There are not a thousand ways to put it: Depeche Mode is currently performing its most rock concert in more than four decades of existence. Roaring basses, powerful drums, Martin Gore’s guitar more in value than ever – by tightening around its two central figures, the pioneering group of electronic music displayed all its strength.
We felt from the outset, My Cosmos is Mine, that Wednesday evening at the Bell Center would not be light. The scratchy bass went straight to the plexus and the tension didn’t drop a notch until track five. Sister of Night. While he usually spends the concerts hidden behind his keyboards, Martin Gore remained at the forefront, guitar slung over his shoulder, almost all the time. He even performed short solos, that is to say!
Reduced to a duo since the departure of Andrew Fletcher, who died suddenly in May last year, Depeche Mode has also reviewed its way of occupying space. Martin Gore mainly occupied one side of the front stage and Dave Gahan the other, each with one of the touring musicians behind them. The central catwalk was hardly used before Martin Gore crowded it to sing A Question of Lustwhich is always his highlight in the concerts of the group.
This choice, it is understood, aimed to put the two pillars of the group on an equal footing. We cannot be against it. The other side of the coin is that from a scenic point of view, Depeche Mode found itself without a pivot. However, we know that Dave Gahan is a charismatic showman capable of stirring up crowds. And if he did not spare himself, turning on himself and swaying his hips like a cheeky dandy, we would have liked to see him closer.
There was not much slack during this concert of about two hours, the first of two in Montreal since the group returns in November. Ghosts Again And My Cosmos is Mine apart from the songs taken from Memento Mori did not thrill the crowd. Depeche Mode has the necessary arsenal to quickly make people forget these weak links. What he did by releasing a large number of tracks from the 1990s, including several of Songs of Faith and Devotionwhich, it’s no coincidence, is probably his rockiest album: Walking in NY Shoes, I Feel You, In Your Room.
We’ve been waiting a long time for the tribute to Andrew Fletcher. He came in the middle of the course when World in my Eyes – one of the fetish titles of the deceased – while his portrait appeared in giant format on the screen located at the back of the stage. Shortly after raising his arms skyward, forming a heart shape with the fingers of both hands, Dave Gahan shouted that the song was for Fletch.
The most beautiful moment of the concert came at the beginning of the encore: Dave Gahan and Martin Gore came together to the very end of the catwalk to sing together the very beautiful Waiting for the Night. We had never seen, unless I’m mistaken, these two sharing the stage so intimately. Without effusion, they offered the most moving moment of the concert.
We have the feeling that by opting for a formula that is more rock than electro, heavier than danceable, Depeche Mode has done much more than adapt its repertoire to the sound it has put forward on Memento Mori. He wanted to put all the gum to ward off death. At the end of the evening, after coming out of the essential pearls like Enjoy the Silence (dancing and almost groovy!), never let me Down Again, Just Can’t Get Enough (amazing) and Personal Jesus, Dave Gahan’s vocals had pretty much held up and, yes, Depeche Mode was fiercely alive. U.S. too.