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Review by Rob.

The kings of stadium gloom present another master class.

Listen, I have given this much careful thought and tried really hard to be fair and objective, but there is no doubt about it, Andy Fletcher is a fat fucker. This is apparent every time he steps from behind his futuristic keyboard set up tonight. Which thankfully isn't often. For the most part he is happy to stay behind his synth and do not much as usual. The main focus of Depeche Mode has always been the exuberant frontman Dave Gahan, and cross dressing alien type Martin Gore. The Mode's main songwriter excels tonight with a kind of butterfly in bondage outfit, and of course he is in black. Gahan opts for the usual waistcoat and for most of the show discards even this to give the females a bit of flesh to ogle. He looks in remarkable shape with no signs of his past troubles with various chemicals. The trio are augmented by a drummer and extra synth player but as we all know this is to play the parts Mr Fletcher can't quite master.

But enough of the fashion what about the music? Well there were a number of surprises tonight, chiefly how good the songs from the new album sound live. Recent single 'Precious', a very glam rock 'John the Revelator' and opener 'A Pain That i'm Used to' all sit easily in the set with the older stuff. The second surprise is how little keyboard work Martin Gore does, preferring to play guitar for the most part tonight. His solo spot starts badly with one of the poorer songs of the night, but he redeems himself with a magnificent 'Home' one of my favourite Mode songs. The older songs are well chosen, concentrating on the big hit singles from the latter half of the band's career. 'A Question of Time', 'Policy of Truth', 'I Feel You' and 'Walking in my Shoes' are all top notch. The stage show is amazing, lots of video and subtle lighting along with a futuristic (what else?) stage build with a giant orb like structure which flashes bits of eclectic text to accompany the songs. A good stage show compliments the songs rather than distracts from them and its definitely the former here.

The latter half of the main set is where it gets dirty with a colossal 'Behind the wheel' and 'World in my Eyes', followed by a mass sing along to 'Personal Jesus' and the set closes with one of the finest singles of all time 'Enjoy the Silence'. The biggest surprise of the night is the choice of songs for the encores. Firstly Gore takes us back to 1985 for a solo run through 'Shake the Disease', then amazingly they go even further back to 1981 and 'Just can't get Enough'. It seems strange to hear some electronic pop amongst the heavy black stuff, but it works well. It is also the only Vince Clarke song aired tonight. They stay with the early stuff to play 'Everything Counts' and another sing along ensues. The high quality control continues with 'Never let me Down' another of my faves, and the set finishes with Gore and Gahan alone at the front of the ramp extending into the audience to sing a very emotional 'Goodnight Lovers'. Its a stunning end to a great show. Along with U2 and REM, Depeche Mode know how to give great stadium. Put them in a more intimate arena (if the M.E.N Arena can be called such) and they are colossal. A little bit like Andy Fletcher in fact.

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