Depeche Mode Community

DM have made a statement about the cancelled shows. About time.

To all our fans who held tickets to the recently cancelled shows,

We want to express our deep and heartfelt apology for having to cancel these shows and want to also provide a bit of explanation for why we are not able to replay these dates. We do not take cancelling shows lightly and understand your disappointment and frustration with the cancellations - we are disappointed as well.

After our successful Eastern and Southern European shows in 2006, we were excited to return to some of our favorite cities and to meet our devoted fans in new cities where we had never played. Once we realized we would not be able play the dates as originally scheduled, we started looking at all possible rescheduling options with our manager and booking agent. The delays in getting information to all of you during this period were due to our strong desire to fully explore all options, and the logistical difficulties of rescheduling shows on a tour of this size. All of this was made more difficult by the fact that the majority of the shows we were unable to play were stadiums, which meant that we could only replay the dates during the summer. As many of you are aware, we had already scheduled dates in North and South America following our current European tour, so our summer schedule is completely full. Unfortunately, in the end, we were only able to reschedule our missed shows that were to be played in indoor venues, as we could postpone these until our winter European tour leg. Although we were unable to reschedule the shows in Athens, Istanbul, Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade, Warsaw, Riga and Vilnius, we will make it our priority to come back to these cities in the near future.

Again, we want to say thank you for you patience, understanding and support during this period. We apologize sincerely for not being able to perform for you as originally planned.

-Martin, Andy and Dave

So Athens, Istanbul, Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade, Warsaw, Riga and Vilnius don't have suitable indoor venues that the shows could be moved to? I find that difficult to believe. I know for sure that Athens has them, but I'm guessing the promoters weren't interested. Meh, off to get my tickets refunded...

Depeche Mode have returned to the stage, less than a month after the cancellation in Athens and Dave's subsequent removal of a cancerous tumour. I've been following the progress on the show (with bonus photos) in Leipzig here on Twitter, as well as the official DMMB.

I'm hoping that with Dave feeling better, those of us who missed out can finally be told whether our shows will be cancelled (boo!) or rescheduled (fingers crossed), because DM management, you stated you'd let us know early last week...

Shame on you Depeche Mode management, shame on you. The silence is deafening.

I get that Dave is ill, rumours aside, there's obviously something wrong, whatever that may be. The official word is gastro enteritis, so we'll go with that. But more than two weeks later there's been little communication to the fans. Sure the timing sucks, but I'm not blaming Dave, he's human, we all get ill. He's a brilliant, professional performer who gives his all into each and every show of theirs I've seen and I'm sure that Dave, Martin and Fletch are gutted that they have had to cancel so many shows, particularly at the beginning of the tour.

However the lack of information or even a statement from the management in more than a week is shabby. It's no wonder there's so much crap floating around, as fans grab onto any piece of information and pass it along, Chinese Whispers style, leaving any residual facts to disappear in the face of sensationalism.

I worked in concert promotion for many, many years, I know how to handle cancellations and illnesses - you keep the fans informed, even if it's just a "We're still currently unsure if $Artist is able to perform on $Date, we'll be issuing a statement at $Time. We apologise for the inconvenience." Surely that's easy enough and better than having all the will they, won't they stuff floating around?

I've been a fan for more than a quarter of a century, I've experienced two last minute cancellations - one in Australia back on the Violator tour and just two weeks ago in Athens. This time around, despite another (almost) 20 years of experience, I have this to say - DM PR people, you're doing it WRONG!

The boyfriend and I arrived at TerraVibe (the venue), we found a nice patch of grass, I go get us some beer and we sit back and relax, waiting for Depeche Mode to come on. The lights go down, and the giant DM disco ball descends while the intro music begins. The ball spins, the intro music loops. Thirty odd minutes later, we're still waiting and it's obvious something is wrong. Two people come out on stage - a DM rep and a Didi (the promoter) rep - and tell us the show is cancelled, as Dave Gahan has been taken ill and is on his way to hospital, but the gig might be rescheduled for the following day.

The instant reaction of people around us is that it's all lies, people talk about getting lawyers (seriously, WTF?), I hear every Greek swearword I know and then some. I'm fairly well horrified at the rumours and gossip floating around already, and reading the DMMB, you'd think mass rioting occurred as a result. What did follow was the result of the venue staff, who decided that keeping most of the exits shut and filtering the amount of people leaving was a good idea, so you had 30,000 people trying to leave at once (as they would after a gig, so I don't see why this should be any different). People were already frustrated and annoyed, stopping them from leaving was a stupid idea, so a few folks decided to break down the fence - the one covered with razor-wire and that leaves you walking on the hard shoulder of the motorway. Many people decided that DM are the worst band in the world, grumble, rant, bitch, moan. If you listened to these people, Dave overdid it on the coke again or they decided to pull the show just for the hell of it.

As it turns out, the gig isn't happening tonight either. No news on when or even if it will be rescheduled as yet. I'm personally hoping that they'll be able to slot in a date somewhere between Spain (July 12) and Toronto (July 24), but who knows.

I'm incredibly disappointed, this is the second time I've been at a DM gig that was cancelled at the last minute and yes, it sucks. Lots. But, people get ill, shit happens. Doesn't mean I'm not sulking in my puddle of woe though.

Here's the setlist for the warm up show last night.

( Surprise, surprise )

Sounds Of The Universe is out now.

Tracklist:
1. In Chains
2. Hole To Feed
3. Wrong
4. Fragile Tension
5. Little Soul
6. In Sympathy
7. Peace
8. Come Back
9. Spacewalker
10. Perfect
11. Miles Away / The Truth Is
12. Jezebel
13. Corrupt

For more information check the website.

Don't forget the Tour Of The Universe begins soon. Warm up show on May 6 in Luxembourg, with the official opening date in Tel Aviv on May 10.