Feb 5: Review of Tartu from Ilya Judeikin
Sept 8: Review of show from Dalia - thanx
Hey all
I just came home (Vilnius) from Riga. I attended both concerts and for me it was amazing!
This was my first time to see dM live! During both of the concerts I managed to stand as
close to the stage as possible so I could see Dave and Martin from a couple of meters!!!
There's a short comparison of the two. Tartu concert was in the open air while Riga
(Jurmala, to be precise) one was indoors. Inspite of the capritious climate in the Baltic
states, Sep 2 an 3 were sunny and warm. Thus, it was a real pleasure in Tartu. dM fans
were much more active and noisy in Tartu than in Riga. And a lagre international community
gathered in the first place (Lithuania, Lavia, Hungary, UK, and even a guy from LA!). The
atmosphere during the concert among them was as great as before it. The fans in Taru not
only louder chanted DEPECHE MODE but also hissed PURITY...
And the preperation before dM appearance was so teasing (with some guy checking microphons
and continuously repeating 'Hey "TSY" Hey Hey "TSY"
"TSY"...).
But . . . . . . . the first beats of Painkiller made fans happy after such a long waiting.
An empty stage with three huge boards covered with blue curtains (the background curtains
were red). Then the middle one began to twinkle exposing the microphon. And at the end of
the song steps in Christian Eigner (drums), Peter Gordeno (keybord) and three dM members!
And finally it begins!
They play the 19 songs noted earlier. In Riga Dave was more active, especially spinning
around during WIME! Cool! Though I came exausted to Riga's concert, seeing David singing
and dancing just in from of me from several meters, brought me strenght back... until IFU,
when I almost fainted (due to tiredness, heat, thirst, over-excitment, etc.) and was
carried to the medical help (where after drinking some water I was able to run back to the
front-middle place in front of Dave and see the end with IJCGE). Yeah, it was wonderful.
Attending those concerts made my dreams come true! I will go to Prague as well but now I
see it won't be enough.
Well, back to dM. Two edge boaerds on the stage were with letters D and M. On the middle
board there were shown videos during some songs. The first such song was ING showing
extracts from all videos. WIMS had videos with Dave, Martin and Fletch walking on podium.
QOL with Dave's, Martin's faces and naked woman shapes, ETS with a crown, BOAG with a
barrel and maybe there were some more.
Also, there whee two additional singers on the stage: Janet Cooke and Jordan Bailey first
comming in during IOWILM.
Did Tim Simenon played in Riga?
Well, I'm not sure but after the PURITY there was some guy at the keyboard (?)in the right
corner of the stage. Maybe it was him... I cannot tell exactly as those surrounding me
could not confirm it as well.
Did the Drummer play to every Song ???
I think, yes. Maybe except "Somebody". To tell the truth, I didn't pay too much
attention.
Also, there was a very special end of "S". Long rrepeats of aaaaaaaaa by Martin.
In both concerts! I liked this special version! Sounds interesting.
What had Dave, Martin and Fletch dressed?
In Tartu Dave wore a dark-red jacket with three pocket lapels on each side. This jachet
you can see in the programm wich is sold before/during/after the concert among other dM
"souvenires". He also had a black shirt and a waistcoat (black in front and
silver in the back). In Riga was very hot inside so he started without a jacket. And,
although he got completely wet soon, David did not took his shirt off... :( And trouses:
they were black with vertical white lines, at least in Riga (you can also find them in the
programm).
In Riga Martin wore glittering silver shirt with some dark trouses. And in Tartu he had a
dark sweater instead of that impressing shirt.
Fletch had black trousers and short-sleeve pulled on shirt. And almost all of the
time he was very serious...
Did Dave speak during shows?
Yeah, especially in Riga. He kept on repeating "Thank you".
I don't know about the former concerts but now there was a good communication between Dave
and the public. In Riga: during NLMDA David waved his hands over his head and everybody
(at least those standing close to the satge) we repeating his moves. And Dave's palm near
his ear ment nothing else but asking fans to sing (during ETS, PJ, IJCGE and some other).
Well, oral communication was a bit more difficult as there was was quite noisy and not so
many people understood Engl. so well that would be able to catch Dave's words at once. He
tried to repeat but... the most often answer was just a loud scream of excited fans. In
Tartu the first Dave's words were
after ETS asking twice if we are not tired yet (?) and of course some "Thanks".
In Riga he was definately more disposed to speak :).
BTW, souvenirs: different T-shirts, mugs, programmes, dot-tags, long-sleeve shirts and
caps. I wanted a mug but I didn't buy it before the concert. And afterwards they were the
only items sold out in both concerts...
Happiest Girl - Dalia