DEPECHE MODE: THE CONCERT IN PASADENA
To Hal Morris
1988. Four blokes from Basildon, England, are about to put fire to the Rose Bowl Stadium of Pasadena, CA. In the air resonates the heady, obsessive, hypnotic instrumental โPimpfโ. The event has begun. Gigantic curtains of light colors, transluscent, hide and show the performers. 70 000 people, young people for most of them, have paid their ticket to hear and see a band which is not their compatriots, far from there, and for Dave, Martin, Alan and Fletch, theyโre not home either. But itโs a wedding night. England and America. Like the Beatles in their time. Iโm sure each people at the Rose Bowl that night secretly knew they were crossing a line after which there was no coming back. Depeche Modeโs birth date is that June 18th of 1988. And Depeche Mode is nothing else but a revolution in the history of music.
Second title: the dry beat ofย โBehind the Wheelโ plays as the perfect support to the introducing of the amazingly deep barytone of a young man, Dave Gahan. All dressed in white under a black leather jacket, he will soon demonstrate his skills as one of the sexiest, most appealing lead singers to have burst on the scene. The transe will last for more than two hours. Some of us never went down of itโฆ
After Pasadena, Depeche Mode will have reached the pick of the few millions copies sailing groups. Theyโll turn the world after each album in stadiums or huge concert halls. Despite the dramatic accident of Dave Gahan with drugs, in 1993, and Alan Wilder breaking up in 1995, the three left Depeche Mode โ Dave, Martin, Fletchย โย maintained their success at its highest until now.
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Photos by Anton Corbijn : DM with DA Pennebaker, who made a film from the concert and on its fans; Martin Gore, who became the almost unique songwriter of the band after Wilderโs departure;ย โ101โฒย โ Aprรจs Mode, Dave Gahan hiding his face behind a towel.
