Depeche Mode at the Hollywood Bowl
It’s been three years since Depeche Mode last toured. I was super pumped when we bought pre-sale tickets for their performance at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this year. We had good seats and I had never been to a concert there before but had heard good things.
I love concerts in general. There is something moving about seeing and hearing songs you love in person. You can feel the bass in your feet and feel the energy of the crowd. If I could, I would’ve gone multiple times. Unfortunately, the older I get, the harder it is to justify traveling around to catch the same concert more than once, or splurging for floor seats. It was shows in Concord, Mountain View, and Anaheim for the Exciter Tour. Each night our seats were closer, ending with front row seats in Anaheim. In 2006, it was one show, but one show with floor seats. This time around, we barely made it to the only show I’ll be seeing from this tour and sat somewhere near the middle.
Don’t get me wrong; by Hollywood Bowl standards we had excellent seats. They were available only through a special pre-sale that sold out within minutes. We were in the 10th row of the second level of box seats. The thing that was strange about it was how unprepared I was for the actual concert. The other times we’ve gone, the concert was such a special event. I was like a child waiting to go to Disneyland, restless the night before the big show. I’d spend the day of the concert listening to different Depeche Mode songs, and there was definitely always a pre-party. I’d follow reviews and set lists from previous shows. This time around, I didn’t even have time to think about the concert. A meeting ran late, there was no pre-party, and after sitting in Hollywood traffic, we sped walked the ¾ mile from the parking lot to the Bowl. We found our seats less than five minutes before the band came on.
This rush into the venue with no time to spare happened to us before. The difference is that we lost track of time drinking and blasting Depeche Mode in the parking lot so we missed the opening act a few years ago. Not this time. I was stressed, tired, and besides the two fantastic shots of authentic Mexican tequila I had at James’, completely sober. Then the house lights went down, the band came out, and I was reminded why I love live shows and why I love Depeche Mode.
The band knows how to put on a show. They combine their voices with raw, live instruments, electronic mixes, and video that captures the emotional elements of each song. There was a different video on the large background screen that would play on the two side screens as well. Where other bands might only use the screens to project larger images for those in the back, Depeche Mode used them to nearly create a live music video to accompany the band.
The concert rocked. Things have been crazy, so two hours to clear my head, hop up and down to music, and scream out songs was great. I couldn’t have asked for a better break. As each song played, I couldn’t help but associate it with different moments of my life, or really connect with the lyrics. For two hours, there was nothing to think about besides the music. Sobriety didn’t keep me from moving as much as I could in my cramped area or screaming at the end of each song.
The crowd wasn’t too into it at the beginning, I’m guessing because it opened with three songs from the new album, but then the band went into a string of classics. I love hearing Precious live and always think about the pain Martin must’ve felt as he wrote that song and what he must feel every time they sing it (the song is about his kids). They did a mix of the album and single versions of In Your Room that had a good balance. The lyrics of Little Soul lingered with me, “my little soul will leave a footprint.” The crowd sang all of Policy of Truth, and Dave let us handle the chorus ourselves. I Feel You is enough to get anyone excited, but it was merely a setup for Enjoy the Silence and Never Let Me Down Again. As the crowd created the usual sea of waving arms, I watched with a huge smile. I remembered seeing the view of waving arms from the front row eight years earlier and being in awe at how cool it looked.
Martin Gore surprised everyone at the start of the first encore by playing Shake the Disease for the first time this tour. One of my favorite versions of the song is from a live recording of an old tour in Germany. In that version, the entire stadium claps to the beat of the piano before, “understand meeEEEE” and I naturally assumed that’s what should happen. I’m pretty sure I was one of maybe half a dozen in a crowd of thousands that felt this way. Nevertheless, it was awesome. I got my first chills of the night right after. It was the first time I heard Stripped played live. It’s one of my favorite Depeche Mode songs. The crowd gave a collective, “ooohhhhh” as the first few familiar notes started. I was impressed that the crowd sang along so strongly to the entire song.
I normally love Behind the Wheel, but there was a huge feedback issue that even led Dave to start the song over. I feel like it pulled the crowd out of the moment and lowered the energy level. There was no problem getting pumped again for the second encore as Personal Jesus kicked in. Throw both hands in the air, shout, “reach out and touch faith” as loud as possible and you can’t go wrong. Similar to their last tour, they finished things up with a slow song: a stripped down version of Waiting For the Night. It was beautiful and as I watched I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to take it all in. I didn’t need a crazy pre-party or an entire “Depeche Mode” day to fully enjoy the concert. I only needed to enjoy the moment. And I did.