Depeche Mode pay tribute to Fletch as they kick off world tour
The Essex synthpop legends launched their ‘Memento Mori’ tour in Sacramento last night (March 23)
By Joe Goggins
Depeche Mode paid a moving tribute to the late Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher’ as they kicked off their first world tour without him in California last night (March 23).
Fletcher, a founding member of the Essex synthpop titans, passed away suddenly last May, at the age of 60. Bandmates Dave Gahan and Martin Gore resolved to move forward without him, making their 15th studio album, which is out today (March 24), in his memory. Last night, they launched the Memento Mori tour at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento with a career-spanning set that included a raft of live debuts. You can see the full setlist below.
‘My Cosmos Is Mine’, ‘Speak to Me’ and ‘Soul with Me’ were all performed live for the first time, while Memento Mori lead single ‘Ghosts Again’ also made the cut. Elsewhere, there was room for the group’s biggest hits, including ‘Personal Jesus’, ‘Enjoy the Silence’ and ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’. During a performance of the 1990 single ‘World in My Eyes’, meanwhile, images of Fletch filled the arenas big screens, as his trademark spectacles slowly faded into view.
The show, which was opened by Welsh electronic maverick Kelly Lee Owens, was the first in what is set to be a busy 2023 for Depeche Mode. After wrapping up this North American jaunt at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on April 14, they cross the pond to take Memento Mori around Europe’s stadiums, with a single UK date in the diary at London’s Twickenham Stadium on June 17. The tour features visuals designed by the group’s long-time collabroator, the director Anton Corbijn.
Memento Mori, out today, has met with strong reviews. In a four-star write-up for Rolling Stone UK, Lee Campbell said that “Depeche Mode have shed the political undertones of 2017 predecessor Spirit and gone back to what they do best – inviting us to explore the black chasms of our hearts, culminating in the finality of death itself, but telling the musical story through a lens of gratitude of love.”
Depeche Mode – Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA, March 23, 2023:
‘My Cosmos Is Mine’ [live debut]
‘Wagging Tongue’
‘Walking in My Shoes’
‘It’s No Good’
‘Sister of Night’
‘In Your Room (Zephyr Mix)’
‘Everything Counts’
‘Precious’
‘Speak to Me’ [live debut]
‘A Question of Lust’
‘Soul with Me’ [live debut]
‘Ghosts Again’
‘I Feel You’
‘A Pain That I’m Used To’
‘World in My Eyes’
‘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’