Aidan reviews Depeche Mode’s Chicago concert

Aidan, he of the Depeche Mode Facebook covers, attended the Depeche Mode concert in Chicago Aug. 24 and is here to give a micro review. We’ll start with the set list and comments following some of the titles. The songs performed from the new album Delta Machine are in bold and Aidan says they chose the right ones and were to be expected.

• “Welcome to My World”
• “Angel”
• “Walking in My Shoes”
• “Precious”
• “Black Celebration”
• “Policy of Truth”
• “Should Be Higher” – amazing
• “Barrel of a Gun”
• “Higher Love” (sung by Martin Gore) ~ could do without this acoustic slowed-down version of a song with a majestic build-up in its original form. 
• “Shake the Disease” (sung by Martin Gore) – enjoyed his “aaahhh-aahhha” parts of the song but it’s not as good as the David-led original. 
• “Heaven”
• “Soothe My Soul”
• “A Pain That I’m Used To”
• “A Question of Time”
• “Enjoy the Silence”
• “Personal Jesus” – could do without but it’s for the masses I suppose. Although I’d bet some die-hard fans would rather hear a B-side like “My Joy.”

Encore

• “Home” (sung by Martin Gore) ~ another slowed-down acoustic version of an already slow but good song.
• “Halo”  (slower remix) ~ either they should have done the regular version or substituted another song entirely.
• “Just Can’t Get Enough” ~ wins the popular vote and lukewarm fans are familiar with it. I’d prefer “Get The Balance Right” or “Dreaming of Me.”
• “I Feel You” – one of my all-time favorites but something like the recent “Wrong” would have worked too.
• “Never Let Me Down Again” – see comment for “Personal Jesus.”

Aidan said “Should Be Higher” and “Barrel of a Gun” were the concert highlights. The low point was “Halo.”

Aidan’s observations

I would love to hear some cool B-sides like “My Joy,” “In Your Memory,” “Happiest Girl,” “Sea of Sin” or other singles and cuts like “Only When I Lose Myself.”

Keyboardist Peter Gordeno was rarely featured on the big screens compared to the original three (Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher) and drummer Christian Eigner. Especially in light of that Peter is probably doing they heavy synth load a la former member Alan Wilder.

Show fashion: I saw an original Black Celebration Tour shirt and spotted a girl wearing a Pussy Riot tee.

Aidan thought the price for a large can of beer ($10-$12) was “ridiculous.”

“It was also strange, he says, in that the theater allowed you to bring in a factory-sealed bottle of water, but when going through the gate they made us remove the caps from our bottles and throw them away. Not sure why. I was rebellious and secretly kept mine.”

Aidan had his ass pinched on the way out of the packed concert. He thinks it was a lesbian who was hand-holding another girl as she passed him.