Depeche Mode had 20 Top 40 hits in the U.K. in the decade following its 1980 formation. What started out as a band of friends playing conventional instruments quickly became a synth-pop phenomenon, then a pioneering industrial and darkwave act before getting lifted by the tidal wave of alternative music and riding it through the ’90s. And they’ve been filling arenas ever since.
Now a duo consisting of vocalist David Gahan and song constructor Martin Gore, Depeche Mode reached a landmark since playing Las Vegas in March. “Never Let Me Down,” the second single preceding the release of 1987 album Music for the Masses has been played more than a thousand times in concert. “Personal Jesus” comes in second but will not reach that four-figure mark by the time the Memento Mori World Tour wraps in April.
For Depeche Mode, 1987 was the year of one of the most career-changing of many turning points, although it had been a cult favorite in the U.S. before playing the Rose Bowl in Pasadena while touring in support of Music for the Masses. Strangely, that album’s first single, “Strangelove,” has not been on setlists consistently but concerts have been kicking off with “My Cosmos Is Mine” and “Wagging Tongue” from Memento Mori. Expect tears to flow when “World in My Eyes” is dedicated to founding member Alan Fletcher, who passed away last year.
T-Mobile Arena, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1, starting at $49.50 plus tax and fee. axs.com
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