Rolling Stone Magazine | Depeche Mode At Lollapalooza 2009

By J. Edward Keyes ~

Depeche Mode’s Friday night headlining set at Lollapalooza began with a whimper. First, there was the tiny, steady blip of a pre-recorded drum track. Then came a bed of synthesizers, misty and mysterious. Finally, Dave Gahan’s voice — barely a whisper — floating above. When all of those elements finally cohered, it was pure rapture — a kind of revelation in phases.

In a way, that slow build and long sustain is an apt metaphor for Depeche Mode’s career. A trio of over-styled foppish young men, they were nobody’s top pick for arena giants, let alone a sure bet to be bankable career artists when they started 30-plus years ago. Their quirky techno seemed built for the moment, not for the ages. Even their name means “fast fashion.”

Funny thing, though: Depeche Mode have not only endured, they’ve prospered, and during their startling and frequently riveting set they proved that often the greatest rewards come from patience and restraint. Their songs remain mysterious and doomy, Andy Fletcher’s black synth lines walking lockstep around Martin Gore’s grizzled, distorted guitar.

Live, they feel fantastically ominous: ‘Hole to Feed’ was primal and thumping, its icy electronics contributing to the air of menace. ‘It’s No Good’ was all cold industrial grind, Gore’s weird, robotic guitar lines coaxing the song to an apocalyptic conclusion. As they did in New York last week, they concentrated on slower, deep cuts, which yielded their greatest dividends for longtime followers (some of the more casual fans at Friday’s show were a bit exasperated by this decision).

The key to the group’s sustained potency is Gahan. He was a dynamo Friday night, gliding across the stage, spinning on his heel, hefting the microphone stand above his head and punctuating verses with a triumphant, hollered “Oy!” When his low, haunted croon met Gore’s pained bleat they seemed to form a single voice — a strange disembodied howl rising up from the center of the machine.

Source: Rolling Stone Magazine

Depeche Mode

Andrew Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Lollapalooza, Martin Gore, Press Concert Review