Touring the Angel

Touring the Angel was a worldwide concert tour by Depeche Mode, running from October 2005 to August 2006, spanning over 20 countries and featuring hits from their entire career. It promoted 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 3, 2005 in Tampa, Florida. It was supposed to start in Ft. Lauderdale, the day before, but was cancelled due to the after-effects of Hurricane Wilma. The last show before the "Open Air" leg was at the Wembley Arena in London, England on April 3, 2006.

Also, in New York City on October 28, 2005, the band played a special rehearsal show for invited guests only, mostly winners of worldwide radio station and internet 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 band also had a Summer tour, called the "Open Air" leg of "Touring the Angel", since most of the venues are outdoors. It included an extended Europe leg, new American dates, and Latin America. The tour started off bumpy with Dave Gahan getting sick at the Kansas City show, and the show was cut in half, which was followed by a cancellation of the following day's Chicago show. This came after a show scheduled in El Paso, Texas was cancelled months prior to the show because of a "scheduling conflict". The tour also hit a sad end, as the fourth to last show in Lisbon, Portugal was cancelled due to problems with the promoter, and the final show in Tel Aviv, Israel which was the band's first Asian stop in over a decade and the first in Israel, was cancelled due to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The tour included several festivals. The setlist was not be the same as the "Touring the Angel" setlist. The "Open Air" legs started in Mountain View, California (in the San Francisco Bay Area) on April 27, 2006 and ended in Athens, Greece on August 1, 2006.

Director Blue Leach filmed the two Milan shows in February. The footage was compiled to a DVD movie in September 2006 called .

Set

The set is very innovative compared to other Depeche Mode sets. Instead of previous sets, where the band would use regular synthesizers, they put two M-Audio Radium16 USB MIDI Controllers, behind each pod. At the left, there was also a large 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.

There's a number that scrolls by on the gray ball throughout the concert, with what appears to be a Freecall [toll-free] UK number, 0800 342 436. Ringing that number in the UK says "Stop typing, number moved".

Current Dates

North America (United States & Canada)

* There was a planned concert in El Paso, Texas on May 2, but it was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.Another concert in Chicago on May the 11th was also cancelled due to Dave Gahans laryngitis.

Europe and Asia

There were also two other concerts planned in Lisbon on July the 28th and in Tel Aviv on August the 3rd but these were later cancelled (Due to the second Lebanon war).

Setlist

Standard Setlist:

# I Want It All [Interlude] (Instrumental Intro)
# A Pain That I'm Used To
# A Question of Time
# Suffer Well
# Precious
# Walking in My Shoes
# Stripped
# Home (sung by Martin Gore)
# Blue Dress/Judas/It Doesn't Matter Two (sung by Martin Gore) [in festivals, sometimes there is no second Gore song]
# In Your Room
# Nothing's Impossible/The Sinner In Me [sometimes not played]
# John the Revelator [sometimes not played]
# I Feel You
# Behind the Wheel
# World in My Eyes
# Personal Jesus
# Enjoy the Silence

Encore
# Shake the Disease/Leave in Silence/Judas/It Doesn't Matter Two/Somebody (sung by Martin Gore)
# Photographic/Just Can't Get Enough
# Never Let Me Down Again

Kansas City Setlist:
# I Want It All [Interlude] (Instrumental Intro)
# A Pain That I'm Used To
# A Question of Time
# Suffer Well
# Precious
# Walking in My Shoes
# Stripped
# Home (sung by Martin Gore)
# It Doesn't Matter Two (song by Martin Gore)
# Leave in Silence (song by Martin Gore)
# A Question of Lust (song by Martin Gore)
# Somebody (song by Martin Gore)
# Damaged People (song by Martin Gore)

This setlist had to be played since Dave Gahan suddenly became ill. Martin Gore continued the setafterwards.

Total Songs During All Legs Played by Record

* Songs from "Playing the Angel":
# A Pain That I'm Used To
# John the Revelator
# Suffer Well
# The Sinner In Me
# Precious
# Macro
# I Want It All
# Nothing's Impossible
# Damaged People
* Songs from "Exciter":
# Goodnight Lovers
* Songs from "Ultra":
# Home
* Songs from "Songs of Faith and Devotion":
# I Feel You
# Walking in My Shoes
# Judas
# In Your Room
* Songs from "Violator":
# World in My Eyes
# Personal Jesus
# Enjoy the Silence
# Policy of Truth
# Blue Dress
* Songs from "Music for the Masses":
# Never Let Me Down Again
# Behind the Wheel
* Songs from "Black Celebration":
# A Question of Lust
# It Doesn't Matter Two
# A Question of Time
# Stripped
* Songs from "Some Great Reward":
# Somebody
* Songs from "Construction Time Again":
# Everything Counts
* Songs from "A Broken Frame":
# Leave in Silence
* Songs from "Speak and Spell":
# Just Can't Get Enough
# Photographic
* Songs not from a studio album:
# Shake the Disease

Performers

Depeche Mode
* David Gahan - Lead vocals
* Martin Gore - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Backup vocals, Lead vocals
* Andrew Fletcher - KeyboardsAssistance
* Peter Gordeno - Keyboards
* Christian Eigner - Drums

Opening Acts

* The Bravery (First US leg and Europe leg)
* The Raveonettes (First US leg, some shows in Europe)
* She Wants Revenge (Second US leg)
* Scissor Sisters (Second US leg, Mountain View only)
* Goldfrapp (Second Europe leg and May 13, Wantagh, NY)
* Placebo (Second Europe leg)
* Muse (Second Europe leg)
* Pati Yang, Timo Maas (Warsaw, Poland)
* Suie Paparude, Sistem (Bucharest, National Stadium)
* Schiller (Athens)

External links

* Depeche Mode Tours
* [http://www.depechemode.com/tour/index.html "Touring the Angel" information from the official Depeche Mode Website]
* [http://www.depechemode.ch/ Suisse DM Fan-site]
* [http://www.depeche-mode-world.de/tour-news/tour-news.html The complete Setlists from "Touring the Angel"]