Depeche Mode has revealed that singer Dave Gahan successfully underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his bladder and the band’s Tour of the Universe will resume on June 8th. Gahan was rushed to the hospital before a concert in Athens, Greece on May 12th, after suffering a severe bout of gastroenteritis. While the frontman was in the hospital, further tests revealed what is described as a “low-grade malignant tumor,” according to a new statement on the band’s Web site. Doctors have ordered Gahan to take a break until June 8th, so several more concerts on the Depeche Mode tour… Read more »
With the group’s promotional efforts surrounding its latest album, Exciter, winding down, Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore and Dave Gahan will both use 2002 in part to work on solo albums. The project by guitarist/keyboardist Gore will be an all-covers album, while vocalist Gahan will concentrate on original material. Gore will begin in earnest on his album this week. When he is to complete it, though, remains an unknown. “Because the band’s not doing too much I’ve decided to make a covers record, which means I don’t have to write. It’s just a question of choosing the right songs,” he said.… Read more »
A Depeche Mode performance filmed last year at the Palais Omnisports in Paris will be aired as a two-hour pay per view concert starting March 8th. One Night in Paris, The Exciter Tour will be available through iN Demand (8 p.m. ET), TVN, Echostar and DirecTV (all 9 p.m.) through April 9th. The concert film, culled from thirteen cameras, was directed by photographer Anton Corbijn, who received a Grammy nomination for directing the band’s 1994 concert film, Devotional. “As far as performing goes, I enjoyed this tour more than any other before,” frontman Dave Gahan said. “I felt it was… Read more »
British band Depeche Mode said on Thursday the September 11 suicide hijack attacks in the United States had hardly affected European musicians and concert-goers. He contrasted this to the U.S. situation, where the music industry had slowed down. Andy Fletcher, keyboardist in the technopop band that is still going after 22 years, said Europeans had had more experience of “terrorist attacks” than Americans and as a result were able to get on with their lives more quickly. “A lot of American bands and acts have canceled because they are not really used to terrorism in their own country,” Fletcher said… Read more »
Why do rock stars have to get old? That’s all I kept thinking Wednesday night (8/15), watching Dave Gahan try to twirl up a storm onstage as Depeche Mode brought the Exciter tour to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Gahan is game, strutting around stage but sliding up his mic stand, he looks more like a middle-aged stripper, and Martin Gore’s all energy, moving to the music but that guitar looks way too big for his tiny frame. And Andy Fletcher … well, Andy Fletcher’s doing nothing, but it’s cool ’cause its Depeche Mode, right? The answer is a… Read more »
Sonic Foundry Inc. announced its partnership with Reprise Records to create and host the Depeche Mode “Exciter” Remix contest at Sonic Foundry’s ACIDplanet.com website. Two tracks from Depeche Mode’s latest release, “Exciter,” will be available on June 18 for remixing at ACIDplanet (www.acidplanet.com). The first single, “Dream On,” is already a staple of playlists across the country. The second single, “I Feel Loved,” will be going to radio soon. Together, these tracks create a new level of experience for remixers: two songs simultaneously available from a major act, with loops cut direct from the master tapes. Participants in the contest… Read more »
Depeche Mode, the influential British technopop band that has flourished for two decades, kicked off a five-month world tour in Quebec City Monday night, promoting its new songs in an effort to leave behind its 1980s hits and its years of rock ‘n’ roll excess. The two-hour show, which will tour 24 countries, focused on Depeche Mode’s new album “Exciter,” offering a smoother sound that returns to the band’s roots of pop music with romantic lyrics and electronic melodies. The show was meant to capture the imagination of a new generation of fans, not necessarily the die-hard 1980s supporters. Solid,… Read more »
Depeche Mode, the influential British technopop band that flourished in the 1980s, kicks off a five-month tour in Canada this week with a new album and what one founding member said is a hard-earned feeling of serenity. “It is the first time for a long, long time, in about 15 years probably, that all three members of Depeche Mode are happy and stable in their private and working lives,” keyboardist Andrew Fletcher, 39, told Reuters in an interview. “It is enjoyable to be in Depeche Mode at the moment, and I would not have said that five years ago.” Fletcher,… Read more »
Sulky Depeche Mode fans finally have something to smile about – the seminal synth-pop trio are launching a North American tour beginning June 15. The band – singer Dave Gahan and keyboardists Andrew Fletcher and Martin Gore – will embark on its first road trip in more than three years to support May’s Exciter, kicking things off in Montreal and winding through the United States before wrapping up August 14 in Los Angeles. Produced by Mark Bell, best known for his work on Bj—rk’s Homogenic (1997) and Selmasongs (2000), Exciter is the band’s first studio album since 1997’s Ultra. “Dream… Read more »
All 29 minutes and eight songs of the Neon Trees’ debut mix up the decades, combining for a fast-paced dance party reminiscent of The Strokes and Depeche Mode.
