The last time I saw Depeche Mode was in 1990, and it's one of the reasons I generally stopped going to arena shows. I grew weary of David Gahan's pandering to the audience, especially when he repeatedly held his hand to his ear and proclaimed, "I can't hear you." "Getting a fucking hearing aid!" I responded, drowned out by the thousands who were singing along like sheep. That same week was the first time I saw the Wedding Present. They put on an intense show in a sweaty little club and announced at the end of the set that they don't do encores. I subsequently skipped Depeche Mode every time they came through town and saw the Wedding Present at every opportunity, even at 8 1/2 months pregnant, and had no regrets about either choice.
My conviction finally gave in. In the last decade, a friend has repeatedly raised the possibility of seeing Depeche Mode when they toured, and I either resisted or it didn't work out, but this time I gave in for the sake of my kids. They discovered Depeche Mode less through my influence than from hearing "Just Can't Get Enough" in commercials then recognizing them as an influence on CHVRCHES. The Boston show was a few weeks after my older son's birthday, so the show lent itself to a birthday present and a night out with another family. I didn't tell the kids about my trepidation, my disdain for the shtick of arena performances, because I didn't want to poison their minds if they turned out to be into that.
So how would their performance hold up? To prepare for the show, I'd been playing a lot of their back catalog, and it really is an impressive body of work. The quality of the songwriting explains why they have long outlasted their synth-pop novelty peers. The production on the current tour had the requisite video screen and computer-controlled lights. David Gahan is gifted at working the stage, spinning, sashaying and generally showing off his impressive limberness for someone nearly 40 years into his career. Martin Gore took lead vocals for a few songs. Andrew Fletcher and two supplemental musicians stayed out of the spotlight.
They included a lot of newer materials without dipping heavily into their early hits, notably skipping "Just Can't Get Enough." Yes, there are artistic choices to be made, and they can't play everything. But the performance was bloated. They milked it too far, especially goading the audience into sing-alongs too often. They could have squeezed in a lot more songs if they aimed for more intense pacing instead of dragging songs out too much. I thought my kids would be more into the performance than I, but they got bored despite their familiarity with the materials from listening to First Wave in the car as one of our default stations.
This clearly appeals to a lot of people. Depeche Mode have been filling arenas for decades while the Wedding Present have never escaped the sweaty little clubs, at least in the U.S. Music for the masses, indeed. After a great show, I usually immerse myself in music from that artist. Today I'm binging on the Wedding Present.
