Depeche Mode 140,000 devotees in the Olympiastadion Berlin

Depeche Mode are practically permanent guests in Berlin by now. After an unexpected death of keyboardist and founding member Andy Fletcher in May 2022, the two remaining band members Dave Gahan and Martin L. Gore announced their 15th studio album “Memento Mori” and the accompanying “World Tour” at a press conference in the capital of Germany. After 2009, 2013 and 2017, Depeche Mode found their way back to the Olympiastadion Berlin on July 7th and July 9th, 2023.

Two hot summer evenings awaited the approximately 70,000 visitors in the Olympiastadion. However, no sign of summer sluggishness: everyone celebrated and danced and sang loudly with their idols to old and new hits, which ranged from their debut album “Speak and Spell” (released in 1981) to the aforementioned “Memento Mori” (released in March 2023).

Over 40 years of music history that Gahan and Gore brought to the stage along with their long-time touring members Peter Gordeno (keyboards) and Christian Eigner (drums) and thus excited generations of their fans. Only a handful of artists know how to put a spell on a crowd, and Dave Gahan is one of them. Few words, pure presence and personality. Facial expressions, gestures, dances. Sometimes energetic, sometimes lascivious with circling hips. From the outside, it might seem like Martin Gore is stepping into the background, dedicating himself to his instruments in addition to the backing vocals, but comes out all the more intensively when he performs “Strangelove” in an acoustic version, all alone with his guitar, as he did on the second night. Goosebumps.

Depeche Mode performed for a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes or 23 songs each evening, ending both shows with their evergreen “Personal Jesus”. Just today, the band announced that their Memento Mori World Tour will continue in 2024, performing once again in Berlin.