Thursday 30/03/06 Depeche Mode, The Bravery @ MEN Arena, Manchester

Let’s get something clear from the off: we really don't think that music was meant to be heard in venues of this size. Even ignoring the ludicrous size of the place, the lack of any intimacy of any kind and the vastly inflated prices making band and promoter rich beyond belief, unless you are stood up near the front, you can’t see the fucking band which, unless we’re about to go back to dancing in a field (infinitely preferable), would appear to be the point of attending a gig. This is not helped by my being placed in the worst seat in the house on the top row at the side so all we can see is a curtain. We'reso high up we're practically orbiting Saturn.

Not that this matter’s because The Bravery are on first and they’re crap. Pop punk rock with a keyboard (every alt band has one now- how very modernist). Singer Sam Endicott does entertain at one point by swinging his mic, failing to catch it and then affecting a fall to cover it up. All retro New Yorker’s who don’t at least attempt to sound like Suicide should probably contemplate it instead.

Who the hell would have ever thought that Depeche Mode would fill avenue this size never mind the countless Stadia that are their natural home these days? In later years who would have believed that Dave Gahan would even still be alive to recount these sometimes sexually subversive narratives? And, in a nutshell, that is the peculiar appeal of Depeche Mode. They are genuinely a little strange (S&M, drugs, death) and this is even more emphasised by playing to crowds of thousands of people. They come on to an (obviously) rapturous thundering applause. No two ways about it either, the sound is leviathan-like as they rip into ‘A Pain That I’m Used To’. Gahan comes across like a sleazy Toreador and Martin Gore looks like Cyber Elvis with spiky goth backpack and teddy boy wig. The sound is massive and at times (‘I Feel You’ especially) reaches such dubby levels of intensity to rival that of Techno Animal. It’s a crowd pleasing set- plenty of greatest hits as you might expect. ‘Personal Jesus’ is great and ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ sounds far too dated to take seriously.

The intriguing thing about the sound and what prevents the Mode from sounding like every other stadium band are the industrial edges and Gore’s Eddyesque guitar. Whilst not exactly feminine, its hardly testosterone-addled either. Whilst they probably think they’re rocking out (and they are to a certain extent) it almost becomes a mutant, hermaphrodite-rock.  The few times when Gore takes vocal duties are possibly the most interesting. ‘Damaged People’ and ‘Home’ (at which point he ditches the wig to introduce his Warholian mop) do achieve some kind of almost-surreal intimacy- band bathing in red and green Hitchcockian light whilst Gahan is off-stage (presumably having an apple). The latter does flop a bit at the end as Gore travels slightly too far over the camp line. ‘Shake the Disease’ is reeled out in the encores, a masterful tune perhaps spoilt by being for just voice and solo piano.

The main set closes with ‘Enjoy the Silence’ which is greeted like the second coming of Jesus (ie by one bloke with a dog on a string, sorry- joking) and neatly summarises the best and worst.phpects of the night. It’s a monster- gorgeous synth washes, gargantuan sound but Gahan lets the crowd sing it. ALL OF IT. Which makes me want to machine gun the band and then machine gun the crowd. Also, his constant yells of “AWRIIGHT” have seriously begun to grate by this point.

The encores are fine- ‘Everything Counts’ and the aforementioned ‘… Enough’ and then your humble writer is gutted as he has to climb down from the rafters and miss  ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ which is a personal favourite as well as being the first sign of things as they were about to come.Subjectively, I would have preferred less concession to the crowd and less of that mutual singing malarkey but only because Depeche Mode have pulled off a real coup to even reach this level of popularity and maybe they don’t even need to make concessions like those.

But all in all, an amazing spectacle and a gig with many moments of brilliance.