Depeche Mode – Malahide Castle – Live Review
by Fran Winston

Malahide Castle Gardens, 14th June 2023

If you look at early footage of Depeche Mode performing, it’s hard to believe that they went on to become the mammoth stadium rock band that they have. While they always had an edge, it is safe to say that their first TV appearances screamed boyband rather than music behemoth. But that was then, and this is now, and on a beautiful sunny evening, they took to the stage in Malahide Castle to rapturous cheers from a multi-generational crowd. For long-time fans, this gig was tinged with sadness as it is the band’s first tour without Andy Fletcher who died just over a year ago.

It was hard not to notice his absence when Dave Gahan and Martin L Gore first stepped out on stage treating the crowd to a couple of tracks from their latest album Memento Mori – their fifteenth studio album in their 40-odd-year career. It was a ballsy move, but such is the dedication of their fans that they already knew all the words to My Cosmos Is Mine and Wagging Tongue and were singing along.

Many bands going as long as Depeche do legacy tours at this stage of their career, but these guys remain as relevant as ever. That said they obviously threw in a lot of much-loved classic tracks that had the crowd going wild. Tracks such as Walking In My Shoes, I Feel You and the seminal Everything Counts would have raised the roof if the venue wasn’t an outdoor space.

There was a poignant moment when they paid tribute to Fletch during World In My Eyes with an image of him on screen ever so slowly altering throughout the song. No long speeches or tributes are needed. The crowd understood the sentiment – after all this was his personal favourite Depeche Mode track.

As the show progressed Dave Gahan slithered around the stage like some sort of snake-hipped Messiah as the crowd hung on his every word. When he loudly announced, “Dublin you’re the best” they really believed him even though he probably uses that line in every city.

The crowd were rapt as they launched into Enjoy the Silence for the final track, with hands raised in the air in an almost spiritual motion. Of course, they couldn’t leave it at that and they reemerged for four more tracks including Just Can’t Get Enough and Personal Jesus – two very different songs which really show the scope of their musicality as they slot into very different genres despite being Depeche in their essence.

This was not my first time to see them live and it won’t be my last but there was definitely something special about this show. Maybe it was the spirit of Fletch in the air, maybe it was the
beautiful setting (St Anne’s Park could learn a lot from Malahide Castle’s organisation) or maybe it was just the like minded people who were all there to appreciate the music rather than have a day out. Either way, this was one of the best Depeche Mode shows that I’ve ever seen and the bar is pretty high!

SETLIST:
My Cosmos Is Mine
Wagging Tongue
Walking in My Shoes
It’s No Good
Sister of Night
In Your Room (Zephyr Mix)
Everything Counts
Precious
My Favourite Stranger
Home
Soul With Me (Acoustic)
Ghosts Again
I Feel You
A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
World in My Eyes (Dedicated to Andrew Fletcher)
Wrong
Stripped
John the Revelator
Enjoy the Silence
Encore:
Waiting for the Night
Just Can’t Get Enough
Never Let Me Down Again
Personal Jesus