Depeche Mode

One of my all time favourite bands is Depeche Mode, a band that I've been crazy about since high school - trust me when I say its been a lifetime or three! Fell instantly head over heels the moment I heard "Just Can't Get Enough" on the radio when I was 17, and for those keeping score, this would be all the way back to 1981. I've been equally passionate about a few other bands - the Clash, Social Distortion and Manic Street Preachers are all bands that I couldn't dream of living without - but all the others are no longer still together though they do still exist to some extent in other reincarnated forms. Depeche Mode is different. After the departure of one of the original four - Vince Clarke - upon completion of their first album, their lineup has remained intact with the other three founding members  remaining - Dave Gahan, Martin Lee Gore  and Andrew Fletcher.

Each new album release never failed to disappoint. Something quite rare in the music industry was a band that actually continued to get better and better with age. Their newer music is just as powerful and memorable as some of their decades old hit singles which is really quite rare not to mention an accomplishment considering the band has now been around for over three decades! Personally for any important event of my life these past thirty plus years, there is an associated Depeche Mode song!

I was just reading on Billboard that the band's last effort, 2009's "Sounds of the Universe" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 which is none too shabby. Their new album, which will be Depeche Mode's 13th studio album, is due to be released in March of next year. Plus, they have just announced tour dates to promote their new album.

European Tour Dates 2013:

05-07 Tel Aviv, Israel - Hayarkon Park
05-10 Athens, Greece - Terra Vibe
05-12 Sofia, Bulgaria - Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
05-15 Bucharest, Romania - National Stadium
05-17 Istanbul, Turkey - Kucukciftlik Park
05-19 Belgrade, Serbia - Usce Park
05-21 Budapest, Hungary - Puskas Ferenc Stadium
05-23 Zagreb, Republic of Croatia - Hippodrome
05-25 Bratislava, Slovakia - Inter Stadium
05-28 London, England - O2 Arena
06-01 Munich, Germany - Olympic Stadium
06-03 Stuttgart, Germany - Mercedes-Benz Arena
06-05 Frankfurt, Germany - Commerzbank Arena
06-07 Berne, Switzerland - Stade De Suisse
06-09 Berlin, Germany - Olympic Stadium
06-11 Leipzig, Germany - Red Bull Arena
06-13 Copenhagen, Denmark - Parken
06-15 Paris, France - Stade De France
06-17 Hamburg, Germany - Imtech Arena
06-22 Moscow, Russia - Locomotive Stadium
06-24 St. Petersburg, Russia - SKK Arena
06-27 Borlange, Sweden - Peace & Love Festival
06-29 Kiev, Ukraine - Olympic Stadium
07-03 Dusseldorf, Germany - Esprit Arena
07-07 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-11 Bilbao, Spain - BBK Festival
07-13 Lisbon, Portugal - Optimus Alive Festival
07-16 Nimes, France - Antic Arina
07-18 Milan, Italy - San Siro Stadium
07-20 Rome, Italy - Olympic Stadium
07-23 Prague, Czech Republic - Olympic Stadium
07-25 Warsaw, Poland - National Stadium
07-27 Vilnius, Lithuania - Vingis Park
07-29 Minsk, Belarus - Minsk Arena

So far no North American dates but I'm sure that they will soon follow. Definitely going to see them come hell or high water. Saw them on their last tour and they were unbelievable! 

Manic Street Preachers

Hey, did I happen to mention that in less than 48 hours, I will finally be going to a show by the Manic Street Preachers? I've literally only waited fifteen years for this to actually happen. I am so stoked!!!

Manic Street Preachers

One of my all time favourite bands is coming to Toronto the first weekend of October of this year. Of all of the concerts that I've seen in my lifetime, this is one band that I've not yet been able to enjoy live! Until now! I just got my tickets for their show less than an hour ago. I am so excited that I am practically vibrating. I feel like a love sick teenager with my very first crush. Manic Street Preachers look out! I've been literally waiting to see you since 1992. I guess there is something to be said for patience after all. Much more later from me once I've come back down to earth...

Depeche Mode | Molson Amphitheatre | 2009 07 24

Well, of course the concert was simply bloody amazing. All that I expected and ever hoped for, utterly no disappointment whatsoever! All of us had an amazing time that's for sure. I screamed and jumped around like mad and sang out the words to all of the songs loudly. It was insane. As I've not got much time right now, I'll leave you with a review of the show from the Toronto Sun . An update very soon.

Depeche Mode's Gahan Thrills Fans

By JANE STEVENSON, Sun Media 25th July 2009, 5:09pm

Veteran British electro-dance-pop outfit Depeche Mode kicked off the North American leg of their so-called Tour Of The Universe in Toronto on Friday night at the Molson Amphitheatre with frontman Dave Gahan looking no worse the wear.

Gahan, you may recall, had a health scare back in May when he had a low-grade malignant tumor removed from his bladder, leading to the postponement of six European dates that were eventually rescheduled.

And just earlier this month, he also injured his leg on stage at a gig in Spain.

But if Gahan is feeling the effects of his recent health woes, he sure didn't show it on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd as he gleefully performed his trademark dance moves that included some sexy hip-wiggling, shaking his backside at the audience and twirling around with his mic stand high in the air.

Yes, Gahan looked skinny, but when doesn't he, and his deep voice was clear and strong over the course of a 22-song show that stretched over two hours.

The group, which included founding members Martin Gore on guitar-keyboards and a sunglasses-wearing Andrew Fletcher on keyboards, played on an eye-catching stage dominated by a large LED video screen and matching circular ball screen hanging above the group.

Gore also looked sharp in a shiny silver sequin suit.

Unfortunately, it took a while for Depeche Mode to find their groove as they trotted out the obligatory new material from their latest album, Sounds Of The Universe, including the rather somber In Chains and Wrong, and the slightly more upbeat, Hole To Feed.

The audience, however, seemed thrilled just to have Gahan, in particular, in their presence and were on their feet immediately, cheering whenever he took off an article of clothing or was in exceptionally good dance form.

And when the hits finally kicked in - this is a group who have sold 100 million albums worldwide since their formation in 1980 - with Walking In My Shoes, which featured a backdrop of a crow on the video screen with a large eyeball projected on the ball above - the crowd couldn't be contained as they happily sang, danced and clapped along.

A string of crowd pleasers, It's No Good, A Question Of Time, and Precious - the latter from 2005's Playing The Angel - were interrupted by another buzz kill song, Fly On the Windscreen, followed by Gore taking over on lead vocals for two back-to-back ballads, the new song Little Soul and Home (maybe to give Gahan a break), although Gahan eventually returned for two more unmemorable new song from Songs Of The Universe, Come Back and Fragile Tension.

The thing about Depeche Mode songs when they're good, they're great, but when they're bad, they seem to go on forever.

Thankfully, the second half of the show really kicked into high gear, beginning with the dramatic I Feel You, followed by the dance-happy Policy Of Truth, Enjoy The Silence - featuring Gahan, Gore and Fletcher as stoned-faced astronauts in a video - Never Let Me Down Again and an encore that brimmed with some kinky material like Master And Servant, Strangelove (featuring a video in which a young Asian woman sucked the toe of a young redheaded woman who eventually exposed her breasts), and the mother of all Depeche Mode songs, Personal Jesus.
---

***1/2 (3.5 out of five)
Depeche Mode
Molson Amphitheatre
Friday night
---

SET LIST

In Chains

Wrong

Hole To Feed

Walking In My Shoes

It's No Good

A Question Of Time

Precious

Fly On the Windscreen

Little Soul

Home

Come Back

Fragile Tension

In Your Room

I Feel You

Policy Of Truth

Enjoy The Silence

Never Let Me Down Again

FIRST ENCORE

Stripped

Master And Servant

Stangelove

SECOND ENCORE

Personal Jesus

Waiting For The Night

just can't get enough

In less than 24 hours, I will be swaying to the beats of one of my all time favourite bands - Depeche Mode. At times it seems as if it has taken a lifetime to get here - the moment I heard Just Can't Get Enough when I was seventeen, way back in 1981 I was hooked. I've remained hooked until this very day. They have been one of the constants in my life. It seems rather fitting that I'll be enjoying them with two of my other constants - my husband and daughter. Come September, it will be twenty-nine years since I met and was introduced to Jim. Imagine that, almost three decades ago. We've definitely shared some adventures over the years.

Now we are sharing in our recovery. Both of us have been on MMT for just over three years, and neither one of us has stumbled - yet, cause you can just never say never...Had we been still using, this concert would have been missed. In fact, I doubt very much that it would have even been much more than a blip on my radar. No time for stuff like that back then. Would have dismissed it with the excuse that we could simply not afford it, which was not at all truthful. In reality, we couldn't be bothered to afford it, as our money was already earmarked for something far more important. What a difference a few years has made. I paid $150 for our three concert tickets, and yesterday paid out almost another $150 for our three bus tickets to Toronto. I've budgeted another $150 to use for our spending money. To a former addict, this is a massive step forward. Being able to hold onto money, to put it away to use later, to actually save is a skill that we rapidly lose once we become a junkie. I am happy, and proud and plan on really enjoying our family day out together at the show - Toronto garbage strike be damned!

P.S. Jim also just celebrated his 43rd birthday on Thursday! Happy birthday baby...Love you always...

I Got The Music In Me!!!

For as long back as I can remember, music has played an important part of my life. Discovering the wonders of Elvis Presley as a nine year old would forever alter the way that I looked at the world. To me at that time, I felt as if I had discovered something that no one else had any idea even existed. It was truly a magical and innocent time for me, and from that point on, I had to have music on in the background for every one of my waking moments - the hours of my day devoted solely to school would at times seem unbearable. From Elvis I moved on to pretty much whatever happened to be playing on the local AM Top Forty radio stations in my area. You can well imagine just how limited I actually was in regards to my musical choices, seeing how I just so happened to be growing up in the deepest, darkest musical abyss that was southwestern Ontario of the late 70's. To my young and naive being though, I didn't really know quite how awful it really was, and how much I was really missing out on. Of course, this all changed the summer that I turned fifteen, 1979. This would be the summer that, for better or worse, changed me in ways I can't even begin to describe. Those brief months became a revelation to me, and from this point on, there was no way that SW Ont would ever be able to hold me down!

It was getting towards the end of June 1979. Grade Nine was rapidly coming to an end, and summer vacation was beckoning us all. Couldn't wait for those lazy days of summer, especially as this summer just happened to offer something very, very special. My father was a teacher at the local community college, so he too, got to enjoy a couple of months vacation each and every summer, just like myself and my brother. As a family, we also had immigrated from Ireland to Canada a decade prior to this summer, and while my Dad had returned home a few times over the preceding ten years, the rest of us hadn't. This was all about to change, as my family would be spending this summer's vacation in Ireland, as well as England - my Mom's parents had moved there from Ireland a number of years earlier so we were going to spend an equal amount of time between both countries and both sets of grandparents. I was so excited, although at the time, I had no idea exactly what kind of adventures awaited me, nor how profound a change these brief couple of months would end up having on me.

Although, my brother and I had more cousins living in Ireland, we did have a handful our age living in London, England, and they were more than happy to show their cousins from the colonies exactly what a huge city has to offer. Nothing in Canada prepared me for the grandness of London. At the time, we lived in a small town with a population of slightly more than 1 100. The largest city was a twenty minute drive from where we lived, and even then, its population didn't quite reach 250 000. I was captivated instantly. I surrendered completely the second my cousins took us to Kings Road in Chelsea. I had never, ever seen or heard anything quite like I found here. Punk rock was alive and kicking, so to speak, although by the time I had arrived in the UK, the original punk movement that had exploded in 1976, had long since disappeared and been replaced by what many classify as a second wave of the punk rock movement. By the time that I arrived, punk had splintered into a number of sub groups, many of which I found exciting beyond belief, and for the brief couple of months spent in England and Ireland that summer, I couldn't consume enough of this new music fast enough. I discovered what would soon be called New Wave and Pop Punk were my favourites and to this very day, I remain faithful and true to my first loves.

In just over a week's time, I will be going to see one of my very first loves, Depeche Mode! They have a show at Toronto's Molsen Amphitheatre on Friday, July 24 - just so happens, this show falls on the day after Jim's birthday! We're going to make it a bit of a family day as Sara is coming with us - she was also allowed to bring a friend with her so she wouldn't be stuck all day with our boring selves! This is also a bit of a big step for us as we've been keeping pretty much to ourselves this past year. Certainly, this event will have the largest crowd of people that we've had to interact and function within since the attack. Could prove fairly interesting. If nothing else, it certainly is a testament to how much I adore this particular band as I can't think of too much else that would motivate me this much that's for bloody sure.

Now, as an aside and for anyone that might be interested, besides Depeche Mode, my other all time favourite bands would have to be the Clash, Social Distortion, and Manic Street Preachers. I have a boatload of almost rans but that list would be too long...If I were stuck on a desert island, though...

CURRENT PLAYLIST

Cause I don't feel like doing a proper entry...what I am listening to at this very minute:



Joy Division - Transmission
Oasis - Wonderwall
Adam And The Ants - Ant Music
Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf
Depeche Mode - It's No Good
Mansun - Wide Open Spaces
The Clash - What's My Name
Oasis - Stop Crying Your Eyes Out
The Distillers - Drain The Blood
God Bullies - Like It Like That
Depeche Mode - But Not Tonight
The Jam - Town Called Malice
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
The Clash - Train in Vain
Foo Fighters - Darling Nikki
Depeche Mode - Useless
The Clash - Bankrobber
Oasis - Force of Nature
Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
Dead Kennedys - California uber alles
The Strokes - Last Nite
Social Distortion - I Was Wrong
The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

YES

YES

A wonderful live rendition on video of one of the most spell binding - and chilling - songs ever written, by one of the greatest bands that has ever been. Taken of the Manic Street Preachers while performing at Glastonbury in the summer of 1994 during their The Holy Bible Tour, this is the opening song from their third album entitled the same as this tour. The song was written by their original song writer, Richey Edwards, who mysteriously disappeared within a half a year of this album being released in Great Britain. To suggest that he had seemed to be fighting numerous personal demons prior to vanishing goes beyond mere understatement. This entire album certainly turned out to be pretty much a blueprint of the last year or so of his very tortured life. He has never been heard from or seen since, nor has his body ever been found, and just last month it was the thirteenth anniversary of his disappearance . Tragic really, as he was truly a brilliant writer. While the Manics ultimately ended up thriving in the face of such huge odds, it certainly is a testament to their own individual strengths as people as well as performers that they were able to go on to become such a fantastic band, although obviously one greatly changed from this event. Enjoy.

Yes

You can buy her, you can buy her
This one's here, this one's here, this one's here and this one's here
Ev'rything's for sale

For sale? dumb cunt's same dumb questions
Oh virgins? listen, all virgins are liars honey
And I don't know what I'm scared of or what I even enjoy
Dulling, get money, but nothing turns out like you want it to

And in these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything
For $200 anyone can conceive a God on video
He's a boy, you want a girl so tear off his cock
Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want

I eat and I dress and I wash and I still can say thank you
Puking - shaking - sinking I still stand for old ladies
Can't shout, can't scream, hurt myself to get pain out

I 'T' them, 24:7, all year long
Purgatory's circle, drowning here, someone will always say yes
Funny place for the social, for the insects to start caring
Just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff

In these plagued streets of pity you can by anything
For $200 anyone can conceive a God on video
He's a boy, you want a girl so tear off his cock
Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want, if you want

I eat and I dress and I wash and I can still say thank you
Puking - shaking - sinking I still stand for old ladies
Can't shout, can't scream, I hurt myself to get pain out

Power produces desire, the weak have none
There's no lust in this coma even for a fifty
Solitude, solitude, the 11th commandment

The only certain thing that is left about me
There is no part of my body that has not been used
Pity or pain, to show displeasure's shame
Everyone I've loved or hated always seems to leave

And in these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything
For $200 anyone can conceive a God on video
He's a boy, you want a girl so tear off his cock
Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want, if you want

Power produces desire, the weak have none
There's no lust in this coma even for a fifty
Solitude, solitude, the 11th commandment

Don't hurt, just obey, lie down, do as they say
May as well be heaven this hell, smells the same
These sunless afternoons I can't find myself

Two dollars for everything
Three dollars ...?...
Five dollars ...?...

Dave Gahan - KINGDOM

Junk Songs

01. Perfect Day · Lou Reed
02. Jesus Shootin’ Heroin · The Flaming Lips
03. Dead Flowers · The Rolling Stones
04. Comfortably Numb · Pink Floyd
05. Under The Bridge · Red Hot Chilli Peppers
06. Heroin · The Velvet Underground
07. Golden Brown · The Stranglers
08. Mr. Brownstone · Guns N’ Roses
09. She’s Like Heroin · System Of A Down
10. Cold Turkey · The Plastic Ono Band
11. Black Gold · Soul Asylum
12. Waiting For The Man · The Velvet Underground
13. Just One Fix · Ministry
14. Beetlebum · Blur
15. Jane Says · Jane’s Addiction
16. Heroin Girl · Everclear
17. Junkie’s Promise · Sonic Youth
18. Chinese Rocks · Johnny Thunders
19. Heroin · Alice In Chains