Photo Gallery: Depeche Mode at United Center • Chicago

Brassneck | April 6, 2023

Depeche Mode
United Center
Chicago, IL
April 5, 2023

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Considering that he wasn’t even in the room, Andy Fletcher’s (“Fletch”) posthumous presence loomed large at Chicago’s United Center on Wednesday night. The longtime Depeche Mode keyboardist passed away suddenly in May of 2022. For four decades, he was part of the core trio that made up the hugely influential dance-goth grooves that fueled the band’s success. His untimely passing, from an aortic dissection, left his bandmates with an uncertain future.

The remaining duo of singer Dave Gahan and multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore decided to soldier on, releasing the excellent Memento Mori earlier this year. It may come as a surprise to few that the songs contained within are musings on both death and the existential struggle the living are left in their wake. The band’s decision to tour behind the record brought them to Chicago’s West Side for a sold-out performance that proved that there is indeed solace in public mourning.

Considering that Gahan himself has crept close to sleeping with the Grim Reaper (he struggled with heroin addiction in the ’90s), it was amazing to find him incredibly vibrant and alive during an epic, 23-song set that found the band in peak form. Dozens of hours with a personal (Premier League) trainer will have that effect.

Their set list was career-spanning but also avoided some obvious selections for deeper cuts and recent material that simultaneously respected Fletch’s memory while still managing to move the band’s legacy forward.

Setlist via setlist.fm