Synth-pop pacesetters Depeche Mode stop at Amway Center for ‘Memento Mori’ tour

‘Just can't get enough!’

By Bao Le-Huu on Wed, Oct 4, 2023 at 11:43 am

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Photo by Anton Corbin, courtesy of Nasty Little Man

Depeche Mode play Orlando arena show this month

When they emerged at the dawn of the 1980s as pacesetters in the alternative underground, Depeche Mode quickly became the synth-pop template, setting off a wave of imitators big enough to probably qualify as a subgenre of their own.

By the end of that decade, though, they had transcended their own genre to become a global pop sensation, attaining the kind of mainstream stardom usually monopolized by the most commercial acts.

At their peak, Depeche Mode were a certified stadium band (as captured on bestselling 1989 live album and documentary 101), a staggering feat for a darkly catchy synth-pop act that emerged from the alternative dance scene.

Now the electronic pop icons arrive for a rare Orlando appearance, packing both their generation-defining classics and some of their best new material in decades (this year’s Memento Mori).

No doubt, it’ll be distinctly bittersweet with the still-fresh absence of the late Andy Fletcher. Yet, it’ll always be unquestionably Depeche Mode with the primary pillars of Martin Gore and Dave Gahan on stage. Show up early for excellent Brooklyn mood-gaze band DIIV.

6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, Amway Center, $75-$250.