I went to see Depeche Mode at the Garden on Wednesday night. This was the fourth time I've seen them and they just keep getting better. When I last saw them about four years ago in Florida, they had just released their worst album (Exciter). Despite that, it was a great show. This time, having just released an excellent "comeback" album in Playing the Angel, the show was even better.
Watching them on stage is somewhat ironic in that back in the early/mid 80s the idea of seeing an "electronic" band like DM was made fun of because who would want to watch a bunch of guys stand on stage and push buttons. Fast forward 20 years and you've got DM on stage with a drummer, a lead guitar and a frontman thats as much of a rock star as anyone out there. Of course, the button pushers are there as well. :-)
Dave Gahan really is one of the best fontmen in the business. His limited vocal range gets exposed a little on tour, but the guy has so much stage presence that it doesn't matter. Although Martin Gore, who technically has the truer singing voice, takes the lead on a few songs, the show is really all about Dave.
They played for two hours straight, mixing about six songs off of the new album in with tons of their classics. Depeche Mode was my favorite band back in college. They've got enough hits that I'd see them anytime they came around. It was definitely nice to see them put out a great album after all these years though. Made me feel a little younger knowing that one of my bands from back in the day was still a little relevant. With that said, the crowd was definitely a little older. Not all that surprising considering the boys are in their mid 40's and their previous two albums weren't so good.
The opening act, The Bravery, was also excellent. I didn't really know anything about them befor the show. Not sure how to best describe them. Maybe in the same vein as Franz Ferdnand.
Unfortunately our baby sitter got sick and cancelled on us. Tracy took one for the team and stayed home with Lyla while I went to the show with Khaled. Thanks hun!
