1980-06-14 Nicholas School, Basildon, England, UK

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Notes

"Composition Of Sound" played at this concert. This was the first concert with Dave Gahan on vocals. This concert did not take place on May 31st, 1980, as many other sources cite (including the official depechemode.com archives site); the concert took place on June 14, 1980. The first performance of "Composition Of Sound" was at 1980-05-30 Paddocks Community Center, Laindon, Essex, England, UK.

Note that any recording you may find from this date (which will typically be labeled as 1980-05-31) is a fake recording comprised of tracks from other various early live recordings.

Michael Rose from Facebook group Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos found out that the poster made for this concert was designed by Vince Clarke's brother, Rodney Martin. Steve Burton also admitted his participation for this concert in the same Facebook group:

"I was on the committee of the Nicholas Old Pupils Association (NOPA) who were looking to arrange an event to promote the organisation. I said that some friends of mine had recently formed a band & were looking for opportunities to perform live. I assured the committee that the band were good & that people would come along to support a gig. So it was agreed to clear the large locker room out in Nicholas School to make a stage & set big enough for 'Composition of Sound'. I did the DJing too playing a selection from my record collection in between the live music. Yes, folk did turn up. And the rest, they say, is history..."

Martin and Andy gave the following details in 2009 when asked about DM's first gig as Depeche Mode:

Question: So you became Depeche Mode, what, about summer 1980?

Gore: "I think it was around May 1980."

Fletcher: "I dispute that."

Gore: "You’re just wrong! There’s a friend of ours Daryl [Bamonte] who used to be a roadie for us back in the old days and he’s kept a diary which contains an official date – I think it’s some time in May when we first played as Depeche Mode. It was a school gig. I suppose in theory we would have got together at least a few weeks before that because we would have started rehearsing. But I reckon you could call the date of that first school gig the 30th anniversary."

Question: What was that first gig like?

Fletcher: "That’s when you were in both bands! There was another band playing on the bill called The French Look and Martin was in both of them so between sets he had to change his image. [both Martin and Dave laugh] That was the first time that Dave sang and he was really nervous. So nervous. It was at our old school St Nicholas."

Daryl Bamonte and Robert Marlow spoke of this gig in a long interview with cornerstones of DM in German Musikexpress magazine, March 2011 (translated):

Daryl Bamonte: "The first gig with Dave took place at our school, in the St. Nicholas Comprehensive. The concert cost 50p as an admission fee. The bands played in a big hall upstairs. As always, I was helping with setting it up. Dave was really nervous and Vince was annoyed about Martin playing in both bands. He was standing in our kitchen at home and said: "I will put Martin on drugs.""

Robert Marlow: "Vince was extremely angry, because Martin would perform in both bands. But that's what Martin is like: He wants to do good for everyone. Nevertheless, Vince was expecting a clear commitment. We have the support act, Composition Of Sound (who from this night on, if I remember correctly wanted to be called "Depeche Mode") the headliner slot. So it was a historic night in June 1980: Depeche Mode in complete line-up for the first time; Vince, Fletch, Martin and Dave. I thought the name was pathetic, just the sound of it for starters: Depeche Mode - pay attention the French pronunciation. But we played our set, Martin went offstage, changed his shirt and is about to go back on again. Suddenly, Vince is going completely mad: he screams all around him, and actually claims that we have changed the settings on the synthesizers! From then on, we didn't speak with one another for two weeks, which seemed like an eternity at the time. When we spoke to each other again, Depeche Mode were already playing at Crocs in Rayleigh, it was crazy just how fast this band was developing.

Dave Gahan said in 1987 about the first real gig that he had done that it took 10 cans of lager to persuade him to perform:

"All I can remember, is saying over and over to myself, ‘I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it.’ I really felt I couldn’t go on."

Gallery

Poster, designed by Vince Clarke's brother, Rodney.