Category:Notable concerts

This page lists concerts which were notable for some reason, for example, an extra or unexpected encore track, different arrangements of songs, a significant mistake or equipment failure, etc. This list is not necessarily comprehensive.

Notable concerts

1980-03-xx Woodlands School, Basildon, Essex, England, UK

• Composition Of Sound's first formal public performance.
• Although it wasn't a professional concert, it was a significant departure from their previous informal performances at each other's houses.

1980-06-14 Nicholas School, Basildon, England, UK

• First concert with Dave Gahan in the line-up.

1980-09-24 Bridge House, London, England, UK

• First concert played under the name Depeche Mode.
• Their first performance at the Bridge House venue.

1980-10-30 Bridge House, London, England, UK

• This date has the earliest circulating recording of Depeche Mode.

1980-11-14 Technical College, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England, UK

• This concert has the second of two recordings currently circulating from the 1980 Tour.
• The only circulating recording of the song "Addiction".

1981-06-11 Richard Skinner Session, BBC Radio 1, London, England, UK

• The concert with the earliest circulating soundboard recording.

1981-07-25 Zuiderpark, The Hague, The Netherlands

• Their first show outside the UK.

1981-08-02 Jenkinsons, Brighton, England, UK

• This date has a complete recording of the rarely played "metallic" intro which sounds similar to a slowed-down version of "Shout".
• "Boys Say Go!" was played twice.

1981-12-03 Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, England, UK

• This was Vince Clarke's last concert with Depeche Mode.

1982-01-20 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England, UK

• The first concert of the 1982 See You Tour.
• The first show with Alan Wilder in the line-up.

1982-01-22 The Ritz, New York, NY, USA

• Their first live performance in the United States.

1982-02-27 Bridge House, London, England, UK

• This was a secret and very successful gig played under the alias "Modepeche" in order to support the struggling Bridge House venue; despite the profitable concert, the venue closed later that year.

1982-03-30 Rainbow Club, Oberkorn, Luxembourg

• "Oberkorn (It's A Small Town)" was named after this legendary show.

1983-09-20 Tiffany's, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

• A brief snippet of the "Work Hard" backing track is heard after "Just Can't Get Enough". The song was rehearsed and was on at least one written set list (see the 1983-10-06 London page for an example), but there are no recordings of the song's live performance currently available.

1984-11-17 Olympen, Lund, Sweden

• This concert had backing tape issues and many songs were also missing samples.

1984-12-11 Sporthalle, Böblingen, Germany

• A tear gas bomb was thrown during "See You" and the concert was cut short.

1985-04-12 Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Japan

• "It Doesn't Matter" was performed acoustically with piano backing. It could be considered the first acoustic performance by Depeche Mode. You can listen to the entire track on that page.

1985-07-23 Volan Stadium, Budapest, Hungary

• First show behind the iron curtain. After the last song, Happy Birthday was sung for Martin who turned 24 that day.

1986-03-31 New Conference Centre, Brighton, England, UK

• One of only two dates where "Here Is The House" was performed as the full-album version; the entire track is available to listen on the song's page.

1986-08-16 Valbyparken, Copenhagen, Denmark

• This was the final concert of the 1986 Black Celebration Tour.
• Martin sung "Somebody" (for the only time on this tour) rather than "It Doesn't Matter Two".

1988-03-07 Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, East-Berlin, East-Germany

• Their first show on the Eastern side of the Berlin Wall. The black market went crazy with people supposedly offering things like mopeds for a ticket.

1988-06-18 Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA, USA

• The last show of the 1987-1988 Music For The Masses Tour.
• It was released in 1989 as the band's first live-album and the feature film 101.

1990-07-21 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountainview, San Francisco, CA, USA

• The concert with the infamous lossy soundboard.

1993-05-25 Forest National Stadium, Brussels, Belgium

• This concert had the first and the only performance of "Something To Do" during the 1993 Devotional Tour, replacing "Fly On The Windscreen" in the setlist. It's also the first (since 1988) and last one to be performed to date.

1993-09-08 The Forum, Montreal, QC, Canada

• Dave lost his voice and Martin played a few more songs to end the show.

1993-10-08 Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA, USA

• Dave suffered from a heart attack near the end of the set and the concert was cut short.

1993-10-17 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, MO, USA

• This show ended abruptly after "One Caress". Live collector Last Violator mentioned the following:

I can confirm the set-list is wrong. I have a private video from that night, show stopped after Martin's performance of 'One Caress' and not because the taper got busted. Lights were switched on because for some reasons Dave couldn't make it.

1994-04-04 Olympia, São Paulo, Brazil

• The first show with Daryl Bamonte, who replaced Andrew Fletcher for the remaining dates of the tour.

1994-07-08 Deer Creek Music Centre, Indianapolis, IN, USA

• This was the last show on the 1994 Exotic Tour.

• The last concert with Alan Wilder as a member of Depeche Mode. He did, however, return for a one-off performance of "Somebody" at 2010-02-17 Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK's special show for charity group 'Teenage Cancer Trust' as a special guest.

1997-04-10 Adrenalin Village, London, England, UK

• The first of two "Ultra Parties". These were used to promote the release of their ninth album, Ultra.

1998-12-02 Idaho Center, Boise, ID, USA

• Depeche Mode played an extensive soundcheck before this concert, featuring songs performed in new acoustic formats in preparation for their upcoming gig at 1998-12-12 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• This concert marked the tour debut of "Behind The Wheel" for the 1998 Singles Tour.

1998-12-12 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA

• "Sister Of Night", "A Question Of Lust", and "Enjoy The Silence" were performed as stripped down "acoustic" versions for this concert.
• Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins joins to sing lead vocals and play guitar during "Never Let Me Down Again".

2001-11-05 Maimarkthalle, Mannheim, Germany

• This was the last concert of the 2001 Exciter Tour.
• Martin played "World Full Of Nothing" (the last one performance to date) as a surprise encore. He announced it in German, saying "we're going to play something that we have never played before. I think... but maybe you know better".

2005-12-11 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA, USA

• Many tracks were reworked as acoustic versions.
• The backing tape crashes during "I Feel You" and it takes a few minutes for the band to restart.
• This concert also had the first performance of "Shake The Disease" by Depeche Mode since 1990.

2006-05-10 Starlight Amphitheater, Kansas City, MO, USA

• After Martin Gore sang his two songs in the middle of the set, Dave Gahan didn't return to the stage; allegedly due to a stomach infection. The band started playing "In Your Room", but stopped it after a few seconds. Gore went on to play several more songs solo before the show was ended.

2009-07-24 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON, Canada

• This was the only time that "Fragile Tension" was played live.

2010-02-17 Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK

• This was a special show for charity group Teenage Cancer Trust.
• Notably, Alan Wilder joined Martin Gore on stage to perform "Somebody", marking his first performance with Depeche Mode since his departure.
• Some additional musicians played strings for "One Caress", "Home" and "Come Back".
• This was the last time "One Caress" was played live.

2013-04-26 The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA, USA

• This concert had the first live performance of "But Not Tonight".

2017-10-12 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2017-10-14 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2017-10-16 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2017-10-18 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, USA

• Depeche Mode played at the Hollywood Bowl for four nights in a single engagement, becoming the first act to do so in the century-old venue's history.

2018-07-25 Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany

• This marked the final concert featuring Andy Fletcher, who passed away on May 26th, 2022.
• Anton Corbijn was in attendance, and he filmed this concert for the live release 'Spirits In The Forest' / 'Live Spirits' on this date and the preceding night at the same venue.

2023-03-30 T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV, USA

• "Walking In My Shoes" swapped places with "It's No Good" on the setlist; this concert was the only occurrence of this change throughout the 2023-2024 Memento Mori Tour.
• After "Waiting For The Night", as Dave was walking back to the main stage, he saw a girl [named Addie] holding a sign. It said that it was her first concert ever and it was her 13th birthday. So Dave kneeled down and sang Happy Birthday to her