Depeche Mode concert in Sofia

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Wow!!!
It was grand, really amazing.... the boys can sing (live), that's for sure!

Cameras weren't allowed in, sadly, so no photos. (there were some who'd snuck cameras in, but generally they were the tiny ones you can hide in your crotch)

For those really keen, check out these links for the pics:
http://netinfo.bg/photo/depechemodeinsofia/ &
http://moonchild.decart.bg/DM/

Sooooooooo.......... we had to wait for hours. We arrived at 7.00pm, I was with Emma (best friend from primary school) and a couple of her friends. We bumped into Maria (my other best friend from primary school), she was with her own gang of people somewhere else.
They were playing recorded music till about 8.30, lots of Bjork, PJ Harvey (the song that i like), a bit of this and that... track from Kruder & Dorfmeister CD, then the warm up band got started. The warm up band was an old-school Bulgarian 'new wave' band from the 80's called New Generation. They were alright, I wasn't familiar with their songs but the others seemed to know the lyrics to many songs.
Then there was another long break, they were playing electronic stuff over the speakers... very cool, hard and boppy... which was making me crazy with built up energy. Depeche didn't start till late and played till about 11.00pm.

We had the cheap-o tickets in the main arena (was a football stadium), on the grass. Not so good for short people like me, I didn't get to see much. We hung out pretty far back, the crew didn't want to push and shove through the crowd, plus the front section of the arena was fenced off for more expensive tickets so it wouldn't have made that much difference to be at the front, I don't think. I got very few glimpses of the stage, the raised hands were in the way, and Depeche looked like tiny ants in black. I got to see them on the screens, of course.
There was lots of hands in the air action, quite contageous and impressive to watch... lots and lots of hands. Especially the last few tracks, the crowd seemed to move like an ocean. I think Depeche got a kick out of it. They said it was 'the most amazing crowd,...on this tour', (i wonder if they say that at every gig)... but we had 38,000 people at the stadium, the biggest event in BG ever i think. (sad but true!)

The stage looked amazing (i heard it's their own and that only U2 and some other band have such a stage). There were 4 projection screens in total. The lighting theme (with special effects)changed for every song and they used parts of old clips, as well as the projections of themselves performing. It looked very very cool.

As specifically requested by a friend of mine, here are the specifics
Bulgaria Set, the published list - courtesy of Stu:

> Intro
> A Pain That I'm Used To (sound was very very bad for the first 3 songs, major sound problems)
> A Question Of Time
> Suffer Well, (very nice performance, but the sound was still really bad. Pity as this is a bit of a favorite)
> Precious, (they fixed the sound problem, it was fine from here on)
> Walking In My Shoes,
(crowd went crazy... what a cool song; i think i should invest in some of their older albums)
> Stripped
> Home, (i was wrapped they chose this, ha!)
> It Doesn't Matter Two
> In Your Room
> Nothing's Impossible, (loved this, very powerful song & performance... i got goosebumps)
> John The Revelator, (i still dont' like this one much)
> I Feel You
> Behind The Wheel, (crowd went crazy)
> World In My Eyes, (crowd went crazy. a good old favorite)
> Personal Jesus, (Of course the crowd went ballistic, it was amazing, ocean of hands..."reach out and touch me")
> Enjoy The Silence, (crowd still going ballistic),
Improvised encore at the end, went for aaaaaaaaaaaages.
They were going to end the concert here, lights went out. Crowd wouldn't let up, they came back.
> Shake The Disease
> Photographic (it's the First song they ever recorded)
> Never Let Me Down Again, (great song, crowd loved it and sand along)

Crowd still wouldnt' let up, but they didn't come back again. A sad moment.

Satisfied little me, and grinning.

P.S. They didn't play 'The Darkest Star' off the new album, why? Disappointing. I thought the album is pretty much titled around this song. Any opinions?

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Comments

[Dana]

Been around for a while
I'm just shocked... There are people like me who cannot go to a DM concert driving around Europe or US like some others. I wish I could because I've been into DM music for 16 years. BUT - if you go to a concert and you do not know a material from as early as 1993. That is totally shocking for me. You do not know A Question of Time??? You don't know Never Let Me Down Again??????????????????? "The blonde guy" ????????????????? PHOTOGRAPHIC????????? Photographic is NOT a song for die-hard fans. It is a must-know if you go to a concert.

[Stu]

To the Traveller in Motion
As requested. The Set played in Sofia by Depeche Mode > Intro > A Pain That I'm Used To > A Question Of Time > Suffer Well > Precious > Walking In My Shoes > Stripped > Home > It Doesn't Matter Two > In Your Room > Nothing's Impossible > John The Revelator > I Feel You > Behind The Wheel > World In My Eyes > Personal Jesus > Enjoy The Silence encore > Shake The Disease > Photographic > Never Let Me Down Again

[ZoeMal]

I know!!
I know, it's shocking that I do not know the old DM material... I admitted to this, knowing very well that someone out there would find it shocking. I find it shocking too, because I do in fact own many of their newer albums and have been listening to them religeously for years. Actually, I'd listened to these older albums in a music store once, but hadn't liked many of the songs, so didn't make the purchase. I regret not having given them a chance, now that I couldn't sing to these songs at the concert.

[Stuart]

Introduction to DM
Probably my fault she hasn't heard a lot of the earlier stuff. I introduced her to certain albums of DM only. Music as we know comes down to taste and often age. I first got into DM when Just can't get Enough was released. That song annoys me and has dated over time. I found that a lot of tracks prior to Violator have dated substantially over time. Perhaps we are post-Violator Depeche Mode fans. Tho the one exception to that rule is People are People. (Love it!)