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Exciter Tour 2001

Last updated 05.04.02

Exciter Tour Press Release

As their haunting new single «Dream On» gets ready to impact radio in a few days, DAVE GAHAN, MARTIN GORE and ANDREW FLETCHER today (March 13) announced the dates of DEPECHE MODE's «EXCITER TOUR», a massive five-month, 24-country world tour, at a press conference in Hamburg, Germany. In America, «EXCITER TOUR» is being presented by MTV2.

The tour takes its name from the title of DEPECHE MODE's forthcoming album EXCITER, due out May 15 on Mute/Reprise. The journey launches June 15 in Montreal, Canada; reaches the United States June 19 in Minneapolis, Minnesota for a summer-long run of arenas and sheds; touches down overseas August 28 in Tallin, Estonia; and concludes October 30 in Istanbul, Turkey. This marks DEPECHE MODE's first concert tour since 1998's «The Singles Tour», where they played to over 1,000,000 fans in 18 countries.

Testifying to the vitality and growing popularity of DEPECHE MODE, the tour will bring the pioneering band, who've sold over 50 million albums, to such countries as Ukraine and Turkey for the first time. Says GORE: «We consider it our good fortune that our concert itinerary has expanded. Performing in front of new fans for the first time is an added bonus and inspires us to keep pushing forward creatively.»

«EXCITER TOUR» will again feature the innovative stage design of their longtime artistic collaborator Anton Corbijn. «Always weird, very Anton» is how GAHAN describes the unique visual element that Anton - who's photographed and created classic videos for the band--brings to their stage show. «Anton is someone who doesn't merely listen to our music, he gets inside of it and interprets it in a way that always surprises us.»

From their 10 studio albums, DEPECHE MODE started with a list of 100 potential songs to perform, «narrowing it down to 25,» reveals FLETCHER. Classic DEPECHE MODE songs will mingle with various songs from EXCITER, which signals a new era of creativity for the band. Working for the first time with producer Mark Bell (best known for producing Bjork's Homogenic and Selmasongs), they've come up with an album where the sounds (electronic and acoustic) are strikingly varied, the songs are emotionally rich, and GAHAN's vocals are even more resonant than before. Which songs from EXCITER will make the set list? «We're actually wrestling with that decision right now,» says FLETCHER.

For the upcoming dates, DEPECHE MODE are welcoming the return of the musicians who accompanied them on their last tour: Christian Eigner (drums), Peter Gordino (keyboards), and Janet Ramus and Jordan Bailey (backing vocals).

Meanwhile, the release of «Dream On» to radio will be followed shortly thereafter by the debut of the Stephane Sednaoui-directed video, shot in February in the desert near Barstow, California. Expect a video that will be as mysterious as the song itself, which contrasts skittering beats with acoustic guitars and lyrics like «It sucked you in, it dragged you down/To where there is no hallowed ground/Where holiness is never found.» Fans anticipating EXCITER have been logging into the band's website (www.depechemode.com) to hear 30-second snippets of various songs from the album.

EXCITER TOUR DATES

North American Dates
June 2001
Mon	4	Los Angeles	ROXY Club	warm up show, tickets were spread by KROQ
Mon	11	Quebec City, CAN	Colisee Pepsi Arena	warm up show, on sale since April 27th
Wed	13	Ottawa, CAN	Corel Centre	warm up show, on sale since April 17th
Fri	15	Montreal, CAN	Molson Centre	on sale since April 20th
Sat	16	Toronto, CAN	Molson Amphitheatre	on sale since April 12th
Tue	19	St. Paul, MN	XCEL Energy Center	on sale since April 28th
Wed	20	Milwaukee, WI	Marcus Amphitheater	on sale since April 28th
Fri	22	Chicago, IL	World Music Theatre	on sale since April 28th
Sat	23	Detroit, MI	DTE Energy Music Theater	on sale since April 20th
Sun	24	Cleveland, OH	Blossom Music Center	on sale since April 28th
Wed	27	New York City, NY	Madison Square Garden	on sale since April 23rd
Thu	28	New York City, NY	Madison Square Garden	on sale since April 28th
Sat	30	Philadelphia, PA	First Union Center	on sale since April 28th
July 2001
Sun	1	Boston, MA	Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts	on sale since April 27th
Tue	3	Wantagh, NY	Jones Beach Amphitheatre	on sale since May 12th
Thu	5	Washington, DC	Merriweather Post Pavillion	on sale since April 21st
Sat	7	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	National Car Rental Center	on sale since April 28th
Sun	8	Tampa, FL	Ice Palace	on sale since April 28th
Mon	9	Atlanta, GA	Hi Fi Buys Amphitheatre	on sale since April 21st
Fri	13	New Orleans, LA	UNO Lakefront Arena	on sale since April 21st
Sat	14	Houston, TX	Cynthia Wood Mitchell Pavillion	on sale since April 27th
Sun	15	San Antonio, TX	South Texas Amphitheatre	on sale since May 5th
Tue	17	Dallas, TX	Smirnoff Music Center	on sale since April 20th
Thu	19	Las Cruces, NM	Pan American Center	on sale since May 5th
Fri	20	Albuquerque, NM	Journal Pavilion	on sale since May 5th
Sat	21	Denver, CO	Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre	on sale since May 5th
Mon	23	Salt Lake City, UT	E Center	on sale since April 21st
Fri	27	Portland, OR	Rose Garden Arena	on sale since April 28th
Sat	28	Vancouver, BC	Pacific Coliseum	on sale since May 4th
Sun	29	Seattle, WA	Gorge Amphitheatre	on sale since May 5th
August 2001
Wed	1	Sacramento, CA	Sacramento Valley Amphitheatre	on sale since April 28th
Fri	3	Concord, CA	Chronicle Pavilion at Concord	on sale since April 29th
Fri	4	San Francisco, CA	Shoreline Amphitheatre	on sale since April 29th
Sun	5	Santa Barbara, CA	Santa Barbara Bowl	on sale since May 5th
Wed	8	Las Vegas, NV	The Joint	on sale since May 5th
Fri	10	Phoenix, AZ	America West Arena	on sale since April 29th
Sat	11	San Diego, CA	Coors Amphitheatre	on sale since April 28th
Tue	14	Los Angeles, CA	Staples Center Arena	on sale since May 6th
Wed	15	Los Angeles, CA	Staples Center Arena	on sale since May 6th
European Dates
August 2001
Tue	28	Tallin, Estonia	Song Festival Grounds	on sale since March 13th
Wed	29	Riga, Latvia	Skonto Stadium	(T.B.A.)
Fri	31	Vilnius, Lithuania	Vingis Park	on sale since May 28th
September 2001
Sun	2	Warsaw, Poland	Horse Race Track	on sale since April 5th
Tue	4	Prague, Czech Republic	Paegas Arena	on sale since March 14th
Wed	5	Berlin, Germany	Waldbuhne	on sale since March 19th
Thu	6	Berlin, Germany	Waldbuhne	on sale since March 19th
Sat	8	Hamburg, Germany	Trabrenbahn	on sale since March 19th
Sun	9	Leipzig, Germany	Festwiese	on sale since March 19th
Tue	11	Vienna, Austria	Stadhalle	on sale since March 19th
Tue	12	Budapest, Hungary	Kisstadion	on sale since May 18th or 21st
Fri	14	Kiev, Ukraine Ukraine	Palace	CANCELED
Sun	16	Moscow, Russia	Olympiski	on sale since May 9th
Tue	18	St. Petersburg, Russia	SKK Arena	on sale since April 20th
Wed	19	Helsinki, Finland	Hartwall Arena	on sale since May 14th
Fri	21	Stockholm, Sweden	Globe	on sale since May 14th
Sat	22	Oslo, Norway	Spectrum	on sale since May 14th
Sun	23	Copenhagen, Denmark	Parken Stadium	on sale since May 14th
Tue	25	Amneville, France	Galaxy	on sale since March 15th
Wed	26	Cologne, Germany	Kolnarena	on sale since March 19th
Thu	27	Cologne, Germany	Kolnarena	on sale since March 20th
Sat	29	Munich, Germany	Olympia Halle	on sale since March 19th
Sun	30	Munich, Germany	Olympia Halle	on sale since March 19th
October 2001
Tue	2	Nurnburg, Germany	Eishalle	on sale since March 19th
Wed	3	Stuttgart, Germany	Schleyerhalle	on sale since March 19th
Thu	4	Zurich, Switzerland	Hallenstadion	on sale since March 19th
Sat	6	Oberhausen, Germany	Arena	on sale since March 19th
Sun	7	Antwerp, Belgium	Sport Paleis	on sale since March 14th
Tue	9	Paris, France	Bercy	on sale since March 15th
Wed	10	Paris, France	Bercy	on sale since March 10th
Thu	11	Frankfurt, Germany	Festhalle	on sale since March 19th
Sat	13	Barcelona, Spain	Palau St Jordi	on sale since March 21st
Sun	14	Madrid, Spain	Palacio De Vistalegre	on sale since March 21st
Wed	17	London, UK	Wembley	on sale since March 30th
Thu	18	London, UK	Wembley	on sale since April 9th
Sat	20	Manchester, UK	MEN Arena	on sale since March 30th
Sun	21	Birmingham, UK	NEC	on sale since March 30th
Tue	23	Lyon, France	Halle Tony Garnier	on sale since March 15th
Wed	24	Milan, Italy	Forum	on sale since March 26th
Thu	25	Bologna, Italy	Palamalaguti	on sale since March 26th
Sun	28	Athens, Greece	Basket Ball Arena	on sale since March 26th
Tue	30	Istanbul, Turkey	Abdi Ipekci Arena	on sale since May 15th
November 2001
Sat	3	Zagreb, Croatia	Dom Sportova	on sale since September 17th
Mon	5	Mannheim, Germany	Maimarkthalle	on sale since September 20th

Opening Act for North American Leg

Poe will be the opening act for North American leg of the Exciter Tour.

Poe do 30-minute set.

Opening Acts for European Leg

Fad Gadget (for 32 shows, except Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Athens and Istanbul)

Latvian band Brainstorm (for all three of the Baltic shows: Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius)

Technique (for Warsaw, Hamburg, Leipzig, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Athens and Istanbul shows only)

Setlist:

01. Intro (lingering riff from Dream On)
02. The Dead Of Night
03. The Sweetest Condition
04. Halo
05. Walking In My Shoes
06. Dream On
07. When The Body Speaks (only guitar and gentle drumming as accompaniment)
08. Waiting For The Night
09. The Bottom Line (acoustic version by Martin)
10. Breathe (countrified version by Martin)
11. Freelove
12. Enjoy The Silence
13. I Feel You
14. In Your Room (zephyr mix) (minimal accompaniment - bare synthesizer and Martin Gore on back-up vocals)
15. It's No Good
16. I Feel Loved
17. Personal Jesus

Encore:

18. Home
19. Clean
20. Black Celebration
21. Never Let Me Down Again

Set changes

On some shows Surrender, Sister Of Night, Dressed in Black, It Doesn't Matter Two, Judas replace The Bottom Line (All these songs were sang by Martin!!!), and Condemnation replace Clean.

I Feel Loved was rejected from European Leg set-list.

Some show details

The stage design is very minimalistic again. A lot of red and green lights are used. At the very top of the stage (just above the musicians) a lot of little red lights on wires (like the Christmas lights used for the Christmas tree) are deployed like blinds, there are four of them. The drummer locates in center at the back of stage; Martin is at his left (when you look at the stage); Dave - at the front; both keyboards are to the right of the drummer; the backing singers are sometimes at the far right and sometimes in the back flanking the drummer. Some neon lights are on the stage behind each keyboard bank.

A big white screen fills the back of the stage, it is split into two parts horizontaly, and top half of the screen moves to a 45 degree position at some points). Some projected films (only during about 6 songs):

YOUR FAVORITE GAME...

In Your Room : some goldfishes in the top half of the screen and a shark in the bottom half of the screen;


LET'S HAVE A BLACK CELEBRATION TONIGHT!

Black Celebration : black-and-white lines and shapes;

YOUR OWN PERSONAL JESUS

Personal Jesus : glowing crosses;

WAITING FOR THE NIGHT TO FALL

Waiting For The Night : impressive water-dripping cascade;

HOME

Home : from dawning to sundown

IT'S NO GOOD

It's No Good : flirtation between Gahan and a coffee-shop waitress.

Onscreen text during It's No Good

Let's face IT, ultimately I am just a customer here and the world is a big place though getting smaller by the minute and warmer too if you believe the reports or look out of the window for that matter. And sitting here with a coffee and tea and this waitress the temperature starts rising inside as well - not that this will have an impact on me long-term but it could get uncomfortable for a bit.

Like I just thought, it IS getting hotter in here with her giving me all her attention and I don't need any right now, I am fine. If I wanted any I could slap my shoe on the counter like comrade Chruchov during the Cold War which is an aptly named period when you look back on it and in sharp contrast to the hot temperature I currently find myself in.

She has definitely got got the hots for me and I feel that as a paying customer I should be in charge but NO, I feel powerless in this situation - it is a bit of a stand-off like between China and America; always wondered if the chinese being in greater numbers than the americans do feel powerful knowing the other party is on average taller - would that influence any decision making at all on the powerstruggle front I wonder.

That is just so typical and I thought nobody cared about lower mathematics. There is two of them and so I find myself outnumbered. GOOD riddance I say, these power games on this level are not for me. Turning the other cheek is a healthy reaction and as a pacifist that would be my answer to to this kind of situation. Let me see if it gets any colder in here now.

All other time were only abstract images and Exciter album/singles cover images.

By the way, DM used drums in almost every song. Real rockers ;))

Tour Personnel

tour manager
Ivan Kushlick

production manager
Bill Leabody

tour accountant
Michael Lorick

press and promotion
Nichelle Carlson

security supervisor
Darrell Ives

security
Tony Fedewa

personal assistant
Ed Gomez

stage manager
Gerry Raymond-Barker

stage design co-ordinator
Lee Charteris

sound engineer
Gary Bradshaw

films and stage design
Anton Corbijn

lighting operator
Fraser Elisha

video technicians
Alastair MacDiarmid
Robyn Tearle

monitor engineer
Sarne Thorogood

guitar technician
"Jeremy ""Jez"" Webb"

drum technician
"Iain ""Robbo"" Robertson"

keyboard technician
Huw Williams

wardrobe
Isobel Work
Alison McLaughlin

sound technicians
Gerry Fradley
David Poynter
Richard Webber

merchandise manager
Paul Tallowin

lighting technicians
Mick Stowe
Ed Jackson
Eugene Benavidez
Johnny Gallagher

riggers
Donny MacDonald
hris McKenna

caterers
Graham Morrison
Mairead De Barra
Chris Clarke
Rachel Franklin

venue security
Michael Oertel

truck drivers
Will Johns
Andrew Mellor
Paul Bricusse
Richard Crooks
Terry Foggin
Nigel Webber

crew bus drivers
Nicholas Brown
Robert Grant
Paul Shea

european agent
Sensible Events
Andrew Zweck
Heather Madel

US agent
Creative Artists Agency
Carole Kinzel
Mary Robin
Alison McGregor

promoter
Inter-Concerts
Jackie Lombard

promoters assistant
Alain Sebaoun

venue manager
Phillippe Ventacourt