Black Celebration: Depeche Mode in Milan
“Relax, enjoy the ride” sings Dave Gahan: it's only the second song of the show, “Wagging tongue” but Goò performs one of his whirling dervish dances, one of those that would make a mere mortal dizzy. Not to him, one of the most charismatic frontmen of the last decades. At his side is Martin Gore: Depeche Mode return to Milan, after the show at San Siro last July: only this time they are in the arenas. After Turin last week, two dates at the Assago Forum.
The “Memento Mori” tour has been around for a year, it has exceeded 100 performances, it's a very well-oiled machine and it shows. Punctual start at 8.45pm with a cloth revealing the large “M” acting as a screen, atmospheric and dark start “My cosmos is mine”, but already at the third song we move on to the classics, “Walking in my shoes”. Gahan's voice takes a few songs to kick in, the band already spins perfectly straight away. Enjoy the ride.
Songs
Compared to Turin, only one variation in the setlist, “Before we drown” instead of “My favorite stranger”, but like last Saturday Gahan started singing “Happy birthday” to a fan
Few variations compared to this summer's show: a wonderful acoustic “Strangelove”, an equally beautiful “Black Celebration” placed at the end of the setlist, before the climax of “Stripped” and “Enjoy the silence” in which Gaham directs the audience like a orchestra in what is one of the greatest pop-rock songs, a common heritage: it is right that it is sung in chorus, before the usual and always beautiful instrumental coda.
And before the encores, with the thrilling sequence: “Just can't get enough”https://www.rockol.it/”Never let me down again”https://www.rockol.it/”Personal jesus” .
An evening that is yet another celebration of a great band. But give us a thousand more evenings like this: charisma, repertoire, entertainment, audience participation. It has everything there should be in a great concert, and even more
