After one band member leaving, one suffering a nervous breakdown,
and one battling with his personal drug-related troubles,
the remainding trio known as Depeche Mode has carried on,
regardless of what has happened to the band in the past.
Depeche Mode did not tour for 1997's "Ultra," but decided to
wait a while and finally tour for the release of their
"Singles 86>98" album, which was released in mid-98,
hence propping the name, "The Singles Tour 86>98."

The show started promptly at 8pm, with opening band,
Stabbing Westward. Their redundant and annoying stab at a more
glamourious Nine Inch Nails persona did nothing but bore the
majority of the audience. Westward's constant mainstream radio-play
did achieve them some loud fans in the arena, who begged for more.
Thankfully, they left right before we were about to
embark on our bathroom break.

The Moders crept in with their intro (Painkiller), and worked the
audience into an anxious frenzy. A bright yellow light would
luminate the stage every now and then, keeping up with the beat,
and then revealed the entire stage set-up.
A huge red vintage movie theatre curtain rested above the stage
with 3 mediocre sized screens in the middle, accompanied by the
letters "D" on the left side and "M" on the right. The band's
equipment was already warmed up and presented at a short distance
from the audience, hence recieving more of the audience-to-band
atmosphere. Guest keyboardist Peter Gordeno and guest drummer
Christian Eigner appeared, only then to be completed by Martin,
Andy, and Dave. They launched into "A Question Of Time" without further delay, and the crowd responded heavily.
The band covered about 80% of their Singles album, playing such tracks as "World In My Eyes," It's No Good," "Never Let Me Down
Again," and "Stripped." A memorable moment was the classic
"hand-wave" during "Never Let Me Down Again."
Dave lead an enitre Miami audience of hands swaying back and forth.
There were barely any hands down at that point.

Mode played for roughly 2 hours, and closed with an unexpected
1981 hit, "Just Can't Get Enough." Some say the show should have
been longer, and some say they needed to play more older material.
Personally, it was one of the most energetic concert
experiences in my life.
Depeche Mode doesn't have the "dinosaur" tag just yet,
and by judging by this past tour,
they won't be wearing it for a long time.

Mike Ramirez