Touring the Angel
Touring the Angel is Depeche Mode's October 2005 to April 2006 world tour, featuring concerts spanning over 20 countries and featuring hits from their entire career. It promotes their 2005 album, Playing the Angel.
Touring the Angel was officially announced in Düsseldorf, Germany on June 16, 2005, however only European dates were announced. They went on sale soon afterwards, and most dates, especially in Germany, sold out quickly, despite the concerts not happening there for at least a half a year. The American dates weren't announced until mid-September.
Touring the Angel officially began November 3rd, 2005 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was supposed to start in Ft. Lauderdale, the day before, but was cancelled due to the after-effects of Hurricane Wilma.
Also, in New York City on October 28, the band played a special rehearsal show for invited guests only, normally winners of worldwide radio station contests. It was nicknamed "Starting the Angel".
The American concerts were mostly stadiums with floor seating. However, the Las Vegas, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey concerts were at small clubs with General Admission standing. However, they were very expensive, and obviously, sold out on day one. Originally, there were only one Los Angeles and New York City shows, but they too, sold out quickly (along with San Diego), so two additional Southern California dates were added, along with another New York date.
The American leg of the tour is currently the shortest Depeche Mode American leg in recent times.
Set
The set is very innovative compared to other Depeche Mode sets. Basically, the keyboards were put in alien-like pods which had flashing lights that could do various colors. At the left, there was also a big gray ball, with various words on it ("Sex", "Pain", "Angel" among others), some of which would light up depending on the song. In the middle of the ball was a black bar, which flashed various words and pictures, depending on the song.
There was also a curtain at the right with the Feather Creature from the Playing the Angel cover. At the beginning of "John the Revelator" the curtain is dropped. Replacing it are three screens, which featured distorted images of the band's current movements. Sometimes they were placed with movies, drawings, or pictures. Eventually, there were four screens, then five, and finally six.
At the very left was a small alien pod and in front of the pod was a microphone. Normally, Martin Gore would stand in front of the microphone and play the guitar and perform backup vocals, but for the more electronic songs, he'd get behind the small pod and play keyboards.
To the right of the small pod was the drum set, played by Christian Eigner. To the right of that was a big alien pod, featuring Peter Gordeno. To the right of that was another pod, played by band member Andrew Fletcher. In the center was a solo mic, played by lead singer David Gahan, although sometimes Martin Gore would perform songs, and he'd get the center.
The set was designed by Anton Corbijn.
Current Dates
North America (United States & Canada)
- The Bravery is the intro act for November 3rd through November 12th, and December 3rd through December 9th.
- The Raveonettes is the intro act for November 15th through December 1st.
Europe
Latin America
Date | City | Venue | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
April 30 2006 | Mexico City, Mexico | Sports Palace | Unconfirmed |
2006 | Rio De Janeiro, Brazil | Unknown | Unconfirmed |
2006 | Sao Paulo, Brazil | Unknown | Unconfirmed |
Setlist
There were seven songs from the album it promotes, Playing the Angel. Every other song was a single, which has caused some criticism from fans who wanted more cult classics. Also to note, only one song from their previous albums Exciter and Ultra were played each.
The setlist spanned songs from their 1981 debut Speak and Spell to the present, and included at least one song from each album, except A Broken Frame which had none.
Normally, the setlist for Depeche Mode shows are consistent. However, sometimes songs are switched with other songs, usually the Martin Gore vocal songs. At the moment though, the setlist has been the same, and this is the general setlist. Exceptions are noted above in "Setlist Notes". All songs are sung by David Gahan unless otherwise noted.
- I Want It All [Interlude] (Instrumental Intro)
- A Pain That I'm Used To
- John the Revelator
- A Question of Time
- Policy of Truth
- Precious
- Walking in My Shoes
- Suffer Well*
- Damaged People (sung by Martin Gore)
- Home (sung by Martin Gore, the beginning sounds like the "Air Around the Golf" Mix)
- I Want It All*
- The Sinner In Me
- I Feel You
- Behind the Wheel
- World in My Eyes
- Personal Jesus
- Enjoy the Silence
Encore 1
- Somebody (sung by Martin Gore)
- Just Can't Get Enough**
- Everything Counts
Encore 2
- Never Let Me Down Again
- Goodnight Lovers (only non Playing the Angel song to have it's live debut at Touring the Angel)
- All songs written by Martin Gore, except those with a * next to it, which were written by David Gahan, and ** which were written by Vince Clarke.
Setlist Stats
The following (except "Previous Tour", "Biggest Revival", "Most recent" and "Debut") are judging from the main setlist. If there are songs that were played that were not on the setlist, then they are not included except in (Parenthesses).
- Songs from Playing the Angel: 7
- Songs from Exciter: 1
- Songs from Ultra: 1
- Songs from Songs of Faith and Devotion: 2
- Songs from Violator: 4
- Songs from Music for the Masses: 2
- Songs from Black Celebration: 1
- Songs from Some Great Reward: 1
- Songs from Construction Time Again: 1
- Songs from A Broken Frame: 0
- Songs from Speak and Spell: 1
- Songs not from a studio album: 0
- Songs played at the Exciter Tour: 6
- Total songs (not including intro): 21
- Biggest revival: "Everything Counts", not played since 1994. (11 years)
- Most recent non-current-album song: "Goodnight Lovers"
- Non-Current-Album debut: "Goodnight Lovers"
Performers
Depeche Mode
- David Gahan - Lead vocals
- Martin Gore - Guitar, Keyboards, Backup vocals, Lead vocals
- Andrew Fletcher - Keyboards
Assistance
- Peter Gordeno - Keyboards
- Christian Eigner - Drums
Links
Depeche Mode Tours
"Touring the Angel" information from the official Depeche Mode Website
Fan reviews for "Touring the Angel"
Purchase tickets for the remaining American dates