On The Download: Depeche Mode At The Hollywood Bowl

Very few bands can sustain longevity in today’s music biz but Depeche Mode has been able to maintain a strong following going into their 30th year together. Proof was no further than Sunday night at the famed Hollywood Bowl. The boys took the stage for one of their three sold out Southern California stops to a huge ovation. Depeche Mode has never been known to let their fans down and they put on one of their best shows to date.

With back up from drummer Christian Eigner & keyboardist Peter Gordeno, Depeche Mode has become a much stronger live band than during their formative years in the ‘80s. Their added confidence has only helped strengthen the music Martin Gore has written over the last three decades. Factor in the energetic third member of the band, Andrew Fletcher, who keeps the crowd going… and you have one of alternative music’s most electrifying bands.

This is a band that shows no sign of slowing down. And that’s saying a lot seeing how their tour, “Tour of the Universe,” has been marred by 14 cancelled shows due in part to Dave Gahan’s recent surgery and vocal troubles. And if there were any after effects from them, you could never tell as Gahan danced, twirled and shaked his hips a la Elvis Presley, as if he was still that 26-year-old in 1988 performing in front of a sold out crowd at the Rose Bowl.

The 21-song, two-hour set was led off by the first 3 tracks off their 12th studio album, “Sounds of the Universe,” and from the opening note they never let up. The band fed off the energy of the crowd as they stuck to some of their most famous staples from the past nine albums mixed in with some surprises like “Fly on the Windscreen” and “Somebody” which really wowed the audience. The show almost played as a greatest hits concert with only five tracks from their new album making an appearance. But no one seemed to mind.

The momentum of the show only grew as the band hit fan favorites from “It’s No Good,” “Home,” “Policy of Truth” to “Enjoy the Silenc”e to show closer “Never Let Me Down Again” (full set list below) before returning for two encores. And if possible, they even outdid themselves by performing classics like “Stripped” and the aforementioned “Somebody,” which only energized the crowed even more before going into the ultimate crowd-pleaser “Personal Jesus.” It was here when the fans erupted with a fervor that was waiting to be released. And for those fans wondering if the band should have just called off the tour so Gahan could fully recover, Sunday night’s performance answered that question definitively.

And it was because of those fans that the band marched on. Looking out to the eclectic crowd the band could only feel a sense of love coming from them. Never has such a large group of people ranging from teenagers to people in their 30s and 50s, who probably saw the band at the Rose Bowl 21 years ago, showed so much devotion for three boys from England.

It is because of the fans that the band continues to find such success. And Dave, Martin and Andrew showed the love back by giving their fans a performance they would never forget. To say that seeing a Depeche Mode concert is a religious experience is an understatement; it is an unconditional mutual love that is not only given by fans, but returned tenfold by the band.

Depeche Mode’s Hollywood Bowl set list:

In Chains
Wrong
Hole To Feed
Walking In My Shoes
It’s No Good
Question of Time
Precious
Fly On The Windscreen
Jezebel
Home
Come Back
Policy of Truth
In Your Room
I Feel You
Enjoy the Silence
Never Let Me Down Again

Encore 1:
Somebody
Stripped
Strangelove

Encore 2:
Personal Jesus
Waiting for the Night