Melancholy at 25 degrees
On Sunday the English electronic dance band gave a mixed concert in Wankdorf – with strong moments.
Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan in Wankdorf, Bern, on the band’s current “Memento Mori” tour.
Photo: Enrique Munoz Garcia
Would that turn out well? If one wanted to take the expectations of singer Dave Gahan seriously, little would have spoken for this concert. Because when Depeche Mode decided to go back into the studio last year, the first thing Gahan thought was: another album? Another world tour? He was horrified at the idea, he confessed in an interview with the music magazine “Mojo”.
But because they’re still going on while they can, even as older men in this youth-centric genre, the singer was persuaded and took the plane to Los Angeles. There he was to meet Martin Gore, friend and rival in the band, in the studio. Now Andrew Fletcher was also expected, keyboardist, bassist and something like the trio’s conflict solver, who didn’t write any songs but kept the volatile trio together as a man in the background.
Keep going, absolutely
But Fletcher never got to America because he never flew out of England. The 60-year-old died suddenly of a ruptured main artery at his home in Brighton on May 26, 2022. (Read our obituary: Depeche Mode loses its hero on the sidelines)
Guitarist Martin Gore and frontman Gahan performing in Bern.
Photo: Enrique Munoz Garcia
The two survivors, also over 60 years old and marked by their long drug use, pulled themselves together anyway. And recorded “Memento Mori”, her 15th studio album. It turned out to be a dark but convincing record, which they confidently quoted in several pieces at their concert in Wankdorf, Bern. (Read about this: Depeche Mode now sound darker than ever)
Depeche Mode, who have so much experience with live concerts, don’t get the dynamic of their performance right.
There is no doubt about their commitment on this summer evening, when they perform in front of a brilliantly cheerful and grateful audience. It also takes away from Martin Gore and Dave Gahan, who had been at odds for years that the death of their boyfriend brought them back together. Still, it’s going to be a thorough concert, with great moments alternating with pieces too introverted to work in a stadium; Melancholy at 25 degrees.
A problem of dynamics
That was the problem at the English band’s last Swiss concert, when they performed in Zurich’s Letzigrund six years ago. Your appearance in Bern is better, but still not entirely convincing. This is less due to the performance of the individual songs than to their combination. Depeche Mode, who have so much experience with live concerts, don’t get the dynamic of their performance right.
The fans in the Wankdorf Stadium.
Photo: Enrique Munoz Garcia
It doesn’t matter that they start cautiously with two new pieces, because their performance is convincing. Then the band gives the impression that they want to get going and then slow down again. Great versions of the older tracks “Walking in My Shoes” and especially “It’s No Good” from the 1997 album “Ultra” come with the limp “Sister of Night” from the same album. The concert sags and falls apart completely when Martin Gore takes over lead vocals for two songs.
It doesn’t really kick off until an hour later with an uninhibited performance of “I Feel You,” and while the band still struggles to get the dynamics right, their music sounds more compelling and manages to keep the suspense in the arena. Although Depeche Mode perform only a small portion of the songs that have made them famous, they close out the regular concert portion with several strong tracks, most recently “Enjoy the Silence,” the elegiac ballad that draws an ovation from the stadium.
His live show needs darkness: Dave Gahan on stage.
Photo: Keystone
The fact that the concert isn’t quite a success also has to do with the lighting conditions. When the four musicians come onto the stage, it is still daylight. But a band like Depeche Mode with such melancholic music works better in the dark, especially since the English have always thought visually and their live show doesn’t come into its own in daylight.
With Andrew Fletcher, the two survivors not only lost a fellow musician, but also a friend, and their shock after his death was correspondingly great. They commemorate him with the piece “World in My Eyes” from their successful album “Violator” from 1990; Fletcher said in an interview in 2001 that it was his favorite piece.
It’s different for the audience in Bern. That shows the rapturous response of the crowd when Depeche Mode finally intoned “Personal Jesus,” their parody of bigoted populist American Christianity. That’s probably why Johnny Cash covered it in an incomparable version, that was shortly before his death at the age of 71. With their performance, Depeche Mode bring back the play.
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2023-06-12 08:08:06
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