Dave Gahan looks incredible, he looks like a well weathered Goth leather boy in smudged eyeliner and leather vest and it defies belief in Gahan or his band. He is a fluttery baritone on top of a rent boy so far past his prime he has gone from the Plaza Hotel to East 53rd street. And Martin Gore, who writes most of the songs Gahan sings, completes the picture of decay. Gore is better looking than Gahan, but Harry Sykes should take a good look at this vision of lost in age and rock and roll.
Between the two of them they shouldn’t work, and Gore’s solo portion is not good at all, but if you didn’t like Depeche Mode -I am not all that keen myself, you wouldn’t hare it and if you do like DM, everybody else at Barclay’s this was a very strong performance. It did its job.
So did opening act Bats For Lashes, another band I don’t like very much. DM had kindly left on the close circuit TV at the venue and Bats For Lashes, Natasha Khan to you, were able to project their indie rock UK style. Three albums into her career, Natasha seemed calm in an unsettling venue and performed 45 minutes of mostly attention holding folkie, maybe moody, rockers. It was mostly a good set with only one big mistake, the penultimate number was an arty one and Natasha shouldn’t have played it, she should have left it for Webster Hall, but if she HAD TO, she should have played it at the midway point. The set ended with the excellent “Laura”.
Depeche Mode were on time, which matters, and while a five song encore is stupid (I left after the first song), except for the Gore acoustic spot, it was entertaining. All because of Gahan. There is something so wrong about him, he looks like a shallowed out hasbeen, the man is 51 years old and there is something oddly unsettling his visage. But his energy level is sky high, his voice, a soaring baritone perfect for Gore’s overwrought songs of sex and nightmares “Touch me” but not in a Gary Glitter way, synth rock.
There is a brooding silliness to the performance but also an energy and rock and roll arrogance. The music is serious back of the Hall arena rock and when they get everything firing it is fun indeed; three songs in, the band performs Songs Of Faith And Devotion’s “Walking Shoes”, Gahan morphs into Alan Cummings in “Cabaret” and he cheer leads the audience into joining in. Then he travels through the remainder. My friend Damon Morton said “I’m a big fan of violator,songs of faith and devotion and even ultra….the rest leave me a bit cold. used to loathe them until they started to use real drums and guitars..” He would have gotten four songs off Violator but only two each off Ultra and Songs Of Faith And Devotion. Damon would have also gotten SIX (count em) songs off Delta Music -the fairly average current release.
I’m guessing I am lucky I am not a friend because the new songs didn’t kill the sets momentum for me. It was all one song. Untill the last three songs before the encore. “A Question of Lust (a lousy song from the, three songs performed from Black Celebration) was given a terrific run through the heart and it was followed by a long tangled up “Enjoy The Silence” with plenty of time for an instrumental break and a singalong which had Gahan grinning from ear to ear. The set was completed with “Personal Jesus”.
Depeche Mode have been around so long they know how to do this and still not phone it in. The lighting was lovely, the doggy pictures during “Precious” cute. Gahan maybe coulda used the T jutting out of the stage more but he is an excellent front man , could work on his his onstage patter, it leaves something to be desired.
Considering how little I like either band, I liked it fine.
Bats For Lashes – B-
Depeche Mode – B