1982-01-23 The Ritz, New York, NY, USA
Notes
Martin Gore recalled in the summer 1985 edition of a Star Hits special that this gig was "sold out with people being turned away".
Review of this concert by the New York Times (author unknown):
MECHANICAL, heavily synthesized pop music has become such a commonplace that the American debut last week end at the Ritz of Depeche Mode, a young English answer to Kraftwerk, was less than overwhelming. Consisting of four young men, three synthesizers and a tape recorder playing prerecorded rhythm tracks, Depeche Mode makes gloomy merry-go-round music with a danceable beat.
Such precisely made sound, especially when played at a high volume, has a definite novelty appeal. But at Saturday's show that appeal quickly wore thin once it became clear that the group was content simply to repeat the same thudding formula over and over. Depeche Mode's melodies amount to little more than mournful chants, intoned by the lead singer, Dave Gahan, in a pseudo-funeral drone.
As Giorgio Moroder, Abba, Gary Numan, and Kraftwerk have all demonstrated, synthesized pop has real expressive possibilities. On Saturday, Depeche Mode offered only a new flavor of bubblegum.
Dizzy and the Romilars was the support act.
Set list
The set list below is an inference based on the set list of concerts later on in the 1982 See You Tour. It may be that the first few concerts with Alan Wilder in January 1982 were shorter concerts like 1982-02-10 BBC Paris Studio, London, England, UK. It is also questionable whether The Meaning Of Love was performed this early.
