End-of-tour speeches
This page attempts to compile all of the end-of-tour and end-of-leg speeches by Depeche Mode.
1983-1984 Construction Time Again Tour
At the final concert of the UK leg of the tour, 1983-10-08 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK, Dave briefly thanks the crew before The Meaning Of Love:
Dave: I'd like to dedicate this next one to all the crew, for being a great crew, and if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to do it. So thanks to all the crew. Okay, it's The Meaning Of Love!
1986 Black Celebration Tour
At the final concert of the tour, 1986-08-16 Valbyparken, Copenhagen, Denmark, Dave spoke before Boys Say Go!:
Dave: Thank you! Thank you very much. This is the last gig of our tour, and I'd like to say "thank you" to all the crew, who if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here tonight. Thanks very much. This is Boys Say Go!
1998 The Singles Tour
At the final concert of the tour, 1998-12-22 Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA, USA, Fletch spoke before Just Can't Get Enough:
Thanks to BRAT's tour diary entry, Fletch's speech has been transcribed:
Fletch: Thanks, ladies and gentlemen. (You've) been a great audience. We've enjoyed ourselves in Southern California. This has been one of the happiest tours for Depeche Mode for a long time, and there is a small chance we might be back. I'd like to thank the band. Christian Eigner on drums, Peter Gordeno, Janet and Jordan, and Mr. Andrew Phillpott, who put together all the programming for the tour. The unsung hero. He likes to think he is, anyway. So, anyway, I'll pass you over to the real star of the show... me! (band laughter) Over to Dave.
2001 Exciter Tour
At the final concert of the tour, 2001-11-05 Maimarkthalle, Mannheim, Germany, Dave spoke before Condemnation:
Dave: Whoa, thank you! Really, thank you very very very very very very much. It's really been a great tour, thank you so much. And I want to thank everybody on the crew, there's too many to mention to be honest, I will mention Jezz [Webb], cause you got to, really. I'll see you later. Mister [unintelligible]. I don't know, man. I don't know. It's been great. I tell you what, couldn't have done this without Peter Gordeno here, thank you Peter. Of course, Jordan Bailey, Georgia Lewis. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, yeah baby. Now, the man with the power, oh yeah, that's right. Mr. Christian Eigner. Alright! Alright, you know the rest of us, I think. Alright, let's do it guys.
2005-2006 Touring The Angel
This tour had no end-of-tour speech because the final concert, 2006-08-03 Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv, Israel, was unfortunately cancelled as a result of the 2006 Lebanon War. No speech was given at the prior concert at 2006-08-01 Terra Vibe, Athens, Greece as it was not anticipated to be the last concert of the tour. Notably, Depeche Mode started the 2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe in Tel Aviv to make up for this cancellation.
2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe
At the final concert of the tour, 2010-02-27 Esprit Arena, Dusseldorf, Germany, Dave spoke after Photographic:
Audio is from Live Here Now, DMLHNCD96
Dave: Thank you very much. Before we get started, I want to thank everybody here, all of you. Thank you very much. For making what we do very easy. You are the greatest fans in the world. Thank you very much. And I want to thank all our crew, who without we could not do this. I'm not gonna name you all, because we'd be here all night. But I especially want to thank Mr. Jonathan Kessler, of course, our manager, spiritual advisor, various other things as well in little bags... and of course I want to give a really big thanks to Mr. Daniel Miller. I think he's on the side over there. I can see him. Put a light on that man! Somebody shine a line on that man, please! Alright, we'll do it later. Alright, are we ready to say good night, and thank you? Thanks very much.
Martin: One thing we need to do: we need to say "thank you, Mr. Dave Gahan". Can we say, "thank you, Mr. Dave Gahan?"
<crowd cheers>
Dave: Thirty fucking years! He gave it up though.
Martin: Been a long time coming.
Dave: He's a bit shy.
2013-2014 Delta Machine Tour
At the final concert of the tour, 2014-03-07 Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia, Dave spoke after I Feel You:
Transcription:
Dave: Hey, you know, this is the last show on this tour. And it's been a great tour. And we've hit a lot of cities, seen a lot of faces. Twice, sometimes. Sometimes more than that. And I want to thank you all, for sticking with us all these years. Thank you very much, from the bottom of our hearts. And I especially want to thank all of our crew. The road crew! The road crew! The road crew! Thank you very much.
Martin: And we get a lot of namechecks, we'd just like to say, "thank you" for Dave Gahan as well ... he doesn't get many namechecks.
(Dave and Martin hug)
Dave: Thank you very much Martin. He's pretty nice too. Alright, let's do it, yeah?
2017-2018 Global Spirit Tour
The final concert of the tour, 2018-07-25 Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany, did not have a substantial speech, possibly because this concert, along with the prior concert two nights earlier, was being filmed for "SPiRiTS IN THE FOREST". After Just Can't Get Enough, Dave concluded the show with "Oh thank you very much, thank you. Whoo! That's all folks! We will see you all some other time, thank you so much, good night! Thank you Berlin!"
2023-2024 Memento Mori Tour
At the final concert of the tour, 2024-04-08 Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, Germany, Dave spoke both before and after Waiting For The Night. A video of the first speech can be watched via this tweet posted by Tara Salt (@Dingerz).
The audio below contains both of Dave's speeches:
A transcription of Dave's speech is below:
Before Waiting For The Night:
Dave: Thank you very much, thank you. Uhm, wait, I think before we start this, Martin and I want to thank Pete and Christian especially, of course, for being part of what we've just been doing for the last year...
Martin: Or more.
Dave: Or more, probably, yeah. And most importantly, the road crew, all the road crew, everybody, all of them. There's like, a hundred people that make this thing happen every night. And it's really been a special tour. We've had, obviously, some challenges at the beginning. We lost our friend, and Martin and I decided to carry on and make this record.
<crowd cheers>
Dave: And we did the tour, and I'm glad we did. Anyway, most importantly, I want to thank you all for being with us all these years. It really means a lot to us. Thank you so much.
After Waiting For The Night:
Dave: Thank you very much, thank you. Before we start the next song, I forgot to mention the captain of the ship and his very very loyal sidekick: Mr. Jonathan Kessler, and Mr. Alex Pollock. They really do make all this happen, so let's hear it!
<crowd cheers>
Dave: Thank you.
