1980 Tour (Depeche Mode)

1980 Tour was the first tour of the English synthpop band Depeche Mode, which took place between spring 1980 and 28 December 1980.

The band originally started while using the name Composition of Sound, and changed their name to Depeche Mode right before their first performance at the Bridge House on 24 September.^[1] Composition Of Sound began performing at Woodlands School, Basildon, Essex, England around March 1980,^[2] and ended at the Bridge House, London. Dave Gahan joined the band at Nicholas School in the Borough of Basildon on 14 June. The tour was restricted to the UK, and didn't supported any album nor single. The concerts were not planned well in advance, but opportunities to play at venues emerged as their popularity broadened. During this tour, Daniel Miller noticed the band at the Bridge House on 12 November and went on to support them and brought them into a studio to make Photographic followed by Dreaming of Me, leading up to Speak & Spell in 1981. Their first album featured several songs that were played during their tour in 1980, but there were also several songs that weren't played nor recorded by them.

Depeche Mode resumed touring in 1981, where the concerts were not planned well in advance until 31-10-1981, when their so-called "Speak & Spell tour" started.

Musicians

• Dave Gahan – lead vocals
• Martin Gore – synthesizers, backing vocals
• Vince Clarke – synthesizers, backing vocals, lead vocals (up until Scamps, xx-06-1980), electric guitar (up until Scamps, xx-06-1980)
• Andrew Fletcher – synthesizers, backing vocals and bass (up until Scamps, xx-06-1980)

Setlist

The setlist varied, depending on the changing style of the band, and on Clarke's newly written songs. This article will only mention the two performances that were recorded: Bridge House, London (30-10-1980) and Technical College, Southend-on-Sea (14-11-1980).

All songs were written by Vince Clarke, except where noted.

Bridge House setlist:^[3]

1. "New Life"
2. "Television Set" (written by Jason Knott, close friend of Clarke)
3. "Tomorrow's Dance" (writer unknown, probably Clarke; only played until early November 1980)
4. "Reason Man" (writer unknown, probably Clarke; only played until early November 1980)
5. "Photographic"
6. "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (written by Martin L. Gore)
7. "Big Muff" (written by Martin L. Gore)
8. "Ice Machine"
9. "The Price of Love" (written by The Everly Brothers)
10. "Dreaming of Me"

Technical College setlist:^[4]

1. "Television Set" (written by Jason Knott, close friend of Clarke)
2. "Addiction" (probably played only during this performance)
3. "Dreaming of Me"
4. "Just Can't Get Enough"
5. "Big Muff" (written by Martin L. Gore)
6. "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead"
7. "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (written by Martin L. Gore)
8. "Photographic"
9. "New Life"
10. "Ice Machine"

Tour dates

This is an approximate list of the tour dates.^[5] Note that because of the ad hoc nature of the tour and the lack of advertisement of the minor events, there could be more dates that aren't included in this list.

• 1980-03-xx Woodlands School, Basildon, Essex, England
• 1980-05-30 Paddocks Community Center, Laindon, Essex, England
• 1980-06-xx Scamps, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England
• 1980-06-14 Nicholas School, Basildon, England (the first live performance with Dave Gahan)
• 1980-06-21 Top Alex, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England
• 1980-07-02 Top Alex, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England
• 1980-08-16 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-08-30 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-09-20 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-09-24 Bridge House, London, England (the first live performance as Depeche Mode)
• 1980-10-11 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-10-16 Bridge House, London, England
• 1980-10-23 Bridge House, London, England
• 1980-10-25 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-10-29 Ronnie Scott's, London, England
• 1980-10-30 Bridge House, London, England
• 1980-11-08 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-11-12 Bridge House, London, England (the first live performance attended by Daniel Miller)
• 1980-11-14 Technical College, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
• 1980-11-29 Crocs, Rayleigh, Essex, England
• 1980-12-01 Bridge House, London, England
• 1980-12-10 Bridge House, London, England
• 1980-12-18 The Venue, London, England
• 1980-12-28 Bridge House, London, England

References