BUDWEISER STAGE TURNS 25: Depeche Mode No. 9 of best concerts
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Toronto’s Budweiser Stage turns 25 this year, kicking off the summer concert season on May 20 with a sold-out show by The Strokes.
In honour of a quarter century of outdoor shows at the lakeside shed — which began life as the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on May 18, 1995, before changing names in 2017 — I’ve come up with my Top 10 favourite performances during the last 25 years.
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Here’s No. 9 as we count down to my No. 1 show:
Depeche Mode, Sept. 1, 2013
Huge hits and incredible stage production aside, ‘80s British synth-pop act Depeche Mode rely heavily on the compelling performance skills of frontman Dave Gahan in a live setting.
And at this particular show in support of their 2013 album, Delta Machine, the sold-out crowd of 16,000 got what I called “the full Gahan.”
As I wrote at the time, “if there isn’t a Dave Gahan workout tape, there should be, judging from his upper body definition, which was displayed to great effect as he took off his blazer, and eventually his vest, to dance, twirl, thrust his hips and stradle and spin with his microphone stand for two hours.”
Gahan made it difficult for you to take your eyes off him “from the very first moment he walked on stage and lifted his hand in the air with a flamenco-style flourish.”
It was the first classic Depeche Mode song, Walking In My Shoes, that saw the crowd come fully on board and stay committed with spontaneous singalongs after songs ended being commonplace.
“The crowd also clapped along happily to Precious, danced their hearts out to highlights like Policy of Truth, A Question of Time, Just Can’t Get Enough, and sang along loudly to notable numbers Enjoy the Silence, Personal Jesus, and Never Let Me Down Again, and leaned in for slower, more intense and powerful songs like Black Celebration, Barrel of a Gun, A Pain that I’m Used to, and I Feel You.”
What are the most more memorable concerts you’ve attended at the venue? Email jstevenson@postmedia.com
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