This was our third time seeing 'The Devout' (if we include the time we saw 'Speak & Spell' in Derby - with a different singer), and unfortunately it was a bit disappointing. First of all it was hot, very hot. Like 25 degrees or more... but then it was blisteringly hot last year in Coventry, so we can't blame it all on that.
No, there were definitely problems, among them the sound which was too loud and too bassy (one of the laptops actually closed itself down during the set because of the vibrations), but also the singer trying too damn hard to rev up a hot/tired crowd and the choice of setlist. It was supposed to be Hits with a nod to Violator, which perhaps it was... but there seemed a remarkable number of songs that I either didn't know or didn't know very well and considering I spent about a year listening to Depeche Mode almost exclusively (2009/2010) that's quite impressive.
Then again a lot of the songs seemed to originate in the pre 1985 era, which I never really cared for too much to be honest; a few songs aside you could really start DM in 1986 and end it in 1997 and that will do for me.
And then there were the tedious Martin Gore songs, three of them... that I could have lived without.
I don't know, it all seemed a bit slapdash, and it often sounded like the singer was singing on the wrong beat. I imagine this was just the difficult sound playing tricks on my ears but it made it hard to get into the swing of the songs, and indeed it seemed to catch the singer out a few times as well (I think in one instance he actually sang the wrong song over a different song, which was awkward...).
Also awkward was the singer's enthusiastic gyrations, which worked brilliantly at Coventry last year with a rammed and baying crowd following the bands every move, but here, with no one standing even remotely near the stage until the singer finally implored the crowd to 'move closer' it all felt a bit hollow. A real shame, because the Coventry gig was excellent in pretty much every regard.
Standing outside for a while to try and cool down a little, Rose overhead a man bemoaning the setlist 'Just play something we know...', he whined. And understandably so. At least they ended well, with a four pronged 'Personal Jesus', 'Just Can't Get Enough', 'Enjoy the Silence' and 'Never Let Me Down', but by then we were too tired and hot and just wanted it to end so we could go home.
And can someone please tell the guitarist to turn himself up when he plays 'Enjoy the Silence', the whole song hangs on those epic but simple notes and yet again they were barely audible. So annoying!
Highlight of the night had to be the new Freemen's Common Multi Storey car park which was conveniently situated not too far from the venue and not too bad price wise (£5 for 4 hours). 🤣
