1981-10-16 Christ's School, Richmond, England, UK

Notes

This concert is not listed in the official tour dates list. Fan Michael Rose a.k.a. 'Marblehead Johnson' has been the sole discoverer and investigator of information regarding this concert. He has presented his findings on HOME in 2010 and in the Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos Facebook group in 2013. Based on all evidence, he reckons that this concert most likely happened on October 16th.

In 2010, Michael Rose heard a caller on Radio BBC London talk about Depeche Mode performing at her school in 1981. Her details and the details in Jonathan Miller's 'Stripped' matched: "Both he and the caller above recall that a teacher [Mr Tony Arnold] at the school took photographs, and that they were on display in the school. He even managed to get one of them from the teacher when he left school in 1985", says Michael. This made Michael look up the school on Friendsunited.com, and he indeed sees former pupils talk of this gig, along with two photos, shot by the teacher as well as by someone named Julie Shopland, uploaded by former pupil Andrew Winter. Winter: "I am sure it was October as I'd only just joined the school in the September and Just Can't Get Enough was in the charts. I spoke to Fletch back in 2004 about this gig and he remembers the train breaking down at Earls Court. I'm sure my headmaster, Mr Baker, introduced them."

Michael Rose: "It was organised by a teacher at the school, Mr Paul Warburton. He was able to manage this because his sister, Clare Warburton, knew Martin Gore and was a friend of Anne Swindell [Martin Gore's first girlfriend]. Teacher Mr Tony Arnold sent the photos to the Melody Maker, and although they didn't print any, they did mention the gig in their issue the following week: "Do you want Depeche Mode to play at your next school concert? All you've got to do is emulate the example of Paul Warburton, teacher at Christ's School in Richmond, whose sister knows one of the band. The Mode played at the school's last charity function for nothing, to raise money for the school fund: £500 in all."

Journalist Thore Soneson also attended this performance for a report for issue #30 of Swedish magazine Schlager, writing (translated):

The four electropops will meet a part of their audience which is the largest they've seen. Kids between 10 and 15 years old, too young to go to clubs, a Top-Of-The-Pops audience that has now has a live stage for a TV. Filled with 600 school uniform-clad kids cheering on four guys in big suits on stage. The most daring ones tie their schooltie around their head like a headband, the others stand in groups according to age and class and listen wide-eyed. [...] After playing 'New life' as an extra track, the hall lights up and the adventure is over. Singer Dave Gahan says hello and the three synth operators Vince Clark, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher head down to a dressing room. A lone tape player is left with the group's rhythm tape spinning. In the dressing room, the four mods wait politely for the 200 pieces of paper, covers and torn pages of school books they will sign autographs on. Dave says: "We played a half-bad game. It was out of tune and I sang it wrong. But everyone seemed to like it, so it doesn't matter. This is the first time we play at a school, it feels fun, although it is difficult to feel the right atmosphere in the middle of the day. It was a bit slow."

In April 1982, three pupils who worked for the school's magazine "Black & Gold" interviewed Martin Gore in Basildon, and Martin said: "All I can remember [of this gig is] seeing lots of kids who looked really small, jumping up and down as if they couldn't dance properly."