've ever heard.

Another DM classic, 1984's "Master + Servant," was brought back for this tour... also after not being performed live since the World Violation tour.  I was hoping to hear that one for the first time in 19 years.  No such luck...  They decided to leave that one out for Dallas, too.

The "Behind the Wheel" disaster.
So, since they decided to leave out a long-awaited fan favourite like "Strangelove," what did they substitute in its place?  The less-appealing (but still good) Music for the Masses track "Behind the Wheel."  It wasn't an updated version of "Behind the Wheel," either.  It was pretty much the same old version that they'd played since 1987 (with the exception being the aforementioned remix/medley with "Route 66" that they only included during the World Violation tour).  If it had been my first Depeche Mode concert, this might have impressed me.  However, it wasn't my first DM concert and this inclusion mde me severely unimpressed.  This was the same freakin' version of "Behind the Wheel" I'd heard OVER and OVER and OVER... and they were swapping it in for a long-awaited track like "Strangelove?"

Screw.  That.  Shit.

Whoever made the decision to swap in "Behind the Wheel" for "Strangelove" is a grade-A moron.  I don't care if the person to whom I'm referring is Martin L. Gore himself.  It was a dumbass decision.  Martin, if you're reading this (yeah, right) and you were the person who figured "Behind the Wheel" would be a better choice than "Strangelove," then I'm sorry to report that in this case, you're a grade-A moron.

Here's a track-by-track breakdown of the most disappointing Depeche Mode concert I've ever attended:

• "In Chains."  (2009 track.)  Nice opener.  Exactly what I expected them to open with.  It had an interesting screen show that didn't make much sense and really didn't fit with the song, but it was a strong beginning to the concert.
  
• "Wrong."  (2009 track.)  I was surprised that they went right into the "big" single "Wrong" so soon into the setlist.  Not a bad rendition.  I was happy to hear it.
  
• "Hole To Feed."  (2009 track.)  A lot of fans don't like "Hole To Feed," but it's one of my favourite songs on the new album.  Good to hear it.
  
• "Walking in My Shoes."  (1993 track.)  This is one they will probably play at every gig until they quit, and I won't mind it.  I love the song.  This was a slightly different version than they'd played in previous tours, without the cool "scratching" from the Portishead Grungy Gonads Mix used in the beginning.  Nice screen show, too - the second best screen show of the performance.  I approve.
  
• "It's No Good."  (1997 track.)  This was a pretty big surprise - a track I hadn't heard live since 2001 and one I really didn't expect to hear in concert again.  Not bad, but a rather bland standard edition of the track.  They really had a great opportunity to update it... and they blew it.
  
• "A Question of Time."  (1986 track.)  I love "A Question of Time," but I'm sick of hearing it in concert.  This was nothing really new in this rendition; it was a little "rockier" than the original but nothing like the much-more-exciting thrash version from the 1994 tour.  Also, Dave Gahan "let" the audience sing waaaay too much of this one.  Boo.
  
• "Precious."  (2005 track.)  This was the sole representative of their last album, the highly-impressive Playing the Angel.  It was great to hear "Precious" again, although the fairly cool screen show - a typewriter punching out a Daniel Ladinsky poem about God - really didn't fit with the subject matter of the song.
  
• "Fly on the Windscreen."  (1985 track.)  This one would have been a surprise, were it not for an Internet spoiler... and it's another song that I really should have been excited with, after not hearing it live since the 1993 Devotional Tour.  Well, after hearing the far superior 1993 version (with a more urban beat, scratching, and a more intense bassline), this version just seemed... boring.  How can Depeche Mode make the amazing "Fly on the Windscreen" sound boring?  Apparently, if they put forth the effort, they can do pretty much anything.
  
• "Jezebel."  (2009 track.)  The first of Martin's slow songs for the evening.  It's one of my least favourite tracks on the new album - a badly-written song about being involved with a skank, sung over a monotonous keyboard-preset beat.  Bleh.  The ending of the track had some nice instrumentation (as on the album), but that couldn't couldn't save this performance... especially considering that numerous other cities got the much-better "Little Soul" instead. 
  
• "Judas."  (1993 track.)  Okay...  This was probably the biggest shock of the evening.  For the first time on this tour, Martin Gore played a touching, stripped-down rendition of one of his most beautiful love songs.  He even goofed it up at first, then stopped and mentioned that they had only rehearsed the track once.  For me, it was one of the high points of the evening.
  
• "Miles Away/The Truth Is."  (2009 track.)  A decent performance of one of the biggest pieces of garbage on the new album.  Bleh.  A piece of shit served on a silver platter... is still a piece of shit.
  
• "Policy of Truth."  (1990 track.)  Imagine if Depeche Mode bought a puppy named "Policy of Truth" in 1990, and everyone (including me) loved the new puppy and thought it was awesome.  Now, consider that around 1998, "Policy of Truth" started to show signs of becoming old and tired, and around 2001 it was badly in need of getting new replacement parts (like a new hip or some new instrumentation) or just being put to sleep.  Now, consider that around 2005 "Policy of Truth" was essentially an almost-dead dog that they just put on a chain and dragged around on stage without adding anything new to it.  Well, in 2009, they continue to drag around the same, old, dying, bludgeoned version of "Policy of Truth."  This song is badly in need of either upgrade or retirement.  It's a tragedy to behold.  I can't believe we got drivel like this instead of "Strangelove" or "Master + Servant."  Absolutely stunned.  Boo.  Hiss.
  
• "In Your Room."  (1993 track.)  Wow...  "In Your Room" again?  They've at least varied it a little bit over the years, but it wasn't even that popular of a single when it was first released, and this latest version is just a slight variation of the old Zephyr Mix.  So, for me, it's like "Policy of Truth."  I like the song, but I've heard it at EVERY concert since 1993.  Either upgrade it or get rid of it in favour of something more surprising.
  
• "I Feel You."  (1993 track.)  This is another standard that they'll never let die.  To their credit, it was a somewhat different arrangement than usual, but it still didn't pack as much of a punch as it used to.
  
• "Enjoy the Silence."  (1990 track.)  This is one that they should never stop playing live... and I doubt they will.  It wasn't a terribly new arrangement, though the instrumental section in the middle did have some welcome new elements in it.  It wasn't mindblowing, but I love the song dearly and I didn't mind hearing it one bit.  Plus, the screen show - a comical piece with DM dressed up as astronauts - was fun, even though it had nothing to do with the content of the song.
  
• "Never Let Me Down Again."  (1987 track.)  This is another song that I love so much, I would be devastated if they stopped playing it.  There wasn't anything really new about this live version (boooo), but I can forgive this one.  This was the song that really "got me into" Depeche Mode, so it's particularly significant to me.
  
  FIRST ENCORE:
• "Somebody."  (1984 track.)  When Martin Gore walked up to the mic at the beginning of the first encore, I was standing there saying to myself, "Please, don't let it be 'Somebody' or 'A Question of Lust...  Please, don't let it be 'Somebody' or 'A Question of Lust.'"  When Gore launched into "Somebody," his epic Some Great Reward love song, a lot of the audience ate it right up.  I wasn't one of them.  This is a tired old number he's pulled out of the bag for an "easy" ballad track too many times over the years, including the last tour.  I would preferred to have heard any number of more interesting Gore tracks, i.e., "Blue Dress" or "The Bottom Line" or "Any Second Now" or "Here Is the House" or "It Doesn't Matter" or even "The Things You Said."  Big disappointment.
  
• "Stripped."  (1986 track.)  "Stripped" is another of my favourite Depeche Mode songs ever, and I was happy to hear it again after not hearing it on tour since 1998.  Yet, with all my anticipation of "Strangelove" and the band's inability to come up with a new rendition of "Stripped" after all these years, they actually managed to bore me with this one.
  
• "Behind the Wheel."  (1987 track.)  Oh dear holy crap, why won't Depeche Mode kill this one?  As I mentioned earlier, this was the same tired-ass rendition of "Behind the Wheel" they've dragged out time and time again, and to play this and not play "Strangelove" or "Master + Servant" was just a complete joke.  Absolutely boring to me.  I found myself rolling my eyes in disgust multiple times during this performance.
  
  SECOND ENCORE:
• "Personal Jesus."  (1989 track.)  This is another standard that they'll never stop playing, and if they ever do it will shock me.  I love "Personal Jesus," and this was a genuinely solid version - a little different than before, mainly in the intro - with a fantastic screen show (the best one of the evening).  If I hadn't been getting so mentally bent-out-of-shape about "Strangelove" and "Master + Servant," I probably would have enjoyed this a lot more.
  
• "Waiting for the Night."  (1990 track.)  "Waiting for the Night" was never released as a single, but a lot of fans (including myself) cherish the song as one of Depeche Mode's greatest ballads.  It was first performed in 1990 during the World Violation Tour, then (to my knowledge) wasn't brought back until the 2001 Exciter Tour, then (again, to my knowledge) was never performed in concert again until this tour.  Was it a big surprise?  Yes.  However, considering that it was closing the concert, I was now super-pissed that I wasn't getting "Strangelove."  I can give the band credit for giving us a new version of "Waiting for the Night" than they'd ever played before.  Unlike previous live versions, this one had keyboards that were off-key in comparison to Dave and Martin's vocals.  (I've confirmed with numerous others that I wasn't just hearing things...  Something up there was being played out-of-tune.)   Thus, unlike previous live versions of "Waiting for the Night," this version sucked.  It was almost painful to endure, and a terrible way to end a mediocre concert experience.

*** END OF SPOILER SECTION ***

Anyway, if Depeche Mode ever come back around to Dallas in the future, I'm going to do some serious thinking before I see them in concert again.  It's just too much time, travel, and expense to head all the way down to Dallas just to get let down like that.

I still like the band, but considering the suckage level of the concert this time around and Dave Gahan's many health problems, it might be time for them to stop touring.  They might find it a better idea to sit around recording a few more lackluster albums, drinking Metamucil and talking about the old Violator days when they were a hell of a lot cooler than they are now.

Or, they could just quit recording altogether.  Considering my mood following this concert... that might be a favourable option as well.

Don't get me wrong; I'm still a Depeche Mode fan.  A big Depeche Mode fan.  I've just found their work as of late - both with the Sounds of the Universe album and the "Tour of the Universe" - to be very, very disheartening.

More news soon.  Big news, even.

Badger