More Depeche Mode Soundboard Recordings Of ‘World Violation Tour’
Two excellent soundboard recordings made during the 1990 ‘World Violation Tour’ by the English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the act’s seventh studio album, ‘Violator’, have made their way to the grand public after being available before in a rather small circle.
The unmixed recordings Side-Line received in the past few months are not ready for commercial use and probably were just made as a reference, something confirmed by former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder to Side-Line: “If we had wanted to record and release a live disc from that tour, we could have recorded any of the shows and then would have replaced any errors or vocals that weren’t up to scratch. If this recording [that you have] is just off the desk, or a rough mix for reference, there was no intention to release it.”
The shows that are on the street now were recorded in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1990 and thus most probably originate from tapes that were recorded by the band to see “how the show was sounding generally, or how well or badly it was being mixed out front.”
The 1990 ‘World Violation Tour’ has been on of the most sought after live recordings especially because the band and its label, Mute Records, never released a single live recording from it. We asked Wilder why no release from this tour ever saw the light of day: “Remember we had not long released ‘101’ so no-one in the band camp would have been keen on doing another live album at that time. They are much more commonplace these days with the obligatory ‘live’ DVD post every tour etc. In those days, people didn’t do them so nearly so readily.”
The ‘World Violation Tour’ kicked off with a North American leg in late May, starting in Pensacola, Florida and finishing up in early August in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. Later in the month, the group played a sole date in Australia, in Sydney, prior to a six-date tour of Japan in September. Following the Japanese dates, the band commenced an extensive European tour, beginning in Brussels, Belgium in late September. The jaunt lasted two months and concluded with the final show of the tour in Birmingham, U.K. in late November.
The following songs were included in an acoustic set performed by Martin Gore during the said tour:
“I Want You Now”
“Here Is the House’
“Little 15”
“World Full of Nothing”
“Blue Dress”
“Sweetest Perfection”
Source: Side-Line
Where are they being circulated?
good question for side-line
Alan’s POV is interesting, but I’ve had these for ages. I figured every die hard knew of these by now. The backing tapes are even floating out there as well.