Exotic Tour

The Exotic Tour was the second leg of Depeche Mode's infamous eighteen-month 1993-94 Devotional Tour, seeing the band head out on a whistle-stop "ROW" (Rest-Of-World) marathon. This appropriately-named "exotic" leg of the tour brought the band to parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, Oceania and South America, some for the first time. At the conclusion of this leg of the tour, the members of Depeche Mode had seen their career lead to live concert performances on every major continent in the world...with the one exception being Antarctica after the band's controversial and highly questionable decision to not continue the tour southward.

In 1994, Depeche Mode was Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder, and Andy Fletcher.

The Tour That Wouldn't End

As the second leg of Depeche Mode's mammoth tour to promote their multi-platinum 1993 album "Songs of Faith and Devotion", the Exotic Tour began on February 9, 1994, in South Africa (following a month-long break from the first barrage of shows), and ended on March 19 in the Philippines. A third leg of Devotional followed shortly thereafter, unceremoniously dubbed the USA | 1994 Tour, which ran until July.

As a whole, the Devotional Tour is to date the longest and most geographically ambitious Depeche Mode world concert tour, spanning eighteen months and 159 individiual performances.

This portion of Depeche Mode history is particularly memorable to fans, both for the mythological excesses written about the tour in the press, and for the actual consequences that ended up being brought about by whatever actually happened.

Lead singer Dave Gahan's unbridled drug use during this time, coupled with songwriter Martin Gore's burgeoning alcoholism ultimately did little to effect the tour per se, but each led to further breakdowns within the group's internal relationships and business operations.

Keyboardist Andy Fletcher found he was unable to cope with the increasingly grueling travel and touring schedule, suffered a nervous breakdown, and left the tour before the third leg was to start. Contractual obligations aside, Dave, Alan and Martin continued the tour, while Fletcher was replaced in his on-stage duties during USA | 1994 by longtime band assistant Daryl Bamonte, who learnt his keyboard parts over the course of a week, in a hotel room in Hawaii.

And then, a year after the tour ended, group musician Alan Wilder very publicly left Depeche Mode, citing his displeasure with a perceived imbalance of the group's workload.

Because of these factors, Devotional was widely thought to have spelt out the end of Depeche Mode.

Revised Stage Set

In an almost certain move to streamline the production and make more money, the enormous Devotional Tour stage set - designed by Anton Corbijn - was reduced to a simple single-level setup, with one large video projection screen behind the band replacing the numerous screens, levels, and other bells & whistles accompanying the first leg's stage. This setup was intended to lend itself to a more intimate experience for band and audience alike, due to closer and easier interaction with each.

Corbijn's video projections, designed for the opulent original concept, were cleverly edited together to fit the needs of the one main screen used on this leg of the tour.

Exotic Tour Setlist

The set list was mostly similar to the Devotional Tour leg with a few exceptions and new arrangements.

#Rush
#Halo
#Behind the Wheel
#Everything Counts
#World in My Eyes
#Walking in My Shoes
#Stripped
#Condemnation
#Judas/A Question of Lust/Waiting For The Night/One Caress (sung by Martin Gore)
#I Want You Now/One Caress/Somebody (sung by Martin Gore)
#In Your Room
#Never Let Me Down Again
#I Feel You
#Personal Jesus

Encore 1
#Somebody(sung by Martin Gore)/Fly On The Windscreen
#Enjoy the Silence

Encore 2
#Policy of Truth/Clean
#A Question of TimeAll songs written by Martin Gore.

Exotic Tour Dates

USA | 1994 Tour Setlist

The set list was entirely similar to the Exotic Tour leg with several songs omitted.

#Rush
#Halo
#Behind the Wheel
#Everything Counts
#World in My Eyes
#Walking in My Shoes
#Stripped
#Condemnation (sung by Martin Gore)
#I Want You Now (sung by Martin Gore)
#In Your Room
#Never Let Me Down Again
#I Feel You
#Personal Jesus

Encore 1
#Somebody(sung by Martin Gore)
#Enjoy the Silence

Encore 2
#A Question of TimeAll songs written by Martin Gore.

USA | 1994 Tour Dates

External links

* [http://www.depechemode.com Depechemode]