1998-12-12 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Notes

Many tracks were reworked as acoustic versions, so this recording is a must-have. Enjoy The Silence is an acoustic rendition; listen to the sample below. Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins joins to sing lead vocals and play guitar during Never Let Me Down Again; The Smashing Pumpkins had covered the song on the For The Masses tribute album.

Here is the diary entry by "BRAT":

A special night. DM occupied the headlining spot of the 9th Annual KROQ 'Almost' Acoustic Christmas show. The crowd was treated to an edited down version of the "Singles Tour" set list, which included special "acoustic" versions of Sister Of Night (with Martin singing), A Question Of Lust and Enjoy The Silence. During Enjoy The Silence, the crowd took over singing the chorus when David stopped singing, without any delay. Very nice. The finishing touch of the hour-plus performance was the encore - Never Let Me Down Again, with guest guitar and vocals by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins.

After the show, the backstage area was packed! A large group of people trying to cram their way into the area where Depeche Mode was, including Anton Corbijn, Ben Stiller, members of Hole, Billy Corgan and a lot of KROQ employees and "label" people.

Other acts besides Depeche Mode and Billy Corgan this night were: Garbage, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Goo Goo Dolls, Cake, Everlast, Semisonic, and Soul Coughing. Elijah Wood was in attendance.

Listen to an interview with Dave Gahan before this concert here.

Set list

1. Barrel Of A Gun
2. Policy Of Truth
3. It's No Good
4. Walking In My Shoes
5. Sister Of Night (*)
6. A Question Of Lust (*)
7. Enjoy The Silence
8. In Your Room
9. Behind The Wheel
10. Personal Jesus
11. Never Let Me Down Again (With Billy Corgan)

Sources

• Source 1 is a very good soundboard recording sourced from a silver CD bootleg.
• Source 2 is a very good FM broadcast recording. There is very little dynamic range compared to Source 1.