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Rockhal, Esch-Alzette, Luxembourg
6th May 2009
Depeche Mode, Motor


DEPECHE MODE's new album ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ rules the charts worldwide - number one in (at least) 18 countries plus an excellent number 2 spot in their home country UK and number 3 in the US. Of course the accompanying ‘Tour of the Universe’, starting in Tel Aviv on May 10th, is one of the most longed-for events of the year. When the band announced a special warm up show in Luxemburg the fan base just freaked out - an event not to be missed! (Attention - this review of course contains spoilers regarding setlist and show ;-) )


Motor

DEPECHE MODE has invited a number of bands to support them on their ‘Tour of the Universe’, including Ladytron, M83, Polarkreis 18, Peter Bjorn & John and MOTOR. The latter, featuring Frenchman Mr. No aka Oliver Grasset and Bryan Black from Minneapolis also opened up for DM at the warm up gig in Luxemburg. http://www.myspace.com/motor66

Music & Performance
Emanating from the Electro-Clash project XLOVER, Mr. No and Bryan Black teamed up in London to create their own vision of experimental Techno with a good portion of extravaganza and weirdness. The trainspotters among the DEPECHE MODE fans might remember the track ‘Yak’ from MOTOR's 2006 debut album ‘Klunk’ - it was the last track of the DJ set which was played on DEPECHE MODE's 2005/2006 tour before the headliner entered the stage, and ‘Yak’ kinda announced that DM will be there in a minute and its killer groove caused a lot of clapping along and a sense of anticipation. So it was quite cool to see MOTOR billed for some support slots for this year's DM tour - just in time for the release of MOTOR's second full-length ‘Metal Machine’!

Last time I saw MOTOR live on stage was on their tour with NITZER EBB, and back then they were backed up by an additional live musician and a pretty big and, erm, freaky video show. In Luxemburg there was no video show and they entered the stage as a duo - and I have to admit that they looked a little lost on this big stage. That the sound volume was pretty low didn't help much too, the demanding beats of MOTOR simply could not deploy their full effect and after a minute it got rather boring to watch Mr. No and Bryan Black twiddling some knobs or running around the stage occasionally. Quite a pity - when I saw them with NITZER EBB I really enjoyed their performance a lot but in Luxemburg it was rather unimpressive.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 4
Light: 5
Total: 6 / 10


Depeche Mode

With ‘Sounds of the Universe’, DEPECHE MODE surely didn't go the safe route - quite astonishing for a band 29 years into their career! Most critics gave the album raving reviews but the fan base, however, is obviously divided. Some love it, some hate it and there doesn't seem to be anything in between. ‘Sounds of the Universe’ is an album full of sonic exploration, combining vintage analogue gear with high-tech, and with no obvious big hits. Many fans say that ‘Sounds of the Universe’ is a grower - and indeed this album needs time, and for many fans the initial feeling of disappointment switched to admiration. However, DEPECHE MODE still have to proof how an album like this will work on their first stadium-only tour in front of ten thousands of fans. In Luxemburg it was “only” 5,500 people - die-hard fans from all over Europe, who wouldn't want to miss this special warm up gig in a relatively small venue. http://www.depechemode.com/



Music & Performance
The Rockhal in Esch-Alzette, Luxembourg, is a great medium-sized location built with concerts particularly in mind. Everything is perfectly designed for an efficient set-up of show stages, the catering area is huge and inviting, and the main hall allows perfect acoustics with its black matt covering of the walls. Fill this with 5,500 die-hard fans of a band for a very special pre-tour warm up gig, and there's not much which could go wrong. But to blurt it out - it wasn't the perfect concert night with a sense of total euphoria as all the DEPECHE MODE fans expected it to be! For me it was a bit of heaven and hell in just two hours; a good performance with some lows and many highs, a good atmosphere but no mass hysteria. Unfortunately!



DEPECHE MODE entered the stage short past 9 p.m. finally, and as mentioned by Dave Gahan in several interviews they started their show with ‘In Chains’. The light was very bright, and the huge video screens - a big one as backdrop plus a video ball over the stage plus two smaller screens on each side of the stage - showed an old white man and a young black boy whose faces slowly morphed into each other. Not exactly the kind of imagery I thought of when I read the lyrics of ‘In Chains’ first, but as Anton Corbijn created DEPECHE MODE's video show once again you never can know what this crazy Dutchman had in mind when he produces his little films. Anyway, ‘In Chains’ was a nice and slow build-up for the show though it lacked this sort of tension and drama past tour openers had. The second song was when things really kicked off. Raise your fist and shout out loud - “Wrong”! Surprisingly early in the set, the lead single of the new album got the crowd going in no time. The Gahan-penned track ‘Hole to Feed’ followed and proved that it's a dirty little rocker. Especially Christian Eigner's drumming added a lot of energy to this song, and the great light show made sure that it was a pleasure for the eyes as well.



Three new songs in one go - it was time for some classics! The anthemic ‘Walking In My Shoes’ kicked in, and although some fans claim that it has been played to death on DEPECHE MODE's tours it is still a great song. The weird little video on the screens - mainly just a black raven in front of a vast landscape - was very Corbijn-ish and interesting. ‘It's No Good’, from 1997's ‘Ultra’ album followed; another nice crowd pleaser which made it into the set list again after being dropped on the last DM tour. A great song but unfortunately it sounded really flat - which was a general problem that night at the Rockhal, at least in the first half of the show. The performance of the band was fine, the atmosphere in the crowd was good, but somehow the spark didn't jump across fully. Great songs performed by a great band in front of their most loyal long-time fans from all over Europe - but somehow it wasn't as infectious and euphoric as DM shows once used to be. Maybe the problem is that most long-time fans are in their mid-thirties, and no hysteric teens anymore? Maybe it was what it was - a warm-up show, where things are not as much in their place and the band not as rehearsed as a few dozen gigs into a tour.
`A Question of Time’, which was a total rocker on the last tour, sounded a bit flat and lifeless as well this time. But I'm sure that with a few shows behind them DEPECHE MODE will be able to put more energy into their performance. The potential is clearly there, of course.



The first big, really big surprise of the night came with ‘Fly on the Windscreen’ - an album track from ‘Black Celebration’ (1986) - which hasn't been performed in the last 13 years! A very strong track, a true gem and such an unexpected pleasure to hear it live again! And this particular song got also a message across - that DEPECHE MODE will not just go down the safe route regarding the set list for their first stadium-only tour! For me this ignited a spark of enthusiasm for the first time this night, and I was excited what other things were to come. But first of all it was time for Martin Gore's solo spot - with ‘Jezebel’ and a beautiful piano version of the classic ‘A Question of Lust’ - followed by Gahan's ‘Come Back’ from the new album, which sounded clearer and straightened up compared to the somewhat over-produced album version.



Before DEPECHE MODE threw in a few more of the big crowd pleasers it was time for ‘Peace’, the second single from ‘Sounds of the Universe’ due to release on June 15th. While the fan base still discusses on the net if this is a wise choice for a single or not, DEPECHE MODE made an attempt to perform this potential anthem live, Yes, attempt! Because I have to say that this was the let-down of the show at the Rockhal, and while I'm among those who love the studio version, I have to admit that the live rendition of ‘Peace’ in Luxemburg was just a big miss! Dave did a fine job singing the verses but the one-liner chorus, when Martin Gore and keyboarder Peter Gordeno joined in the chant, simply sounded weak and even out of tune. Pretty clichéd video snippets just made the disaster perfect. Dancing hippies at Woodstock and scenes from 1960s protest marches? Come on, that's not just a little too obvious for a song called ‘Peace’; it's also opposing the rather personal and spiritual lyrics of the song. And it even looked a bit ridiculous, in my opinion. The only video screening I did not like during this show! I surely hoped for more, as I do love ‘Peace’ on the album! To save the situation, Dave walked down the long cat walk and desperately tried to make the crowd sing along to the song - but I'm afraid the fans were notably unresponsive!



While the atmosphere at the Rockhal was surely good so far, the audience was nevertheless relatively static and quiet - in DEPECHE MODE terms at least! So throwing in a bucket full of hits and classics would be a good idea at this point - and DEPECHE MODE did exactly that! While some fans like to moan that they've heard a song like ‘I Feel You’ bazillion times at DEPECHE MODE concerts, the band at least gave their classics a bit of tweaking for their new “Tour of the Universe”. ‘In Your Room’ started with a new and pretty amazing intro based on the album version with some great drums by Eigner on top of it just to slide into the rockier single version of the track, which worked really, really well. The above mentioned ‘I Feel You’ was more compact and to the point than on the last few tours, and it truly made sure that even the last one in the crowd finally woke up. Just a pity that many were sent back to sleep with the new song ‘In Sympathy’, which might follow 2001's ‘I Feel Loved’ in the category “up-tempo pop songs that don't work live”. Maybe the song will become a bit livelier during the course of the tour. To finish the main set, the band performed two out of the “big three” - ‘Enjoy The Silence’, with a new, growling techno-ish middle section and the usual loud sing-alongs, and ‘Never Let me Down Again’ with a reworked orchestra intro (remember the Split Mix?) and waving hands everywhere. Obvious crowd pleasers and they still work superbly.



After 17 songs DEPECHE MODE said goodbye and left the stage but there was no doubt that they'd come back for encores. And this time the band was quite generous, with five more songs up their sleeves which did not only feature the last of the “big three” - ‘Personal Jesus’ - but also some great surprises for all the loyal fans! Instead of starting the encore with an acoustic ballad with Gore on lead vocals - like on the last couple of tours - DEPECHE MODE treated us with the roaring machine rhythms and anthemic synth lines of ‘Stripped’. Not a rare track in DEPECHE MODE's setlists but still ace. Much rarer - not performed since 1990, to be precise - were ‘Master & Servant’ and ‘Strangelove’! Big surprises for sure and thankfully performed in quite updated versions. While ‘Master & Servant’ sounded a bit messy in the beginning, ‘Strangelove’ was just pure bliss! And not just because of the rather salacious and delicate video on the screens: Two girls in fetish wear sucking on each other’s toes? WTF? Sounds weird, is brilliant! *g* A perfect backdrop for a kinky song like that! Sonically ‘Strangelove’ was quite beefed up. Pounding drums by Eigner, subtle guitar lines and luscious keyboard work made this moment a feast for all synth pop lovers! ‘Personal Jesus’, with a new acoustic intro, seemed to be the final song but surprise, surprise, Mart and Dave walked down the catwalk to perform a heart-rending, beautiful acoustic version of ‘Waiting For The Night’! A similar treat like ‘Goodnight Lovers’ on the last tour (a bit too similar, if you think about) and a great choice of song! A very emotional end to a show which was a bit so-so.



So the concert was over, DEPECHE MODE performed a total of 22 songs - their longest setlist ever, by the way! I left the Rockhal in Esch-Alzette with mixed feelings. As I mentioned before, it was like heaven and hell in a little more than two hours. The first half of the show was good but didn't really strike a chord in me, strangely. But it also featured the splendid ‘Fly on the Windscreen’! The songs with Martin Gore on vocals were admirable as usual but he could have been a little more daring with his song choices. The obvious hits were a little tweaked and sharpened up and thus also pretty enjoyable for those who saw DM numerous times live in concert, while the much longed-for rarity ‘Master & Servant’ sounded a bit muddled. Corbijn's videos for the new DM show were all fantastic - minus the slightly pathetic ‘Peace’. All in all, the set list was great though I missed ‘Perfect’ from ‘Sounds Of the Universe’, for example. Many conflicting impressions but I have to admit that this show has the potential to be totally mind-blowing - in Luxembourg it was only in a few moments mind-blowing. But once DEPECHE MODE hit the stadiums with the full show (surely they couldn't bring their stadium-stage to a small venue like the Rockhal!) and when they're well-rehearsed with a couple of gigs behind them, it could be one of their best shows in years. In Luxemburg they just warmed up a bit, and they warmed up well.



Setlist
01. In Chains
02. Wrong
03. Hole To Feed
04. Walking In My Shoes
05. It's No Good
06. A Question Of Time
07. Precious
08. Fly On The Windscreen
09. Jezebel
10. A Question Of Lust (acoustic)
11. Come Back
12. Peace
13. In Your Room
14. I Feel You
15. In Sympathy
16. Enjoy The Silence
17. Never Let Me Down Again
---
18. Stripped
19. Master And Servant
20. Strangelove
---
21. Personal Jesus
22. Waiting For The Night (acoustic)

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 9
Total: 8.8 / 10



All Pictures by Marco Schwedler (http://www.myspace.com/djschwedler)
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