Strangely on time. Both the opening band and Depeche Mode are on stage at nine, and they immediately drive the fans crazy. Indeed, there's no need to warm them up; the applause and shouts will be constant throughout the evening. Perhaps they could have been more sustained, but still worthy of constituting the upcoming live DVD (initially it was supposed to be filmed in Barcelona).

The Italian forum dedicated to the band, 013, had organized the distribution of red balloons in the parterre to wave during the first song, and the effect was quite successful. The concert starts, after the intro, with the new and latest single taken from “Playing The Angel”: “A Pain That I’m Used To.” From the latest album, another five songs will be performed during the evening, but obviously the main highlights are the band's classics, namely "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy The Silence," "Never Let Me Down Again," performed during the second encore, and "Everything Counts," perhaps to recall their concert peak in Pasadena '88. Particularly moving were "Shake The Disease," "Home," sung by Martin Gore who for a few minutes steals the stage from singer Dave Gahan, and the closing, "Goodnight Lovers," with the audience lost in the singers' absorbed eyes, whose affinity would move even an atheist.

Loading comments  slowly