Depeche Mode: Devotional

"Depeche Mode Devotional" (1993 release; 94 min plus bonus materials) is a concert film that was taped during the band's "Songs of Faith And Devotion" tour in 1993. As the movie opens, we get the opening sounds of "Higher Love" while the band remains hidden behind massive curtains, and then about halfway through the song, lead singer David Gahan jumps out in front as the crowd goes crazy. It marks the beginning of a wild and wonderful evening of music.

Couple of comments: this concert documentary is directed by Anthony Corbijn, the band's long-time visual collaborator and maker of many of the band's hit single videos. With almost 30 years of hindsight, we now know that this was Depeche Mode at its absolute peak, creatively and musically. The combination of the killer songs from the "Faith and Devotion" album (the band's only album to hit No.1 on the Billboard 200 album chart) along with choice cuts from their prior output is one thing. But then there is David Gahan's irresistible performance, truly one for the ages. It was widely rumored that Gahan had a serious heroin addiction problem during this tour, and while I have no idea whether that is true or not, one surely cannot tell from his performance. As it turns out, the "Devotional" tour was the last one for original band member Alan Wilder, who left the band after this tour. Watch him play the drums, none better than on "I Feel You" and "Rush", two of THE highlights of this concert. Martin Gore is in fine form as well, playing the electric guitar on some tunes. Yes, Depeche Mode is an all-out rock band on tracks like "I Feel You" and "Mercy In You". Last, but not least, is of course Andy Fletcher, whose shocking death earlier this week, at the mere age of 60, is why I had to watch this concert documentary again. There are no words. RIP Andy Fletcher.

I had the original VHS tape of this when it was first released in 1993, and then bought the DVD when that was released a decade later. The DVD comes with plenty of bonus materials, all worth checking out but at the end of the day it's the original concert documentary that makes this such compelling viewing. Depeche Mode was never better, period. I had the good fortune of seeing Depeche Mode in concert several times on the "Devotional" tour, in Houston (while on business trip) and in Cincinnati (where I live). It's as if it was just yesterday. If you are a fan of the band, be it a die-hard or just a casual (?) fan, "Devotional" is a must-see film.