As I have oft mentioned, your humble blogger’s lifelong passion for cars is inextricably linked to an equally strong lifelong love of music. I cannot separate the two, which is why I have installed a stereo system of some sort in every car I’ve owned that I’ve kept for any length of time, no matter its age: because I always had to be able to play my music to enjoy the drive. This is the only tangential relationship to the primary topic of this blog to be found in this post; as the “Out of the Slot” heading indicates, this is one of my occasional ventures “off topic” into a subject that has nothing to do with Thunderjets. Thus, this post is likely to be of no interest to fellow T-Jet racers and collectors, except for those who-like me-are lovers of the New Wave and New Romantic eras of 1980’s pop music. If that’s you, read on!
Due to the generosity of my friend and slot-racing partner Shanon, I recently had the opportunity to experience what is surely one of the last tours of one of the greatest bands of all time, one that I grew up loving: last Thursday night, the two of us bundled into The Cylon and ventured down to the urban jungle of Denver to take A+ seats at Ball Arena for Depeche Mode’s Memento Mori tour. It was a stunning show! Everything about it was amazing, from the graphics to the sound quality to the performance of two towering figures of pop music!
I was a little skeptical at first: since the tragic and untimely death of founding member Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher in May of last year, the band has now been reduced to only a 2-piece, and as a nearly lifelong fan, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I can remember being merely 10 years old and hearing “Dreaming Of Me” and “Just Can’t Get Enough” on the radio and thinking they were good songs, but the one that reached out and seized me by the throat was “People Are People.” When that song hit the airwaves when I was a lad of 13, I was hooked: as I began to delve into the band’s albums and realized how serious, intelligent, and introspective their lyrics often were, I knew I had found that magic combination of poetry and beats that turns me into a lifelong devotee. I remain so to this day, which is why I wasn’t going to pass on this chance, even with a duo of what was a quartet in the golden era. My skepticism was unfounded: what I got was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen in my life! Playing with talented sessionaires, remaining founder Martin Gore and crooner Dave Gahan may look their age, but they don’t sound it! Their energetic performance was over 2 hours long, and consisted of 23 songs including several of their best classics, spanning their career from the earliest days with co-founder Vince Clark to the band’s latest album, released earlier this year.
IMHO, DM’s pinnacle was a series of album masterpieces which were released consecutively: Black Celebration in 1985, Music For The Masses in 1987, and Violator in 1990. I refer to these albums as DM’s “Holy Trinity,” not just their best material but 3 of the best albums of the 1980’s by any band, which is a hell of a statement from what I hold to be one of the best decades in all music history! I went into the venue that night praying to hear songs from some of those albums, and my prayers were amply answered, as they played no fewer than five songs from Violator, and several of the best-known tracks from Black Celebration and Music For The Masses, with “World In My Eyes” being configured as a moving dedication to “Fletch.”
Even the new material is great!
One of the best and most pleasant surprises of the night was the strength of their latest songs. I know this sounds harsh, but over the last several years I have been unimpressed with DM’s efforts: IMHO the band’s last great album was Playing The Angel in 2005. Sounds of the Universe has its moments-it certainly doesn’t suck-but when I bought Delta Machine on its release in 2013, I was so disappointed with it that I didn’t even bother with the following 2 albums. That they did not play a single track from any of those three seems to vindicate my position on this, but I feel that Memento Mori is the band’s strongest work since Ultra in 1997! The album’s finest moment is the soul-stirring “Wagging Tongue,” a track that has moved me to tears on more than one occasion, but the album contains several gems, including “My Favourite Stranger,” “Caroline’s Monkey,” and “People Are Good,” this latter track feeling to me like a bookend to that hit that turned me into a fan all those years ago. We heard four of the best tracks from this new release, and all sounded right at home amongst the classics.
“We Shall Not See Their Like Again”
I will never forget the excitement of an event in 1998, when several of my closest friends and I were treated to an event we had fantasized about for years but thought would never happen: the first reunion of seminal Goth rock band BAUHAUS for the “Resurrection Tour.” In fact, it may interest you to know that a quote by your humble blogger is included in the liner notes of the first double-CD release of “Gotham,” the album that live tour produced. I can remember standing in line outside the Hollywood Paladium shaking with anticipation to get in, and talking to a fellow fan, much younger than I was even at the time, who said “Enjoy this show, for we shall not see their like again.” Truer words were never spoken, and they apply equally to Depeche Mode, and to many of the other great Punk, Goth, and New Wave bands of this, the golden era of music. You can call me a bitter old man if you want, but I’ll say it proud: with very few exceptions, today’s auto-tuned garbage cannot compare to what I saw last week: Depeche Mode is truly one of the greats, a band that has left an indelible mark on the landscape of music. In fact, I believe this expertly crafted single sentence which serves as the band’s mini-bio from Allmusic cannot be improved upon, so I will quote it here:
“English electronic pioneers who evolved from ’80s pop roots into enduring international synth-rock icons.”
I can’t say it better: icons they are, and it was an honor to get to see them again on what I suspect will be their last tour. As we all grow old and enter the final stages of our lives, this show was another reminder of how lucky I am to have lived when and where I did, and to have been able to experience the music and the culture that surrounded me. As a crueler, less prosperous, and less free world replaces mine, I will continue to point any younger people I meet to a time when popular music sounded this good, and hope that perhaps hearing it might inspire them to strive for the ideals that we held dear, and do whatever is possible to preserve them.
“I’ll meet you by the river
Or maybe on the other side
You’ll find it hard to swallow
When you watch another angel die”