Depeche Mode 04/23/09

Jimmy Kimmel Live (Hollywood/Vine – Hollywood, CA)

Words/Photos by Poppers 620

 

So on Thursday, April 23 I got to finally see Depeche Mode. Not that they were a band I was dying to see, but one of those bands where I grew up listening to their music and knew all their songs, but didn’t want to necessarily pay to see them. So when my friend Adam called me saying he had snagged some of the free tix that Jimmy Kimmel Live was giving away for Depeche Mode as part of their Summer Series Concerts. I thought going to see them for free, and the fact that they were closing Hollywood & Vine for this, was pretty sweet. Couldn’t say no.

I had heard rumors on the news that Jimmy Kimmel Live had given away about 10,000 tickets, so me and my friend decided we needed to get down there as soon as they started pre-check in. Which was at 3pm. The concert would not start until 745pm. That should have given us a warning as to how insane they expected it to be. So we go to the 1Iota check in tent at Hollywood & El Centro, and then preceded to walk to the end of a line that twisted and turned around numerous blocks. I swear the line was at least half a mile long. I now believed the hype that they had indeed given away all 10,000 tickets. This was 3pm. The only good thing about being stuck in this long ass line was that we got to hear the band sound checking. About 515pm we finally get to the check in table, and after we are checked off a list, we got out wristbands. Now I see a woman holding red wristbands, and a man holding blue. I ask what the difference is and I am told absolutely nothing. So I take the blue. Turns out the red would have put me in the holding area directly in front of the stage, while the blue stuck me in the middle. Ugh. We tried to fight our way to the front of this pen, only to realize we would never win that battle. We decided to head to the back of our area, where at least we wouldn’t be crowded and could lean against the railing (plus I knew once they started playing my short ass could get up on the railing to see better.).

So now it is 6pm. We have been here 3 hours and in a little under 2 the band should play right? 7:45 came and went, 8:30pm came and went, and then finally around 9:15pm the band started playing. It was announced that the first 2 songs would be recorded for the show, then after that they would be playing for us, the fans.

They opened with a song from their new album Sounds of the Universe called “Wrong”, which was surprisingly good, and I swore to myself I would go out and buy that new album immediately, although I admit have yet to do so. They then played the crowd favorite “Personal Jesus”. Despite the fact I had been standing for the last 6 hours, and was perched precariously on a guardrail, I couldn’t help but smile and dance along. This was what I had come for. And man they sounded great. This definitely made up for my disappointment when I saw The Cure last summer. But what did suck is they then only played three more songs. “Walking In My Shoes”, “Enjoy The Silence” and “Never Let Me Down Again”. I was left really regretting I didn’t snag up tix for the Hollywood Bowl show in August. Anyone with a spare ticket want a cute date for the show?

And then it was over, and I made the long trek to my car that I had parked on Hollywood & Highland. It was 10pm.