Anyone flying over London tonight is in for one hell of a sight. Itâs stadium gig season, with Harry Styles at Wembley, Arctic Monkeys playing north London’s Emirates Stadium, and weâre in the distant posh suburbia of Twickenham for Depeche Mode. Three acts in very different stages of their career, but thereâs a very present hunger for this particular mega-show.
The Essex synth pop legends are playing their first show in the capital in nearly six years, their first since losing Andy Fletcher, the renewed interest from the acclaimed 2023 album âMemento Moriâ and old favourite âNever Let Me Downâ blowing up streaming from its inclusion in The Last Of Us. Fans of all ages in varying degrees of goth are expecting a statement gig.
- READ MORE:Â Depeche Mode: âDo the best you can â you donât know if youâre going to be doing it againâ
Thereâs an almost false start feeling to opener âMy Cosmos Is Mineâ, its spacey ambitions not quite reaching the distant corners of the cavernous Twickenham Stadium, but the Gahan-penned Kraftwerk-indebted punchy pop gem of âWagging Tongueâ soon lifts the mood as the frontman (resplendent in silky black and electric blue waistcoat) endlessly twirls â part ballerina, part vampire, part sexed-up snooker player. His charisma is everything. The first bona fide classic comes next with âWalking In My Shoesâ, as Gahan takes a beat to show off his fetching white leather boots.

Coldplay might insert LEDs into your gums while Muse recreate War Of The Worlds with some balls-out bombast, but thereâs an effortless cool to Depeche Modeâs stadium approach. The Anton Corbijn stage design is sparse and simple, with just the giant M lettering of the new record and some tastefully simple visuals, leaving everything else down to the songs and personality with no pyro or pratting about.
They may be demigods to their leather-clad cult, but tonight Depeche Mode have never seemed so human. âThe beautiful angelic sound of Mr Martin Gore, in London town,â beams Gahan after his bandmate takes the lead for the artful musical theatre of âA Question Of Lustâ and âSoul With Meâ. The macabre spectre that haunts âMemento Moriâ emerges for the pop perfection of âGhosts Againâ, now received like an old favouriteâ, before the face of the dearly departed Fletch later lights up the screens for âWorld In My Eyesâ. âLetâs hear it London, Mr Andrew Fletcherâ, offers Gahan to a rapturous response.

The famously fractious tensions in the band seem to have given way to fraternity, never more heartwarming than during the pally wedding dancing between members that closes the monolithic âEnjoy The Silenceâ, or the tender hug they share after Gahan and Goreâs duet on âWaiting For The Nightâ.
What ultimately hits the hardest is the generosity of bangers and the graceful energy they arrive with. Look at that setlist: the bittersweet euphoria of âEverything Countsâ, the furious stomp of âI Feel Youâ, a gnarly outing of âWrongâ, the Jacques Lu Cont dancey swagger of âA Pain That Iâm Used Toâ, and that encore? âJust Can’t Get Enoughâ into âNever Let Me Down Againâ into âPersonal Jesusâ? Come on. Weâre in sexy goth heaven. You feel spoiled as an audience member, and weâd be lucky if this good feeling and compulsion of Depeche Modeâs current purple streak continues for years to come.
Depeche Mode played:
âMy Cosmos Is Mineâ
âWagging Tongueâ
âWalking in My Shoesâ
âIt’s No Goodâ
âSister of Nightâ
âIn Your Roomâ
âEverything Countsâ
âPreciousâ
âMy Favourite Strangerâ
âA Question of Lustâ
âSoul With Meâ (Acoustic)
âGhosts Againâ
âI Feel Youâ
âA Pain That I’m Used Toâ (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
âWorld in My Eyesâ
âWrongâ
âStrippedâ
âJohn the Revelatorâ
âEnjoy the Silenceâ
Encore:
âWaiting for the Nightâ
âJust Can’t Get Enoughâ
âNever Let Me Down Againâ
âPersonal Jesusâ
The post Depeche Mode live in London: tender and triumphant in Twickenham appeared first on NME.