Corbjin – who has worked with Depeche Mode on numerous occasions – reunites with his beloved band, tracing its final moments during the 2018 Global Spirit Tour. Yet this time his focus rests as much, if not more, on the “special fans”. Liz is a cancer survivor; throughout her battle with the illness, the band’s music has been her guiding light, her anchor, her savior. The thought of making it to the next concert has kept her going. Carine lost all her memory after being comatose at the age of 25. The one thing she remembered was a Depeche Mode song. Their music consequently helped bring her memory back. Indra temporarily escapes her traditional communist background to see Depeche Mode live in Berlin. Daniel, a gay Berlin resident from Brazil, was raised by religious lawyers; he reconsidered his entire religious background because of Depeche Mode. Not all of the stories are as intense. Dicken may have suffered an unpleasant divorce, but his shared love of the band with his two children – Korben and Milah – led to the formation of a rather unconventional cover band, and an apparent YouTube sensation. Cristian wasn’t allowed to listen to such music by the party in 1990’s Bucharest, so he discovered them through bootleg tapes – and later even recreated the famous “Enjoy the Silence” video with the (seemingly reluctant) aid of his family, via a series of photos.
“Gahan stomps and dances and absolutely owns the stage, and then there’s that unmistakable baritone voice…”
We see the fans attending the Berlin show – a series of electric, spine-tingling songs that Corbjin captures with his usual unceremonious flare. The guys – David, Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher – still got it; just one look at the gargantuan raving stadium of adoring fans says it all. Gahan stomps and dances and absolutely owns the stage, and then there’s that unmistakable baritone voice… They ingeniously extend their greatest hits (the focus is unsurprisingly on those) into longer versions, achieving, and maintaining, a state of aural ecstasy. It’s a grandiose performance that demonstrates how this almost-40-year-old band still has the capacity to bring folks out of the murk, and into the light.
And yes, the best songs in the doc are still the older ones. At least in the humble opinion of this ardent fan.
"…It’s a grandiose performance that demonstrates how this almost-40-year-old band still has the capacity to bring folks out of the murk, and into the light."
