2001-08-28 Song Festival Grounds, Tallinn, Estonia

Notes

Allegedly, a keyboard crashed during Dream On. Martin had guitar problems during Never Let Me Down Again and hit the wrong note during I Feel Loved.

Here are the diary entries from DepecheMode.com:

• Monday, August 27:

Yeah, we have arrived safely into beautiful Tallinn, Estonia. Our flight was okay - I got upgraded because I was traveling with Martin, so that was nice. We both had trouble sleeping the majority of the flight from LAX to London, yet when we arrived into London Heathrow, we had a few hours before our flight to Tallinn, so we all got hotel rooms at the airport and tried to get a few hours of sleep before being forced back into the confines of a commercial plane.

After about 3-4 hours of sleep, Martin and I met Darrell, Ed and David, as well as our entire DM crew at Estonian Air. Yes, the airline was really called Estonian Air. Martin seemed to get a kick out of that for quite a while!

After a 3 hour flight, we made it into Tallinn. In order for Martin and I not to feel too jet lagged and out of it, we decided to hang out for a bit at the hotel bar with the crew to stay up until at least midnight. We did that and then crashed pretty easily. Everyone kept telling me that I would wake up a few times in the early morning, but for some reason, I slept the entire night through until my alarm call at 9:30 AM. That made me VERY happy.

Today Martin, Darrell and I walked around Tallinn in the morning and hit up a few record shops. Then, at 1:00 PM, David did a mini press conference for all of the media in Estonia. The turn out was nice and I was told we had ALL of the largest TVs there, but then again, it is Estonia - not very big!

Martin, Darrell and I again went out after the press conference which was not the smartest thing because we were then followed around town our entire walk. One woman was filming us while another few were snapping away. We knew we had enough when a nearby car parked near us and starting blasting "Somebody." It was quite amusing at the time, but a bit freaky!

Then at 3:30 PM today, David and Martin went down to the middle of Tallinn and met the mayor at a beautiful church from the 16th century. They were given the honor of getting the keys to the city - one of the first bands EVER in Tallinn to do so. The mayor was a very friendly man and greeted us as we got out of the car. Then, he told us the story of the church and how he was hoping to make Estonia the capitol of the entertainment world. Something, he said, that they have been working very hard on. He then told David and Martin that he wanted them to ring the bells at the top of the bell tower in this church. As we began our way up the stairs, he kept saying that we were almost there and that it was only 50 meters.

Let me tell you, it was MUCH more than that and we all had to stop a few times before FINALLY getting to the top. All of us, including about 15 photographers climbed up this narrow stairway made of cobblestones, many falling apart.

As we got towards the top, he then asked Martin and David to come out to the balcony and look at the amazing view. The view indeed was amazing, but the fact that the ledge on the balcony was sloped, and that the railing holding you in had a few screws loose did not make any of us feel the most comfortable. Martin would not go out very far on that ledge and kept a hand inside the entire time. Needless to say, he felt a bit nervous up there.

Then we went back inside and Martin and Dave each rang a bell, a very memorable experience for the both of them.

Each of them felt very honored to be given the keys to the city and to have been able to see this beautiful church and ring the sacred bells. It was truly a day that cannot be repeated.

• Tuesday, August 28:

Show day - YES! I feel like we have not had a show in SO long. The bad news is that is it raining like crazy - and the venue is outside. The promoter has told us that almost always, for every show it will rain.

Last night we - David, Martin, Christian, Darrell, Ed and I went out to a great Italian restaurant with the Promoters - Peeter, Ingrid and Helen. They then told us about the Depeche Mode bar, a place the guys had never heard of. Some loyal fans turned this place into basically a Depeche Mode shrine. We were told that the week before they had 3 different parties preparing for the show, each with different themes. They also had just renovated the place.

So after dinner, Martin, Christian and I decided to go see what this place was about. As we walked in and down the stairs, we began hearing applause. I am sure that these people were shocked to see one of their idols walking into their place and I am sure they NEVER thought this day would come.

As we walked in and the applause stopped, people began flashing pictures left and right. Darrell stepped in and asked everyone to put their cameras away and just hang out and enjoy themselves. As we sat there, we looked around the room at all of the things. There was a TV on one side playing various Depeche Mode videos as well as clips from interviews, etc. Then of course, over the speakers was constant Depeche Mode music. It was a bit funny sitting there with Martin Gore and watching him on TV as well as listening to him sing, but at the same time, I was so happy that these die hard fans were able to say they hung out with him.

It was odd when we first sat down because there were not too many people there, and those they were there basically turned their chair towards where we were sitting and stared at Martin the ENTIRE time. As the night went on, it began to get a bit more crowded which helped the scene out a bit.

At about 11:00 PM, Fletch had arrived in from London and joined us there as well. He too received a standing ovation and seemed to enjoy himself once inside.

I am really glad that we decided to go to that bar because I know that it made those that work so hard on it very happy.

• Wednesday, August 29:

Last night's show in Tallinn went over well too. It had rained all day, and even rained during soundcheck, but luckily, as the concert began, it stayed very clear. It is so nice when those things work out like that.

After the show, we had a party at a club called Hollywood which the promoter set up for us. Overall, we all had a lot of fun and it was a great way to spend our celebration of our first date of the European leg. All of the people at FBI (promoter of the Baltic States) have been great to us - Peeter, Ingrid and Helen have everything SO darn organized that it makes everyone's life that much easier.

Author: Nichelle

BrainStorm was the support act.

Set list

1. Easy Tiger - Dream On (Intro)
2. The Dead Of Night
3. The Sweetest Condition
4. Halo
5. Walking In My Shoes
6. Dream On
7. When The Body Speaks
8. Waiting For The Night
9. Surrender (*)
10. Breathe (*)
11. Freelove
12. Enjoy The Silence
13. I Feel You
14. In Your Room
15. It's No Good
16. I Feel Loved
17. Personal Jesus
18. Home (*)
19. Clean
20. Black Celebration
21. Never Let Me Down Again

Sources

• Source 1 is a good audience recording.