Last night's promotional performance at the Troubadour in LA was a newsworthy event among Depeche Mode Devotees, not only because the Troubadour is a small club with an intimate capacity of roughly 400--a crowd that's about 50x smaller than their typical arena--but as a Martin solo, they performed "But Not Tonight," the "Stripped" B-side-turned-US single and fan favorite, for the first time EVER. Twitter was all aflutter LIKE OMG.So this is tripping me out because for months I've been putting this idea out there that Depeche should take fan requests--or hold a contest on social media--for songs that they never or rarely play live and insert them into the Delta Machine tour. A few weeks ago I saw an interview wherein Dave mentioned they are toying with the idea of bringing back something like "Master and Servant," a 1984 single that hasn't gotten a lot of live rotation over the last 20 years.
Shit, "Master and Servant" would be hot, but what about taking it further? What if they really got crazy and played songs that weren't even singles? "Blue Dress," anyone? There are so many songs in their catalogue whose themes are timeless enough--and the music fucking awesome enough--to still be relevant onstage. The time is perfect for them with the heavy promotion they're doing for Delta Machine.
And let's be real, they're not out there playing to 15,000 people who just heard "Enjoy the Silence" on the radio and were like "cool." They are and have for years been playing to--no, communing with--their loyal following. They really want to melt us into frothing pools of black leather, they'll drag some "Here is the House" or "I Want You Now" out of the dark closet.
Which rare songs would you most want to see on Delta Machine World Tour? On Twitter, hashtag #machineforthemasses and let everyone
know!
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