1981-02-16 Cabaret Futura, London, England, UK
Notes
Spoken-word artist Anne Clark with musical support from the band A Cruel Memory, and The Event Group, were the support acts for this gig.
Cabaret Futura owner Richard Strange has said:
"I occasionally listen to the 24-track tapes we recorded [at Cabaret Futura]. One of my favourites is of Depeche Mode, all cherubic-faced and full of nervy swagger as they tried out their first songs, wonderful three-minute anthems such as New Life, Factory [Ice Machine] or Dreaming of Me. The first time I played the tapes back I was puzzled by what seemed to be a splashing sound on one of the tracks. Then I remembered it was the night that The Event Group did something unspeakable with hoses and fake urine on the balcony while the band played underneath."[1]
As Richard Strange noted in his bio on Vimeo, he paid the band £15 for a half hour set. He also quotes Depeche Mode as having said: "What's really looking forward is what's happening at Richard Strange's Cabaret Futura, not us."
Set list
This is the set list as confirmed by Richard Strange. Depeche Mode performed a relatively short set of approximately 30 minutes because there were sometimes up to six acts performing at any given night at the Cabaret Futura, so each act had to perform a fairly short set to allow enough time for each act to perform. Depeche Mode actually performed a longer set than most other acts, according to Mr. Strange.