Depeche Mode – O2 Arena – February 20th 2010
A month late, but hey.
Four weeks ago, I went to see the mighty Depeche Mode at the impressive O2 Arena in London, a good 9 months after the gig should have originally taken place and almost 18 months after parting with my hard earned for the privilege.
For someone who loves music, I kind of hate gigs. A bit stupid, you might think. And yes, I’d have to agree. To a point. What is to enjoy about standing for 3 hours or so, behind some arm flailing, drunken twat who loves to “conduct” the band with both hands, whether it’s holding a pint of rip off beer or not.
In my desperate excitement to order the best possible tickets for the show, I had plumped for standing as opposed to seated, under the now blindingly obvious misconception that I might get a good view of the stage and have a cracking time.
As DM themselves would say, WRONG.
Depeche Mode fans are a strange and bizarre bunch. Just read through the DM forum at the official DM site to see exactly what I mean. Obsessive, over zealous, crazed, maniacal, fanatical and vicious, these people can often argue a point over 160 pages of one thread, and often do. So it was with little surprise, I guess, that upon reaching the O2, I discovered that to get the best standing places, I should’ve arrived at 6am to queue. I’m sorry, but at aged almost 40 and with a family to sort out, that was NEVER going to happen. So I was left with the final third of floor space and decided to park myself right by the sound desk. This is not bad for two simple reasons. One, you are guaranteed the best sound, and two, you have something to lean on, and for someone with a back that is as fucked up as mine, is a good thing. Sadly, only standing 5’6″ in my stockinged feet, the aforementioned fuckwit waving his arms around pretty much spoiled the evening.
As for the band, they were superb. The stage show was typically simple yet incredibly powerful. The massive rear projection screen and projection globe providing stunning, Anton Corbjin created, backdrops to each song. DM are by far and away one of the best live acts ever. Dave Gahan, by far and away the best front man too. A good combination of new and old material got the crowd rocking and to be part of the Never Let Me Down Again “wheatwave” was pretty cool.
So, apart from TfL doing their utmost to prevent us from getting there (and failing) and despite the crapness of my position and the inherent fuckwits that surrounded me in that position, it was a fine concert by a fine band and at least that’s another one off the list.
I playlisted the the set list on Spotify and here are some pics and video for your delectation….
Depeche Mode – Sounds Of The Universe: IT’S HERE!!
The waiting is over! This morning, my postman delivered 2 packages for me. One was the CD+DVD version of Depeche Mode’s ‘Sounds Of The Universe’, the other was the Limited Deluxe Box Set of the same album 
)
And boy was it worth the wait.
I had already heard the album via legitimate streaming services and found the songs to be incredibly mature, sonically astounding and overall, a definite pinnacle of their recording history.
The box set, which is the most complete edition in terms of track count and other goodies (more on this later), gives us not only the 13 tracks from the standard release, but also 5 extra bonus tracks, all original works, plus a selection of remixes. That’s 2 CD’s worth, right there. CD 3 is full of demo’s, not just from the SOTU sessions, but from way back in the 80′s and 90′s. Some proper gems in here. Disc 4 is a DVD that contains the 18 new original tracks from SOTU in glorious 5.1 Dolby & DTS as well as two full length documentaries, a shorter film and the promo video for ‘Wrong’. Also included are 4 live studio session films where the band perform 4 songs live in the studio in one take.
Also included are two 84 page hardback books with lyrics and pictures by both Anton Corbijn and Ben Hillier/Daniel Miller, 2 enamel badges, two posters, 5 art cards, a panoramic studio picture and a certificate of authenticity.
All of this comes in a very sturdy box with foil decoration.
This is an incredibly well presented item that contains some amazing music. I have to say, the 5.1 mix is one of the best musical 5.1 mixes I have ever heard.
If you can’t stretch to the £60 for this box, I heartily recommend the CD+DVD version which gives you the the album plus 5 bonus tracks, 5.1 mix, short film and ‘Wrong’ promo for approx £13.
Depeche Mode – Come Back
Awesome track, recorded live in the studio. This will be available on the “Sounds Of The Universe” Box Set, out April 20th (April 21st in the U.S.)
Set phasers to stunned. Set Volume to Max. Set Hairs to stood up.
