Surely melancholy has never felt as a good as it did at the end of Depeche Mode‘s main set at the Kia Forum on Tuesday.
Picture this: 17,000 fans singing along to “Enjoy the Silence,” singer Dave Gahan stepping back from the microphone as the crowd carried its chorus – “All I ever wanted / All I ever needed is here in my arms” – over Martin Gore‘s signature guitar riff.
Those are the moments of which memories are made, and as Depeche Mode returned to Southern California for the first time in five years, there were many more scattered across a set of 23 songs over two hours.
The English electronic band, icons of New Wave and post-punk rock, is down to a duo of Gahan and Gore now. Co-founder keyboardist Andrew Fletcher died last year, giving the title of the new album “Momento Mori” – a reminder of the inevitability of death – an emotional heft.
Which is not to say Tuesday’s show was anything but joyful. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have long considered the darker anxieties of life and love, sex and religion, and in confronting them found pathways to the light.
The show opened with a pair of songs from the new record. “My Cosmos is Mine” used a slow industrial hiss-and-clang rhythm to establish a mood for the night. “Wagging Tongues,” one of the catchiest melodies of the new tunes, placed Gahan in the spotlight at center stage, dancing and singing as Gore added harmonies from his keyboards at stage right.
A song or two later, “It’s No Good,” a single off the 1997 album “Ultra,” drew the first big response of the night at its opening notes, its throbbing synths, bass and drums – drummer Christian Eigner and keyboardist Peter Gordeno are back again as touring musicians – accompanied by crisp video images of … donkeys on some foreign beach? (Checks notes, yes, donkeys on the beach.)
Other highlights of the first half of the show included “Sister of Night,” a slow, moody squall of synths, the melodically lovely “Everything Counts,” a fan favorite now 40 years old, and “Precious,” delivered with a slower twang-and-clang of Gore’s guitar over Eigner and Gordeno’s backing.
Gore took over lead vocals for a pair of songs midway through the set, singing “A Question of Lust,” off of 1986’s “Black Celebration,” and then the new “Soul With Me,” in a largely acoustic setting that showed off its potential as almost a pop standard style of tune.
Gahan returned for “Ghosts Again,” a new single. One of four tracks on “Momento Mori” co-written with Gore by Psychedelic Furs’ singer Richard Butler, it shows off that influence to terrific effect. (Gahan also changed into the second of three different vests he’d wear during the show. Not quite Taylor Swift wardrobe changes, but for those keep score they were red, then yellow, and for the encore, he wore pink.)
“I Feel You” showed off the greasy bluesy grind the belies Depeche Mode’s reputation as a synth-rock band. “World in My Eyes” was dedicated to the late Fletcher, photographs of him filled the video screens, which featured a giant three-dimensional M at the center, as Gahan sang, occasionally turning to draw focus to Fletch’s image.
The main set came to a close with “Stripped,” its tick-tick-ticking big beats and ominous red lighting pulling the crowd into its mood; the bluesy “John the Revelator,” which saw Gahan shimmy-strut-shaking across the stage as Gore played guitar; and finally, “Enjoy the Silence,” the band’s biggest U.S. single. (As that song unfolded, images of a bedazzled skull, a literal momento mori, rotated on the video screens.)
The Inglewood show was just the third on a tour that will run the rest of the year, returning to Southern California in December for two more shows at the Kia Forum Dec. 10 and 12, a pair of gigs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Dec. 15 and 17. The band is also playing Pechanga Arena in San Diego Dec. 6 and 8.
Tuesday’s set was largely the same as shows in Sacramento and San Jose over the last week, though the encore opened with the one variation, a mostly acoustic version of “Condemnation” that featured Gore and Gahan at the end of the ramp into the floor seats in place of “Waiting for the Night,” which had been listed on the setlist for the San Jose show.
The rest of the encore raced through a trio of Depeche Mode’s biggest hits. The early and peppier-than-most-of-the-catalogue “Just Can’t Get Enough” had all but the gloomy grumps up and dancing. (It’s currently featured in one of many over-the-top scenes in the movie “Cocaine Bear.”)
“Never Let Me Down Again” rocked hard with Gahan leading the crowd in the fastest, most aggressive demonstration by a frontman of how he wanted the fans to wave their hands back and forth. “It never gets old!” he shouted at the end, pleased with his efforts.
And then, with “Personal Jesus,” another of the band’s best songs and biggest hits, the night wrapped up, Gore’s bluesy, gritty guitar accompanying Gahan, and again the whole crowd, in singing its chorus: “Reach out, touch faith!” OK, don’t mind if I do.
Depeche Mode
When: Tuesday, March 28
Where: Kia Forum, Inglewood
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