December 14th 1987, Depeche Mode at Maple Leaf Gardens

You may not be able to tell, but the ticket in this picture is from the Depeche Mode show at Maple Leaf Gardens on December 14th 1987. The ink has faded considerably, but I can assure you that if you hold it at just the right angle under the light you can see the faint impression of the date and seating information. You'll just have to trust me on this one. And the fact that you can't read this ticket is one of the reasons I started writing this blog. 

When I was a kid and I first started going to see concerts, I decided to keep all of my ticket stubs and start a literal pile of concert tickets so I'd have something to remember all of the shows that I went to. It never occurred to me that I would ever forget any of those nights, any of those shows, any of those moments, I just wanted to keep a record, a souvenir of the experience, something physical that would connect me with a moment. And after a number of years that pile of concert tickets became rather large, which started me thinking about what those slips of paper meant. They were souvenirs, but upon reflection I realized they were something much more than that. These tickets helped to define me, had inspired and influenced the person that I had become.

So I started writing about some of those shows under the auspices that the concerts I was writing about were defining moments in my life, experiences that led me to become the person that I am today. I had this idea that the music that I loved had literally helped shaped who I am, and that seemed like an interesting thing for me to explore a little deeper. But as I started sorting through my collection of tickets in preparation for new posts for the blog, I realized that like this one, some of the tickets I had were starting to fade, perforations had ripped, and a handful of them seemed to be missing. 

Those physical changes made me start thinking harder about my memories of the shows they were for, and I realized that my memory wasn't as complete as I had thought it was. When I started thinking back about things there were shows where I couldn't remember who I went with, shows where I didn't remember the opening acts. There were even a few shows I had tickets for that I couldn't remember attending at all. 

So between the state of some of my tickets and the state of some of my memories, I was inspired to write more entries 'cause I didn't want to run the risk that any more tickets or memories would fade, adding them to the blog as I figured out a spin or an angle or a story to go with each one, each of them meant to give a little bit more insight into who I was, who I became, who I am. Then when the pandemic began and there were suddenly no longer any concerts to go to, I was inspired to write about these shows even more, not just to tell my own story, but also to fill the gap created by an absence of new concert experiences. I wanted to try and recapture some of the emotions and feelings that those shows inspired, and running parallel to that, I hoped that if I wrote about them and shared them with you, then maybe you would be reminded of those shows too, maybe you would reflect on them as well, and maybe you would make your own connections with your own experiences, and how the shows that you've seen have shaped your lives. I was a little worried that my writing skills weren't up to the task, but I thought I should at least try to connect with you, and so over the last twelve months that's what I've done. I'll leave it to you to tell me how successful I've been in my efforts.

So, with all that said, and with the hopes that we'll be seeing more shows happening in 2022 and I can use this blog to post about new shows that I go to and new concert experiences that I have, this is the last entry I'll be making for this year reflecting on past concerts. And given that the very first concert I ever went to was Depeche Mode with my friend Dave, it seems nicely circular to me that this last entry would be the story of when my friend Dave and I saw Depeche Mode in 1987 on the first leg of the Music for the Masses tour... 

***

I often think about the significance of moments, and whether we're ever really aware of what's happening at any given time. History gives us the opportunity to view everything contextually, to pick and choose all the things that matter, but how often do we recognize those moments as they're happening? I suppose it all depends on the kind of event, but when it comes to concerts I don't think that we're ever really able to recognize significance until after the fact. I mean, under the best circumstances if a concert is good you enjoy it, you leave with a smile on your face and a song in your heart. But sometimes you get the feeling that you're in the middle of something special, and I'd like to say that's how I felt when I saw Depeche Mode on the Music for the Masses tour.

In the spring of 1987 Lee Carter, radio host of the "Live from London" segment on CFNY, reported that a new single from Depeche Mode was coming out soon, and it was going to be called Strangeglove. And even though I didn't have any idea what a Strangeglove was, I had every faith that the song would be awesome. I mean, why wouldn't it be awesome?  With every release Depeche Mode had become more and more amazing, and after the juggernaut of sheer incredible awesome Awesomeness that is the Black Celebration album, well, surely this song was destined to be their best ever.  Even though I didn't have any idea what a Strangeglove was.

So when April came and I finally heard it, there was no question that it was Pretty Damned Awesome. And I was kind of relieved that it wasn't actually called Strangeglove. The song title was really  Strangelove and that made considerably more sense to me, even though I wasn't really any more clear about what Strangelove was either (I'll admit that almost thirty years on I'm still not sure what Strangelove is, but I'm willing to bet that it's better than a Strangeglove).  The song was an incredible piece of electronic music that continued the growth of Depeche Mode's sound, adding an immediate accessibility that made it sure to appeal to a wider market.  That's not to say that Depeche Mode were selling out, it was more a case of effectively tapping into the zeitgeist in a way that they hadn't quite been able to do until that point. It was the right single for that moment in time and it was pretty obvious that this would be the one that would make a difference in their careers.

Now I should qualify here that Strangelove isn't the be all and end all of the Depeche Mode catalog, there are tons of far better songs that were still to come in the years to follow (like Enjoy the Silence, In Your Room, Precious, Lilian, and a metric tonne of others), but at the time Strangelove was the beginning of a new era for the band, the start of the next phase in their career.  Their record company felt the same way, and Strangelove was their first simultaneous North American/European release. See, at the time, the European music market was normally a few months ahead of North America, with singles released almost a full quarter ahead of North American releases, but this time I guess everybody at the record label knew that something big was happening with this single. And of course they were right.

As is often the case, the release of a new single heralds the launch of a new album, and sure enough Strangelove was the advance single for an album called "Music for the Masses" that was set for release in the fall of 1987, and when it came out in September it ensured Depeche Mode's place as one of the most prominent bands of the time. While they had a decent sized following before, this was the album that solidified their fanbase and made them stars. With anthems like Never Let Me Down Again, Behind the Wheel, and the aforementioned Strangelove, Depeche Mode were at the top of their game, proving to the world that they were more than just a neat little synth band with cool hair and a taste for bondage-wear. They were destined to be stars!

Shortly after the album was released, the band announced the Music for the Masses tour, which included a date in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. And it seemed perfectly reasonable and obvious that I would go see them again, even though I had already seen them on the Black Celebration tour the year before. I know that lots of people have this idea that if they've already seen a band once they never have to see them again. And I guess in some cases that would be true. But in other cases it's sooooooo not true!!! And even though I hadn't had the chance to have seen anybody twice at that early point in my concert going life, I knew that I couldn't miss this new Depeche Mode tour, because IT WOULD BE DIFFERENT!!!! It might even BE BETTER!!! They would play songs that THEY HADN'T PLAYED BEFORE!!!! It would BE AWESOME!!!  THEY WOULD PLAY STRANGELOVE!!!!!!!

So I decided to see Depeche Mode again at Maple Leaf Gardens. Because I knew it was going to be something special. I went with my friend Dave, and given that he was the arbiter of all awesome musical things at the time, Dave also knew that it was going to be something special. There were never any doubts in either of our minds about that.

Now I'll admit, I'm having a bit of a challenge putting a spin on this entry given how readily familiar most Depeche Mode fans are with the tour in question, but indulge me for a moment and let me wax eloquently about the things that I remember from the show. The Toronto gig at Maple Leaf Gardens was relatively early on in the tour, but all of the pieces were already in place and all of the energy and excitement that would be captured in D.A. Pennebaker's "101" film were already there, but it was still a little raw, still a little unpolished, and there was still a little room for the band to grow.

Dave and I had seats about halfway up the stands to the left of the stage, and they were pretty good tickets. For the life of me I can't remember the name of the opening band, Colourbox? Speakerbox? Musicbox? Something like that, I have faith that Dave remembers and I'll be sure to ask him the next time we chat. Anyway, they were pleasant enough but nothing really stands out in my mind aside from this thing they did where they... folded a sheet? Or a banner of some sort?  I'm not really sure what it was, but it was kind of shimmery and cool, and y'know, as far as opening bands that I don't remember very well go, they're certainly one of my favorites.

After the opening band played their set there was the standard break, and then the lights went down and PIMPF from the new album started playing. The stage was obscured by a scrim so you couldn't really see anything, and the music built up and there were lights and fog and all those things that get me really excited at the opening of a show, and then we heard those two drum beats and the sound of a hubcap spinning on the ground, and Behind the Wheel started. A set of banners fell from the rafters further covering the stage, and the intro to the song kept playing. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that Behind the Wheel is one of my favorite Depeche Mode songs and it's always been great live, but there was a particular majesty to it that evening that made it really spectacular, something big and huge and totally awesome. Anyway, the music was playing, the vocals began and right when Dave Gahan sang "...Now" after the first verse, the banners and the scrim fell and you could see the stage, and there was the band, and damn it all, it was really pretty cool! There's no question in my mind that of all the bands I've ever seen, Depeche Mode really know how to make a curtain falling into something exciting.

The stage set was a two tiered job, with a raised level in back where Martin Gore, Alan Wilder and Andy Fletcher were stationed for most of the set, and a lower part in front where Dave Gahan spent most of his time gyrating and spinning and shaking his hips. I'd like to go on record as saying that of all the bands I've seen, Dave Gahan probably gyrates more and gyrates better than anybody else.

Oh, oh, oh! And Martin Gore and Alan Wilder both had these great big metal sheets on posts beside their keyboard rigs and they'd hit them with various metal scraps during a number of songs like Stripped and Master and Servant, and a few others. It was all very Industrial and everybody at the show thought it was really cool.

Dave Gahan wore white pants that night and a black studded leather jacket with a white tank top underneath. He looked pretty cool in that very unique way that people did back in 1987. Martin Gore was wearing a rather fetching lederhosen and chains combo. He can pull off that look pretty well, y'know? All of the band had great hair on that tour.

For those of you that are interested, you know in "101" how Dave Gahan says "Good evening Pasadena!" after they play Behind the Wheel?  I'm pretty sure he said "Good evening Toronto!" at exactly the same point, carefully enunciating every syllable because nobody ever thinks to tell people that it's pronounced "Taranna". I have faith that he also said "Good evening Montreal/Detroit/New York/whathaveyou!" when they played those cities too. And that's okay, I kind of like the effort to make each audience feel special, and to quote Mick Jagger on The Simpsons "When I say it in Springfield, I MEAN IT!"

So what else?

It's pretty typical in every Depeche Mode show that Martin Gore sings a couple of songs on his own, and this show was no exception. He had a particularly tentative and shy approach to the mike as he sang Pipeline and The Things You Said, but it was all very good and the audience really enjoyed it. Later on in the set he also sang A Question of Lust as one of the encores, and when he did the Gardens was transformed into a beautiful constellation of teeny tiny stars from all of the lighters that were held up, swaying back and forth. Thinking about it I find myself smiling nostalgically for lighters, there's something so much more beautiful about an open flame than a glowing smartphone. While we're talking about Martin Gore, it was pretty early on in terms of his playing guitar on stage too, and he had a tentative and shy approach to that as well. When you see him play these days he's pretty much all guitar all the time, strutting around at the front of the stage with Dave Gahan, rockin' out like a rockin' out guitar player does, but in those days he wasn't nearly so comfortable. I guess over the years his audience has had a chance to watch his confidence grow and as a long time fan I think that's really cool.

I remember Stripped being particularly amazing that night, it's hands down my absolute favorite Depeche Mode song, and Dave Gahan's voice was particularly rich for this rendition. I've always appreciated how pure and true the lyrics seem, and I consider the line "Let me hear you make decisions without your television, let me hear you speaking just for me..." to be one of the most beautiful lines ever written by anybody anywhere. During the song there were these amazing cones of light made by fog and lasers, and it was really pretty wonderful. I am filled with feels just thinking about it.

Also, you know that arm swinging thing the audience does every time they play Never Let Me Down Again? You have to remember that this was the first tour they ever did it, this wasn't "a thing", it was just something the audience did during that song that became a thing. And I like that kind of thing, I like that kind of thing very much.

It was a really great concert, and at the end of the evening after the lights had come up Dave and I left the show thinking how awesome Depeche Mode were, and how much we had enjoyed the evening. It was a perfect moment. And perfect moments like that should always be cherished and remembered.

A few months later Depeche Mode came back to play an outdoor show at CNE Grandstand on the second half of the tour (June 9th, 1988 to be exact).  And in an effort to relive the awesome experience of the show in December, Dave and I decided to see them again. This was towards the end of the tour, just a few days away from the Pasadena gig that would be filmed for "101", and they were a little bit more polished, a little bit more confident than they had been in December. They had clearly reached their final evolution as Swaggering Rock Icons.

There's not much else I can about the CNE Grandstand show that I haven't already said, it was pretty much identical to the set they played both at Maple Leaf Gardens a few month prior and what they would play in Pasadena a few days later. Dave and I were successfully able to relive the awesome experience of the show in December with only a couple of minor changes including Martin Gore singing Somebody,  and Just Can't Get Enough being played as an encore. Like Maple Leaf Gardens, they closed with Everything Counts. And it really does, doesn't it?

Thinking about it now, it's clear that there was something happening that made the Music for the Masses tour more significant than any other tour that Depeche Mode had ever done to that point, and there's no question you could feel it at the time. I'm not a trendsetter or a cool tracker or anything like that, but I know what I like, and I guess at that particular moment in time my own personal tastes were synchronized with everyone else, which in turn were in tune with a band that had moved up to a higher level in the development of their work. Call it synergy, call it zeitgeist, call it right time right place, call it whatever you want, but I was happy to see the Music for the Masses tour when it happened. In retrospect it's proven to be kind of a big deal, and I'm glad that Dave and I got to see it. Twice.