Anyone who has a strong emotional connection to a musician or musical group would love to meet the person that created the music that shaped their world.  When I met Depeche Mode during the Playing the Angel Tour of 2005, it was a very special day.

At that point, I had been a devoted fan for 16 years and aside from the day I was married, it was the second happiest day of my life!  For anyone that has met the guys from Depeche Mode, you probably had similar emotions when you met them, right?

Recently I’ve connected with a handful of really cool Depeche Mode fans on Twitter.  We’re like a community of supportive friends that virtually hang out together online.  One Twitter friend calls us “Planet Mode.”  I am posting this email I sent to my friends in 2005 just after meeting Depeche Mode.  Twitter friends, this post is for you!  Pictures will be posted separately.

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Thursday, November 17, 2005 4:47 AM <—- yes, I stayed up all night

Hello!!  OK, you know me… I tell long stories so please be patient with my email.  :)

I just wanted to share my very exciting experience with you.  As many of you know, Depeche Mode rocked the Key Arena in Seattle, WA last night (& some of you were there!) and this was my 8th time seeing them.  I had excellent seats on the floor: ROW 4, seat 23 (very close to the center aisle)!  I have never been this close to DM.  The first time I saw them, Lisa and I had row 13 on the floor for Vancouver, B.C., so row 4 was VERY exciting!!

I wish I had brought my digital camera but they said NO CAMERAS when I called ahead… but they didn’t even pat us down or check our bags closely!  SOOO many people brought cameras in and I took a few with my nearly-dead cell phone.  I will probably be able to get some pictures from other people I met, so that makes up for it.  This was the first time I didn’t bring a camera in to a DM show.

Anyway, my friend Stacy has a very loving husband that emailed the morning DJ at 107.7 The End to ask if there was any way he could help her get backstage to meet Depeche Mode.  She has been a devoted fan for 21 years!  Stacy’s husband called her at work and surprised her - he said to turn on the radio and she was totally confused because she didn’t know he had written in.  The DJ read the email on the air yesterday morning (wish I had heard it!) and they took a vote in the studio to see if they thought Stacy should get the passes.  DJ Jennifer White said yes, some intern said no, and Cisco Morris (the weird gardener guy!!) was hanging out with them and said no!!  Stacy heard the end of the radio clip and then they said they were giving passes to caller 7.  Her coworkers were so angry, they called and tried to win but when Jennifer White answered the phone, she kept saying, “We have caller 7 already.”  There really was no caller 7.  It was secretly going to be Stacy all along, so the DJ called her husband off the air and told him they were getting 2 tickets and 2 backstage passes!

When John and Stacy arrived at my house, John asked Jake and me if I had been good.  I was confused and asked if he was Santa Claus and he said yes.  Huh?  Stacy pulled out a paper from 107.7 The End that said we were going backstage and I started crying and shaking!  I was REALLY confused and couldn’t think clearly.  You all know how much this means to me after being a huge fan for nearly 16 years!!  So I grabbed some Kleenex and thanked them and we went off to the show.

The radio station saved the concert tickets and backstage passes under her husband’s name, so we had to get special clearance to get her in without John.  Her husband John didn’t go to the show because he needed to stay home with their 2 year old son.  They live in Silverdale and stayed at a hotel in Kent.  Stacy never did anything with the extra tickets.  They were horrible - section 200-something! 

We got special stickers that allowed us to go backstage, so we were led in with a group to the Key Arena and they didn’t even ask for my ticket - they just let us in!  Later when I got to my seat, they didn’t even ask me to get my ticket out of my purse.  Strange!  But back to meeting the band!  We were ushered back stage and waited for the 3 band members to come out.  Finally, they appeared!!!!  WOW!!!  Martin came out first, looking adorable in this funny knit mohawk hat that a fan made for him in NYC.  He also wore a black shirt, black fitted sweatpants, black feather wings, a black leather apron-thing covering his behind, a bunch of black feathers stuck to the ankles of his sweats, and white Converse (I think).  He was very quiet and smiley and just walked through the line shaking our hands.  I told him something like, “Thank you Martin, I love your music!” (he is the song-writer and sometimes vocalist - also plays keyboards and guitar).  I showed him my “DEPMODE” license plate with the “I’d Rather Be at a Depeche Mode Concert” frame and he smiled even bigger.  He was so short and small in person!!  Then Andy came through (he plays the synthesizer, bass and claps a lot) and shook my hand.  He was wearing black jeans, a black shirt and a black leather coat.  His nickname is “Fletch” because his last name is Fletcher.  I said, “Hi Fletch!” (and he looked right at me, maybe surprised I’d be so casual with his name but it just slipped out) “I’m a big fan, thank you so much!”  I showed him my plate and he liked it.  Then David Gahan came through, the amazing lead singer!!!!  He’s my favorite!!  He was wearing a nice charcoal colored suit.  He smiled and shook my hand for a VERY long time as he read my license plate frame.  I told him I have been a fan for a very long time and he just smiled and nodded.  It seemed to take him forever to read that plate but it was cool because he just shook my hand longer!!  He wasn’t talking (none of them were) so I said to Dave, “You’re so quiet!  Are you saving your voice?” and he looked right at me and said, “Yes!” as he smiled.  WOW, he spoke to me!!!  Then we posed for a group photo.  Our cameras were not allowed, and no signatures were allowed.  BUMMER!  A promoter took a picture and the radio station is going to email it to us.  They actually took 2 photos and there were 7 fans in our group.  Dave stood right in front of me, next to Stacy and I was behind Dave with Andy on my right (behind Stacy - Andy is very tall and Dave and Martin are small!).  Andy put his arm around me and I put my arm around Dave for the 1st picture.  I put my hand on Dave’s shoulder for the 2nd photo and held my plate above Andy’s head for the pictures.  :)  I can’t believe this really happened to me!!!

As the group broke up and we were sent away, Andy gave Stacy and me a nice big hug!  WOW!!

We enjoyed the show, had a fabulous time and sang along with every word.  I was pleased that this show was not so ridiculously loud like other concerts.  Sometimes it’s so loud that it’s distracting - the music is distorted and it’s hard to recognize the song!  But DM has been together for 25 years and toured so long that they have got the sound system figured out.  I can hear just fine and my ears didn’t ring for too long.  They performed 22 wonderful songs and what was funny is that I have been lurking around on the Depeche Mode message boards http://forums.depechemode.com/forum/ and after every concert, fans post the set list.  So I had it in my pocket and would check it throughout the show to see if it changed.  Nope!  It has been the same for the last several shows.  Martin even played a cool silver star-shaped guitar!  For DM fans, here’s what the songs were:

1.      Intro
2.      A Pain That I’m Used To
3.      John The Revelator
4.      A Question Of Time
5.      Policy Of Truth
6.      Precious
7.      Walking In My Shoes
8.      Suffer Well
9.      Damaged People
10.    Home
11.    I Want It All
12.    The Sinner In Me
13.    I Feel You
14.    Behind The Wheel
15.    World In My Eyes
16.    Personal Jesus
17.    Enjoy The Silence

1st Encore
18.    Somebody
19.    Just Can’t Get Enough
20.    Everything Counts

2nd Encore
21.    Never Let Me Down Again
22.    Goodnight Lovers 

Thanks for listening to me gush!!  I have attached a few pictures for ya.  Hope you’re all having a great day and if you went to the show, too, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

I had 6 business cards on my purse and didn’t think I would give them out but I actually met so many people that were looking to move, so I gave out my cards and ran out of them pretty quickly.  I had more people wanting my card, so too bad for me!  Who would have thought I could meet real estate clients at a concert!!  :)

Love,

Stephanie (who is VERY happy)