“I will disappoint you. I will let you down.” Dave Gahan sings halfway through the final song of “Memento Mori,” Depeche Mode’s latest album, released earlier this year. On June 17, 2023, I watched them perform at Twickenham Stadium in London, and one thing is sure. 

They did not let me down.

After the death of Andy Fletcher last year and the release of their newest album, where I thought perhaps it sounded like maybe it was a nod that they were done, seeing them live in a stadium with a capacity of approximately 80,000 folks was jaw-dropping.

Depeche Mode has become a band built for stadium concerts, proven ever since the release of “101” (their 1988 Rose Bowl concert, released in 1989 as a live album and as VHS… I had both.) Electro-rock-synth-pop, (I refuse to call them “synth-pop”…), the band is now just Dave Gahan and Martin Gore (backed now by keyboardist Peter Gordino and longtime touring member, drummer Christian Eigner). This was my first Depeche Mode concert (*crosses off list*), but other than the lovely tribute to Andy Fletcher during “World in My Eyes,” where huge black-and-white images of their late keyboardist were beamed onto the gigantic screens, did it ever feel like this was a band that had been compromised. 

Gahan strutted around the stage with such vigor and swagger, so many journals likening him to Mick Jagger, but, I dunno… he’s… Dave? He will swirl around and around, given any opportunity during a song to do so.

They played practically half of their new album, starting the show with its stark opener, “My Cosmos Is Mine,” and then their latest single, “Wagging Tongue.” But things really kicked off when “Walking in My Shoes” and favorites such as “It’s No Good,” “Sister of Night,” and “In Your Room” followed.

And then, “Everything Counts,” a fan favorite where Dave runs (literally) around the stage singing, and with the fans clapping and singing the chorus with him at the end, “The grabbing hands, grab all they can. Everything counts in large amounts.” It was hard to make them stop, but you could tell – he loved it.

Gahan ruled the stage. His voice is still fantastic.

Following “Precious” and “My Favourite Stranger,” Dave took a backseat and let Martin take over vocal duties. “The beautiful angelic sound of Mr. Martin Gore!“…he tells the stadium. And Mr. Martin Gore did, beautifully, walking onto the catwalk of the stage into the crowd, first singing “A Question of Lust” and then the very quite tender “Soul with Me” from “Memento Mori.” His voice singing “I’m going where there are no cares, and I’m taking my soul with me.” eventually brings back Dave to the stage and you can tell the two are so warmly connected, the way they interact with each other.

Dave is happy to be back after just a two-song absence.

“Ghosts Again” is sung by Gahan with the video of them in black and white on top of a rooftop playing chess in homage to The Seventh Seal. Though released just earlier this year, it sounds like a classic Depeche Mode song already. It is their best song in years.

Ripping through (and I mean it) “I Feel You,” then Fletch’s “World in My Eyes” tribute, we hit “Stripped“(one of my favorite DM songs) and then their pre-encore closer, “Enjoy the Silence.” Grade A+ to end a Depeche Mode concert part one!!

Gahan and Gore are well into their sixties but didn’t show it during this concert. Partly the former, who snaked and slithered his way around the stage, he was a magnet to watch.

When they came back on, it was just the two of them: “Waiting for the Night” from “Violator.” They walked on the stage into the crowd and sang together just as it was turning dark, into the Twickenham stadium:

“Been waiting for the night to fall,

I knew that it will save us all.

Now everything’s dark…

Keeps us from the stark reality.”

With an emotional hug after the end, it was so very well done, moving, and the iPhones were lit… everywhere.

So the remainder of the encore? Well, we had “Just Can’t Get Enough,” followed by “Never Let Me Down,” followed by the finale, “Personal Jesus.”  

Honestly, yes, there I was at just over 50 years old (I’m not going to be specific), first bopping up and down, then waving my arms back and forth as Dave demands amongst the rest of the crowd (as it started to rain), and then enjoying the final track – bluesy, punchy, electro-rock-synth (call it whatever).

About 3 hours of a musical treat I won’t forget. Thank you, Dave and Martin, I hope I’ll get to see you again.

Chris Garrod, June 23, 2023