Haley was a “bad girl” (well, as “bad” as a girl from Atherton, CA who’s attending a Jewish summer camp, on the Oregon Coast, can be), but she had incontrovertibly marvelous taste in music, for a thirteen year old. She turned me on to all sorts of groups and bands that I would come to categorize as New Wave and Synthpop; the most significant of which, was Depeche Mode. That year (my eleventh) the song “Everything Counts” earned a permanent spot, on the soundtrack of my life. Later, in New Orleans, as freshmen in college, my friend Tina and I would play the song “Blasphemous Rumors” on jukeboxes, up and down St. Charles Avenue, and dance ourselves silly.

This weekend, Depeche Mode performed in Las Vegas, and I’m delighted to say that they were magnificent. The sonic descendants of Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd, the band is perhaps best described as the Rolling Stones of Synth-Rock, because 30-some years later, they are still selling-out stadiums and arenas around the world. Like Seinfeld’s infamous ‘Rochelle, Rochelle’ they’ve performed everywhere from Milan to Minsk – not to mention Montreal, Madrid, Manchester, Manheim, Montpellier, Lyon, Lisbon, Leipzig, Łódź, London, and Las Vegas – (all as part of their current Delta Machine Tour).

The band’s members, Dave Gahan (lead singer), Martin Gore (songwriter, guitars, vocals, keyboards), and Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher (keyboards) , along with touring members Peter Gordeno (keyboards, backing vocals), and Christian Eigner (drums) sound as good as they ever have, and are so obviously enjoying themselves on stage, that the audiences have no choice but to get out of their seats with the first opening salvo, and stay up, dancing, until the final overhand wave of “Never Let Me Down Again”.

At the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Resort Casino, Gahan combined the strut and swagger of the young Mick Jagger, with the hypnotic showmanship of the late, great Freddie Mercury – and the crowd loved every minute of it. During Gore’s solos (usually the ballads), the crowd was completely under his sway. But it’s when the two – friends and bandmates since their teens – played off each other, that the crowds absolutely lost their minds.

Rumors (blasphemous and otherwise) allege that the band is gonna swing back through the US, next summer. If that happens, and Depeche Mode plays Las Vegas, again; I know where I’ll be, that night. And with any luck, they’ll play one of my two favorite songs. And even if they don’t – well, I’ll just dance my ass off to “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Enjoy the Silence” along with everyone else, losing my mind to one of the most influential and enduring bands of the electronic era.

Depeche Mode
Delta Machine Tour 2013/14
Click HERE for info

Get into it!