1981-09-26 Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Source 2
Notes
This is a relatively significant upgrade to the earliest available concert video of Depeche Mode. This version is sourced from a low-generation Betamax copy which DM Live purchased from OneLittleFonzie. The tape was then transferred with great equipment and care by the excellent TravisBickle1963. After significant delays, this project was finally published in June of 2026.
Video quality is overall good, certainly watchable. There is a slightly distracting "flag" effect at the top left of the video, and there's a fair amount of chroma noise throughout. There are time-base errors coinciding with the bass from the room, which is rather interesting from a technical standpoint. The camera audio is also rather noisy and buzzy, but still enjoyable, and the crowd is fortunately respectfully quiet around the taper.
To improve the experience, DM Live seamlessly patched in audio of the songs which were broadcast on VPRO FM Radio, sourced from a master cassette recording taped by the late fredheadset. These tracks are: Photographic, New Life, Ice Machine, Big Muff (which is unfortunately nearly completely missing on this video), I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead, Just Can't Get Enough, and What's Your Name?. This FM recording had a prominent mains hum at 50hz which was eliminated using iZotope RX 10 De-hum, and the FM pilot tone around 19khz was also notched out. If you prefer the original audio track without these radio tracks patched in, the original audio is available as a separate audio track in the downloadable version.
Two gaps in the video were patched using an inferior quality DVD copy for the sake of completeness. The first patch is the end of Boys Say Go! through the second verse of What's Your Name? where the quality was significantly degraded, probably due to age of the source Betamax tape. The second patch consists of the last 45 seconds of Dreaming Of Me which are unfortunately missing on this Betamax tape copy. Even the source used for the patch is not quite complete, since it ends cold right after Dave's final "me" which ends the song.
No further editing was done to the video: no AI cleanup or upscaling, no cropping, no color-correction, and no de-interlacing. The YouTube version was upscaled to 4K resolution and de-interlaced to help prevent the quality from being shredded by YouTube's re-encoding, but was not "AI-enhanced".
Big Muff is almost completely absent from all available copies of this video except for the first four seconds or so. It could be that the taper paused during the instrumental to take a break or conserve tape. While the full audio of Big Muff is available thanks to the radio broadcast, it was chosen to not be added here for the sake of continuity with the video.
It seems that the taper of this video was quite familiar with Depeche Mode's music, as they generally know when it is appropriate to pan and zoom. Perhaps they saw Depeche Mode when they first performed in The Netherlands a couple of months prior on July 25, 1981 at Zuiderpark?
In @danielozable's remaster of a prior version of this recording, a comment left by Hennie Vredeveldt in late 2024 stated:
This is from my private original betamax recirdong i made....with a sony camera......this is the vhs copy
Still have the original betam master tape......before and after the gig i had a meet and greet with the boys
They all did autographs on record covers that i still have today❤
DM Live, DanieL, OneLittleFonzie, and likely other fans have attempted to make contact with Hennie to obtain more information and with the intent to preserve the master tape. At the time of this publication, nobody has been able to make contact with Hennie. Hennie, if you are reading this, please email us at [email protected] to help preserve an even better copy of this wonderful piece of Depeche Mode history!
A scan of a handwritten set list sheet written by a Dutch music journalist who attended the concert is also included. Credit to Dennis Burmeister for the scan.
Thanks to all involved with acquiring, preserving, and quality checking this project: Hennie Vredeveldt (as the possible taper for his monumental efforts filming back then), OneLittleFonzie, TravisBickle1963, DanieL, FpmiP, Robo, Vince DOME, humanracer25, fredheadset (RIP), the fantastic individuals at the Domesday86 Discord, and anyone else I may have forgotten.
Further sources from this concert:
- Combined audio of the remastered FM broadcast and a low-generation Betamax video source's camera audio for the missing songs can be found at Source 1.
- The audience recording from the low-generation Betamax video can be found at Source 3.
- A slightly remastered version of the FM broadcast audio can be found at Source 4.
- The original file set of the FM broadcast recording shared back in 2008 can be found at Source 5.
Watch
Looking for a downloadable copy? Jump to the download links.
This recording is available to stream on YouTube. The YouTube version is upscaled to 4K resolution and de-interlaced to help prevent the quality from being shredded by YouTube's re-encoding but was not "AI-enhanced".
Track list
- Any Second Now
- Photographic ^
- Nodisco
- New Life ^
- Puppets
- Ice Machine ^
- Big Muff (cut - approx. 4 seconds of the beginning only) ^
- I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead ^
- Tora! Tora! Tora!
- Just Can't Get Enough ^
- Boys Say Go!
- What's Your Name? ^
- Television Set
- The Price Of Love
- Dreaming Of Me
- Total time: 47:18
- ^ indicates FM broadcast audio is used
Lineage
- possibly a Sony Betamax camera (unknown model) -> low-generation Betamax copy -> Sony SL-HF100 Betamax deck -> DataVideo TBC-3000 time base corrector -> BlackMagic Intensity Pro capture card -> VirtualDub (Ut lossless video codec / WAV 16/48) -> REAPER: merged the FM broadcast tracks -> StaxRip 2.50.4: remuxed with FLAC audio in MKV container
- Transfer: TravisBickle1963
- Taper (video): possibly Hennie Vredeveldt
- Taper (FM radio broadcast): fredheadset (RIP)
- Video specifications (Ut lossless version): Ut Video 50.1Mbps 720x576 25FPS PAL, interlaced
- Video specifications (H265 version): H265 15.3Mb/s 720x576 50FPS PAL (deinterlaced with QTGMC)
- Audio specifications: FLAC 16-bit 48khz stereo audio (2 audio tracks: FM Broadcast + camera audio [default] & original camera audio)
Download
- Download ZIP - 3.36GB - H265 576p / FLAC 16/48 (FM + camera audio & camera audio by itself) pick this one if you are unsure
- Download ZIP - 17.0GB - Ut lossless video codec 576i / FLAC 16/48 (FM + camera audio & camera audio by itself) LARGE FILE WARNING
