Depeche Mode Milan Shows Heading To DVD
Depeche Mode’s two shows last weekend at Milan’s Filaforum were recorded for a live DVD that is expected to be released in September. “We’re quite excited, because the audience went absolutely bananas,” keyboardist Andrew Fletcher tells Billboard.com. “We did Paris [for the last DVD], and we thought we’d do Milan since we work there a lot, and it worked out really well.”
The DVD was directed by Blue Leach, who has been traveling with the band since the start of the world tour in support of last year’s ‘Playing The Angel’ (Reprise). “He’s been on the road with us so he seemed like the obvious choice,” Fletcher says. “He’s been doing loads of offstage stuff throughout the whole tour, so there will be all that too.”
Depeche Mode is presently enjoying its most successful tour ever in Europe, which plays Paris tonight (Feb. 21) and runs through April 3 in London. A second North American leg kicks off April 27 outside San Francisco and also includes a previously announced April 29 headlining appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.
“We know how popular it is in the States, and I think the bill looks very interesting,” Fletcher says of Coachella. “California is probably our biggest market in the States, so we’re looking forward to that.”
The subsequent tour is expected to include about 20 dates in North America as well as a visit to Mexico. From there, Depeche Mode has more international shows on tap through Aug. 3 in Tel Aviv, Israel. “We’re absolutely huge in Israel and we’ve never made it over there,” Fletcher says. “When we just played in Prague, the Israeli fan club chartered a massive plane with 300-400 people to come over. That will be a really good place to finish.”
Afterward, the band is considering shows in South America and Australia, but as Fletcher notes, “We have no plans further than that, apart from having a really good holiday!”
‘Playing The Angel’ has reinvigorated Depeche Mode’s diehard fan base, having spawned the No. 1 Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart hit ‘Precious’ as well as ‘A Pain That I’m Used To’, which peaked at No. 6 on that tally. A new single, ‘Suffer Well’, has just begun to impact radio.
“We realize this album is more tuned in to playing live, more so than ‘Exciter’ or ‘Ultra,’” Fletcher says. “People who have seen us say the new songs don’t sound misplaced in the set list.” Still, for the summer shows, Depeche Mode will “probably drop a couple of those and add in a couple of old hits.”
And how are relations between Fletcher, Martin Gore and David Gahan at this stage of the oft-feuding band’s career? “I think they have been good throughout the making of the album and it has sort of continued onwards,” Fletcher says happily. “It’s a very good time to be in Depeche Mode at the moment.”
Source: Billboard.com
