The return of Depeche Mode

I wrote a post last year in memory of the late Andy Fletcher, but it might as well have been a eulogy for the entire band.  Little did I know that a new album had largely been written, albeit not recorded, and a world tour was in the works.  

Veteran superstar touring acts like The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen have always ensured that the show goes on, defying any concepts of age and personal tragedy.  Charlie Watts dies and the Stones keep chugging along.  Clarence Clemons passes away, and his son joins the E-Street Band in his place.  I never expected Depeche Mode to be one of those bands, even though their every four years album and tour schedule has been entrenched for decades.  

I haven't heard "Memento Mori" yet, but "Ghosts Again" is probably their best single in over a decade.  Watch the video and the familiar sights and sounds are all there -- Anton Corbijn's dystopian black and white urban landscapes, all-black wardrobes and dark sunglasses, standoffish rock star cool, growling synth melodies and lamentations on death in yet another pseudo-revival of the "Black Celebration" narrative.  It's nothing new but it's wonderful to see.

Speaking of wonderful to see, I watched a fan video of the encore from their first concert of the tour and it's almost enough to erase the bad memories of the pandemic.  In the darkest days of 2020 I feared that stadium and arena concerts might never return, but despite years of delays and the death of a founding member, here they were again, Depeche Mode performing their hits on a huge stage, a triumphant return to the new normal.  Performing a duet of "Waiting For the Night", Dave Gahan and Martin Gore looked thin and fit, their voices are as pure and as powerful as any time over the past thirty years.  They surveyed the crowd and couldn't have looked more happy to be there, and to be standing shoulder to shoulder with each other.  The rest of the encore -- "Just Can't Get Enough", "Never Let Me Down Again", and "Personal Jesus", a combined 113 years old between the three -- continue to sound timeless.