1983-12-17 Stadthalle, Borken, Germany
Notes
Sebastian Koch, Swiss fan club leader, wrote for his New Life fanzine (translated to English): "Most [fans] only had time for a concert on a Saturday and had therefore come to Borken. The concert was, as usual, absolutely amazing, the fans were almost hysterical, something the young people of the small town of Borken had of course never experienced before. In the front rows, however, there were a few somewhat premature fans who felt incredibly confident, seemingly 8- to 10-year-old girls. Incredibly brave! During 'Two Minute Warning', however, there was a small glitch: the hall lights went on. Many people may not have even noticed. Dave, however, cursed quietly to himself and looked helplessly at the technicians, who just shrugged their shoulders. After a tense minute, the lights went out again and the party could continue. Because the hall was not at full capacity (but sold out), in contrast to the other concerts, even those in the front rows could really let off steam and dance until they dropped throughout the whole gig. In short: it was more than a party and not only fan club member Sabrina, who collapsed into my arms at the end, danced herself completely exhausted at this concert! During 'Just Can't Get Enough', the second encore, Alan made a small mistake, but almost nobody noticed. During the transition from the single to the maxi version, he missed his cue and only the rhythm machine and Dave's voice could be heard. Alan was startled at first, but then had to laugh because Martin and Fletch grinned throughout the whole performance and exchanged meaningful glances. During the third encore, 'Boys Say Go', Dave was particularly happy despite the problems with the hall lighting. He pulled a few fans, who had brought a huge Depeche banner with them, onto the stage. They were of course going crazy with joy, and together with Dave they sang and danced as hard as they could during the last encore. The fans thanked Depeche for this friendly gesture with thunderous, never-ending applause. A fourth encore would have been justified in Borken! After the concert it was not so easy to get backstage. Depeche and especially Jon Botting, the tour manager, were in a bit of a dispute with the organizers. Gabi Meier from the Karsten Jahnke concert agency therefore only let Maren and me backstage. When we approached the Modes, we were not exactly greeted enthusiastically at first, the mood was subdued! But I immediately spoke to Alan: "What did you do with 'Just can't get enough'?" Alan got a lot of laughter from everyone, buried his face in his hands and said he was so ashamed and stuck his tongue out at me cheekily - the tension was over, Depeche Mode was ready for more jokes. [...]"
Sense was the support act.
