Oct 11: Short review from skinn <skinn@tin.it>
review Fabrizio Cassero <fcasser@tin.it>
Well , I've just come back also , tough I didn't meet the
band ; why didn't you invite me Fabrizio ?!?....:-)
Anyway , the concert was great , of course , because they are Depeche Mode, but in my
opinion it's been the "least beautiful" one I've seen in the past twelve years
from the guys (I'm talking about the one in Milan , I don't know about Bologna) .
Maybe Fabrizio won't agree with me , but the first few songs were a little bit
"weaker" than usual , it sounded as this was their first show after a few months
and they were trying to get in sync . Or maybe it's just that Dave dind't do any of his
"YEEAAAHHHH" during "AQOT" or "NLMDA" (or any other song ,
for that matter) , and I missed that a lot.... After OWILM (where Dave's voice was surely
not in top-notch form) the show did start to kick in , and in particular they gave
wonderful versions of "Home" , "In your room" (once again the
beautiful zephyr/garbage version) , "Personal Jesus" (which is not among my
absolut fav but kicks some serious ass live) and "Barrel of a gun" , which
surprisingly might have been my personal favourite of tonight's show (Dave's voice was
great on this one IMHO) .
The reasons why this was the "least beautiful" DM gig I've seen so far ?
1 - It was the shortest : it lasted 1hr 40min , and to do so they skipped
"Condemnation" and "I feel you" from the set-list , obviously without
replacing them with other songs (SL or BTW would have been greatly appreciated , thank
you) . Maybe they did this because of point #3 .
2 - Dave was much less "alive" than usual . I've always thought that he's the
best frontman I've ever seen on stage (possibly with Paul Stanley) , but today he was
really "down" (see point 3 again) , much less talkative (as a matter of fact he
barely spoke at all , besides very few "thank you" and a couple of almost
whispered "that's right , Milan..." ) , didn't run all over the place turning
and spinning all the time (just a couple of times) and was generally lacking his usual
energy .
3 - This is the saddest part , and if you don't want to read BAD stuff about DM (though
it's only my opinion) please refrain from reading further. I really don't mean to start
anything here , especially on a sad subject like this , but it seems to me , and I'd
really appreciate Fabrizio's opinion (since he was there and even met them) , or anyone's
who've seen them so far , that Dave is doing it again . Yes , I mean shooting up or
something like that. That could explain both his lack of energy and his voice , which
haven't been perfect for the last few shows . I was in front row , as usual , and I
could see that he was looking strange , even absent at times . During a song he almost
seemed to doze off , and everyone around (including me) were starting to get worried .
Someone wondered if he was going to finish tonight's show . Things got better later on ,
and he seemed to be a little more himself as the show went on , and he enjoyed a lot when
the crowd went crazy for PJ , ETS or JCGE , but I left the palace more worried than ever .
ATTENDANCE AND STAGE - Both the shows were sold-out
(13.000 in Bologna, 12.000 in Milano). In our humble opinion, if you consider the great
wait for the new stage, you will be a bit disappointed when you'll see it. It's not so
large as you can imagine it after the last tours. In short -just like also italian press
noticed- it is "essential" and "far from the ones seen in the others
tour". About the attendance, we noticed an higher average age (compared to last
tours). Great atmosphere. Everyone was involved in it (there were any doubts?). I did not
like the official stuff in sale.
THE BAND - Let's talk about Dave. His charisma is intact. But, compared
to the last shows, he is not the Dave you are used to know. He dances, but not so much as
in the past, he moves his body in the way he knows, but not so often as in the past. This
is a fact. And he had problems with his voice. In both the shows, the band did not play
two songs (I feel you and Condemnation). In some circumstances, Martin himself seemed to
help Dave in some passages. Some songs (as Barrel of a Gun, for example) are a real
suffering for Gahan. The second enchore in Bologna was pratically an instrumental song
sung by the attendance. In the second shows in Milan the things went a little better.
Martin: absolutely brilliant. Walking around the stage playing with his guitar, he is the
real backbone of the show. You'll appreciate his voice more than ever. No more words: you
have to see him. Fletch: he seemed more industrious than in the past.
THE SONGS - Well....we have our ideas about those live versions. But
this is not the right place to talk about what we think. Did anyone report here that NLMD
and ETS are a bit different than in the past shows?
THE PRESS CONFERENCE - in Milano. It's reported on the main italian
newspaper (and i will scan it). Between other things, tha band said that -for the moment-
they are enjoing themself giving a new life to the past songs, and they are not thinking
about a new album (....but Simenon told us they will ;)
THE AFTERSHOW PARTY - only in Bologna date. 8 fans allowed to enter in
the room beside their dressing room. Everyone was there but Gahan. May be he was
disappointed for is voice, may be in that situation he did not want to meet someone, may
be this is a kind of protection for him. But one thing is sure: after that show we were
not surprised not seeing him. Before talking about Gore and Fletcher, something about Tim
Simenon. It was simply amazing to see him so kind with everyone among us. Large smiles and
spontaneous handshakes to everyone. A friend of us, a young producer, started to talk with
him about his work in Italy. Well...Tim answered him just as an old friend would do. Gore
seemed happy, sharing himself between us and his family, while Fletch was a little bit
vexed for some personal little problems he told us. But then he started drinking
beer relaxing himself. A very sedate man. After few minutes Gore invited us to play
"bar-football" ( I hope american bongsters will understand the kind of
game...I'm afraid they will not...). Me and Gio (013 webmasters) against Gore and Fletcher
(Martin moved the forward players). Of course, they won (playing with rules not allowed
here in Italy - would you protest for that? ;). Then we talk with them. Later on also
Jonathan Kessler and Andy Franks joined the party.. The after show hospitality lasted half
an hour. Then we said good bye and went away.