Depeche Mode: The Archives

Delta Machine Tour - Tour Blog

The Vegas Show Blog (with a buffet of puns)
author: Sean Salo
date posted: October 8th, 2013

Depeche Mode has hit dozens of amphitheaters, arenas and even festivals on the North American leg of the Delta Machine Tour thus far, but none on this leg has been as intimate as Sunday's show. Las Vegas is an entertainment and tourist mecca, and for the roughly 2,500 fans who made the pilgrimage to the Pearl Concert Theater, this was a chance to see DM in an intimate theater while meeting and/or reconnecting with other devotees from around the world.

Unsurprisingly for a destination show, the audience was made up of Canadians, Germans, Panamanians, Poles, Dominicans, Brits, Mexicans, French, Aussies... and a few Americans for good measure. With one of this leg's few GA options on the floor of the venue and seating semi-circling the smaller-scale stage, the performance was as big as if it were at a stadium. The boys seem incapable of disappointing.

What the crowd lacked in sheer numbers, it made up for in ferocity! The audience responded to the stellar sound in the venue with some of the most faithful and loud sing-alongs on this leg of the Delta Machine Tour. As the band winds down its conquering of this continent, it's clear those fans who trekked to Vegas came to win, as well.

Martin's "But Not Tonight" rendition, with Peter backing on keys, had the crowd at a fever pitch. "Home" saw Martin holding the note on "from my first breeeeath" for what seemed like a blissful eternity, echoing throughout the room. The crowd responded in kind and faithfully serenaded him as the song ended. Martin paced stage right-to-stage left and back again, playfully conducting us with a smile the size of the Vegas Strip.

Dave looked like he'd hit a jackpot just before taking the stage, responding to both the intimacy and the fervor of the audience with a killer performance and enough energy to power the casino. He always gives 101% on stage, but it's clear he enjoys performing tracks like "Heaven", "Angel" and "Should Be Higher" just as much as he does any of those they've crafted over the decades.

If you'd bet Christian would have toned down his performance for the smaller venue, you'd have lost!

Dave, Fletch and Martin dealt the lucky few at Sunday's show a winning hand. What happened in Vegas, was crazed in Vegas!

The buses rolled into Phoenix for the next show before rounding out this leg at Austin City Limits festival on Friday evening.

-Sean Salo

Photos by Daniel Barassi.

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