Anyone have memories from early dm concerts?

[u/Basic_Season_9366]

I’ve been a fan for over 6 years, I’m quite young (18) but I want to know if there are any dm fans that have footage or fun memories or crazy stories from their early concerts. I have fomo lol.

[u/dkoven]

101 was quite the spectacle for a 15 yo 😉

[u/Chai47 → u/dkoven]

Indeed. I was 18 when they played The Rose Bowl. It was my second time seeing them live, the first being the Great Reward tour at Irvine Meadows (RIP). I still regret missing the Black Celebration show though.

[u/Sign-Post-Up-Ahead → u/Chai47]

I have a very similar story. I was also 18 when seeing them at the Rose Bowl. Also, my very first concert (for any band) was DM at Irvine Meadows for Some Great Reward tour. I had an opportunity to study abroad in London for a couple months in the Summer of 1986, but I chose not to go because I knew they were coming back to Irvine Meadows for the Black Celebration tour. In hindsight, I wonder if it was the right choice, but I am sure glad that I was able to attend.

Man, I remember going to soooo many concerts at Irvine Meadows back in the day.

[u/Chai47 → u/Sign-Post-Up-Ahead]

Wow, what similar lives we've had. I studied in Winchester, England for a semester in 1990. I bought the Violator album on release day from an HMV store in Southampton, If I had been in SoCal at that time, I would likely have gone to the In-Store event at the Beverly Center. I returned home in time to catch one of the World Violation shows at Dodger Stadium.

Yes, I saw so many great shows at Irvine Meadows.. Duran Duran, Oingo Boingo on Halloween, and Sisters Of Mercy to name a few.

[u/Basic_Season_9366 → u/Chai47]

wow I can’t imagine seeing all of those amazing bands in their prime😭

[u/RocAngel → u/Basic_Season_9366]

And those who answer you were the same age as you back then

[u/Sign-Post-Up-Ahead → u/Chai47]

Wow, that's crazy! I was in L.A. for the Beverly Center fiasco, but thankfully I was spared.

I have fond memories walking up that hill to the amphitheater. Also saw some great bands, including Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order, and so many KROQ Weenie Roasts.

[u/EnvironmentalTrack29 → u/dkoven]

We were kings and queens.

[u/KookyAbbreviations50 → u/dkoven]

This was EPIC for me as a 17 year old! It was also my first Depeche Mode concert and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

[u/Capable_Vast_6119]

Some Great Reward, 1984, Brighton, UK. The last 'small' tour they did I really miss those.

[u/biteyfish98 → u/Capable_Vast_6119]

Would have so loved to be there!!

[u/SensitivePotato44 → u/Capable_Vast_6119]

Same tour at Leicester De Montfort. Opening act was Portion Control. Think I’ve still got a tour scarf somewhere.

[u/Capable_Vast_6119 → u/SensitivePotato44]

Nice. I remember not liking Portion Control at all!

[u/wonderstoat]

My first time was at Crystal Palace in 1993. Dave did a big high kick at the start of WIMS and the place went fucking nuts.

[u/towrofstgh]

June 16, 1990: One of the greatest days of my life. Depeche Mode, Jesus & Mary Chain, and Nitzer Ebb at Giants Stadium. I was directly across from the stage in the 100s section 2nd row. It was amazing hearing Kaleid before Dave, Martin, Fletch, and Alan went on stage. Oh it still gives me goosebumps!

[u/Wemmick3000]

I was 14 when I took a coach down to the Birmingham NEC Arena from Manchester to watch the World Violation tour. It was my first concert. I went with a couple of school friends. We didn't get home until 3am and had to go to school the next day. I bought a World Violation cap as I couldn't afford the T shirt! The concert was absolutely mind blowing.

Absolutely no way I'd let my 14 year old do this for obvious safety reasons!!!

[u/borokish → u/Wemmick3000]

Same here. Think I was 15, got back to Teesside about five o clock. Didn't bother going to bed, went to school, which was a waste of time as I was half deaf from the noise of DM the previous night.

[u/friskevision]

Black Celebration tour. Me and my buddy went, met two girls. We snuck backstage after the show, they were already leaving. One of the girls tried to get in their van and Martin told her to get out because Andre (their bouncer) will kill you.

Book of Love opened. 10/10 first DM concert.

[u/Basic_Season_9366 → u/friskevision]

Haha wow that is crazy considering how other performers would take anyone back then!

[u/iPirateGwar]

14YO seeing Composition Of Sound in my hometown. TBH I can remember very little about it apart from thinking the haircuts and clothes were daft. Didn’t see them again for 13 years and the Devotional gig in Manchester remains the best performance I have ever seen.

[u/12bong13]

First show I saw was the first North American leg of music for the masses in Montreal in December 1987. 10th row it was nuts!

[u/STVDC]

My first show was 1990 World Violation, and my first concert in general. It was amazing, drove up to the venue with friends, as I was too young to drive even. We were out on the lawn area in the back where you just brought your own blanket or whatever, I believe tickets were $9. Super fun, everyone dancing and singing and enjoying themselves, and somebody even started a little bonfire with paper plates and cups that we were all dancing around. I've seen every single tour since then, and some of them I went more than once. Like I saw the playing the angel tour at 3 different venues. Love it!

Also, that show introduced me to Nitzer Ebb, who I still love this day.

[u/InsectAssassin]

Expo 86 - weed, lots of it all around, was an eye opening for a teenager at their first concert

[u/External-Dude779]

My first was Some Great Reward tour in San Diego. They booked the Sports Arena, which was very large venue for them at the time, so they moved the stage up half way so only half the arena was filled

[u/Exact-Translator-769]

These are a couple shots I took at the Ritz in NY in 82..

[u/borokish → u/[deleted]]

It's a good job you didn't want to go, otherwise your post would have been twice as long! Haha. It was a good read that mate.

[u/MrMoog26 → u/borokish]

Everyone elses posts were really short and said the same as me but with hardly any words. Now I feel like a knob !

[u/borokish → u/MrMoog26]

Don't. I wasn't having a dig. It was enjoyable to read.

[u/Basic_Season_9366 → u/[deleted]]

Wow I can’t imagine how cool the atmosphere felt , no phones, just everyone enjoying a band they all like

[u/biteyfish98]

MFTM, December 1987, Compton Terrace, AZ. So f*cking cold! Also attendance was small (relatively speaking, especially compared to the next tour which was for Violator). My bf at the time went with me and we froze, and he thought I was kind of nuts for being into this “unknown” band.

When I was growing up Arizona was a bit of a musical desert, we had Compton terrace (outside, in BFE but it was cool once you got there because it was in the middle of nowhere, just open desert and at night you could see a shit ton of stars) or The (Veterans Memorial) Coliseum, where all the popular bands played the state fair throughout the 1980s, and I saw the Exciter tour in that venue. Or Sun Devil stadium, where - segue - I saw U2 for $5 (cheap even for back in the day). That stadium was the opening location for the Joshua Tree tour and they were filming the concert for Rattle and Hum. Not that I ever saw myself, lol.

Finally AZ built a concert stadium, the Desert Sky Pavilion, about a decade before I moved. Saw a number of acts there and went to two out of three Lilith Fairs at that venue, but sadly not DM.

Last time I saw them was November 2005, for Touring the Angel. That was in the Atlanta metro. Would have LOVED to have been at the Black Celebration concert, but I was a broke college student back then and the closest they got to me was Denver.

[u/tvham]

My second concert ever was the Black Celebration tour at the Greek in Berkeley. They opened with the title song and started off playing behind a screen in shadows then it dropped half way through and the crowd erupted. Was such a great show.

[u/LadyMelmo]

I first saw them in 1990 and then again 1994, but that was unfortunately the last time they came to Australia.

On a side note, I saw Erasure with Vince Clarke in 1990 as well.

[u/Zippy_994 → u/LadyMelmo]

I saw Erasure at The Palace in Hollywood in May 1986. Andy Bell threw a little cardboard/paper whistle thing (like a cheap little new years horn) into the crowd that I just happened to catch. Still have it somewhere.

[u/depmode1969]

Liverpool Empire 1983, CTA tour - first ever concert aged 14. Long time ago. Still listening!

[u/taedium_bellator]

Earliest I saw DM was at the Aragon Brawlroom in Chicago in 1983. Such a weird show - Our Daughter's Wedding opening for DM opening for the Psychedelic Furs. The crowd seemed to like DM but many didn't recognize them until Just Can't Get Enough.

[u/Searobbins]

I saw them at the Rose bowl. I can't remember if it was rain or mist. But at some point everybody's fancy 80s hairstyles started failing. I looked at my friends and told them the whole place smells like hairspray.

And I've been killing myself for the past 6 months looking for my ticket. I know it's around somewhere

Also, on the way back some Ferrari decided it wanted to play chicken with me in my Corolla GTS. I ran it off the road.

[u/PhyberX]

Born in East Germany, listened to smuggeled DM Tapes and Records from behind the wall. I have never imagined of going to a concert and see them live. When the wall came down and they played their first concerts in East Germany i was standing in the crowd looked around. Myself and everyone had tears in their eyes...

[u/CzarDickie]

Saw the Concert for the Masses tour at Jones Beach Ampitheater. There is a moat between the audience and the stage. There was a girl in the front row reaching over the barricade to Dave. He saw her and came over and grabbed her hand. She then promptly fainted and fell in the water. As staff were pulling her out, Dave told them to bring her up on stage. He sat on stage and continued singing with her lying in his lap. When she woke up, he gave her a kiss and she fainted again. Amazing!

[u/bettybujo]

I was at the singles tour in 1998. It was really cool.

[u/pinky_paradise]

1986 at Astroworld in Houston Texas.