T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
1st December, 2023

Depeche Mode are certainly among the bands whose fandom has been among my most enduring. Digging through Google, I might have first seen them as long ago as 1986 at Wembley Arena. Certainly, it’s at least thirty years, since I definitely was there at Crystal Palace in 1993, when they were supported by the Sisters of Mercy. It’s no exaggeration to say we’ve got old together, an aspect driven home by the unfortunate death of keyboardist Andy Fletcher last year. That seems to have concentrated the minds of surviving members Martin Gore and Dave Gahan, subsequently releasing an album called Memento Mori, whose lead single was titled “Ghosts Again”: “A place to hide the tears that you cried / Everybody says goodbye”.

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It’s that time of year again, when we engage with the kind of music which, for the other 364 days of the year, I would probably run screaming from. But Eurovision deserves special treatment, being the musical equivalent of an MST3K marathon. You go in, knowing to expect a slew of women belting out power ballads, Justin Bieber wannabes, cultural appropriation, and the batshit crazy entries that every country tends to throw up now and again.

This year, there were 37 entries, some of which won’t even make it to the grand final on Saturday night. But they still have deserve their moment in the sun. We sat through all their music videos, so you don’t have to. Here’s our thoughts, scrawled in the moment, and a back of the envelope grade as to whether we like them or not. Which may (and probably will) be utterly independent of musical quality.

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Desert Diamond Arena,
3rd October, 2022

“If you’re one of those ‘I love Pink Floyd, but I can’t stand Roger’s politics’ people you might do well to fuck off to the bar right now.”
— Pre-show introduction

Fair play to the man. We might disagree on certain topics (to put it mildly), but I get the sense he’d be a decent bloke with whom to have a drink. At age 79, and remarkably spry for it, he is clearly deep into the “give no fucks” stage of his career. This is going to be his show, and if you don’t like it, you can lump it. But would I like it?

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Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
23rd September 2022

It has been more than ten years since I originally saw Rammstein, an event which still ranks at or near the top of the greatest concerts I have experienced. Mind you, it has been more than two years since this event was originally scheduled to take place: it was supposed to happen in September 2020, before things went a bit pear-shaped. For both reasons, calling this “eagerly anticipated” is likely an understatement, and probably plays into why I didn’t feel like it quite lived up to expectations. Oh, it was still good: certainly worth the 750-mile round trip. But not quite the life-altering experience, redefining the entire concept of a live show, which was the 2012 event.

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Footprint Center, Phoenix
7th September, 2022

Another band gets crossed off the bucket list – more likely theirs than mine. Though it has to be said, Simon Le Bon is looking very impressive for someone who will start collecting his old age pension next year, after a long career of unrestrained debauchery. Well, I’m assuming there was debauchery involved. I’d be quite disappointed if he and his colleagues had spent the last forty years leading a monk-like life of aesthetic restraint and celibacy. Especially since, going by the audience at this event, I suspect quite a few women would still be willing to die on that particular hill. Maybe some men too. I don’t judge.

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