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Why Depeche Mode’s ‘SPIRITS In The Forest’ Is The New Gold Standard For Concert Films

This article is more than 4 years old.

2019 is shaping up to be the highest grossing year that the Event Cinema industry has had in its young history. One of the genres propelling this growth has been in-cinema concert events featuring superstar artists as diverse as Rush, The Grateful Dead, The Cure, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Shakira. These particular films focus mostly on concert footage or provide a fans a “behind the scenes” look into the world of its world famous rock act subject.

The new film, SPIRITS in the Forest, is something entirely different however, turning the concert film genre on its ear. The film shows its subject, the multi-platinum selling band Depeche Mode, through the eyes of six diverse fans of the legendary group who has been recording, touring and making hit records since the early 1980s.

SPIRITS in the Forest, stylishly directed by Anton Corbijn, who has designed Depeche’s stage shows for years and has done several of the band’s most innovative music videos, brings together six of the most devoted Depeche Mode fans, literally from around the globe, interweaving their stories of how the band’s music has affected nearly every part of their lives. The film was released in cinemas worldwide for one night only by Trafalgar Releasing, in conjunction with Sony Music and BBH Entertainment on November 21. The film will be available on digital and on-demand December 17th from 1091.

Upon first glance it would be easy to pass SPIRITS in the Forest off as just another concert fluff piece, looking to take advantage of the group’s evergreen and rabid fan base. But rather than the camera surrounding the band for two hours, the film can actually best be described as a film that simply revolves around Depeche Mode but focuses more on its connection with its audience.

We are quickly introduced to the six fans who will feature prominently in the film as they prepare to head to Berlin, Germany, long famous as the unofficial home of Depeche Mode, for the final stop on their 2017-2018 Global Spirit Tour. Depeche fan Christian describes first hearing the band in his native Romania as Western music started to become available on bootlegs. His description of his parents and other family members gathering around their rickety turntable listening to smuggled-in albums, ensuring that the volume was low enough that the neighbors couldn’t hear, is touching and provides a real-life glimpse into the genesis of the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Indra is a 22-year-old from, of all places, Mongolia, who lives with her grandmother in a dreary, rundown Communism-era apartment who admits she didn’t really understand the band’s lyrics as she spoke little English when she first discovered their music. Fan Daniel talks about the how the band allowed him to escape the all-laid-out life he was being shoehorned into in his native Brazil, all the while struggling with expectations as well as his sexuality

French fan Carine describes in heartbreaking detail how she lost her memory in her mid-twenties and how one of the few things she could recall was how much she loved Depeche Mode. Their music allowed her to somehow cope with the struggle of complete memory loss and its resulting depression. Los Angeles-based Liz credits the band’s music with allowing her to deal with chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer and how the hospital knew to have the band’s music playing when she would come in for radiation. As personal as the band’s music is to Liz, one of the most poignant scenes in the film is when her teenage son describes the band’s connection to its fans undoubtedly in a more succinct manner than any music or film critic could.

Finally there is Colombian fan Dicken, who attempts to maintain a connection to his two children who have gone to live with their mother in Miami by forming a three-piece DM tribute band, DMK, complete with soda bottles and makeshift drum kits as musical accompaniment. The “band” has become a YouTube sensation and listening to Dicken’s young daughter describe the joy she feels when the trio plays one of the band’s most famous hits, Personal Jesus, because she gets to play that song’s thumping bass beat, is priceless.

Despite the focus on these half dozen stories, moviegoers coming to SPIRITS in the Forest strictly for concert performances won’t be disappointed either and that’s the true beauty of the film. Corbijn tightrope walk between the fans’ stories and concert footage is meticulously crafted. The film features dazzling live versions of both new and classic selections from the band’s discography. Among the songs feature din the film are electrifying versions of Everything Counts, Where’s the Revolution, Never Let Me Down Again and Just Can’t Get Enough, a delicately subtle version of David Bowie’s Heroes, and wild sing-along celebrations of Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence, a song that the pop duo Pet Shop Boys once called “The perfect pop song”. No one in Berlin that night in 2018 would disagree.

Wanting to showcase the special relationship the group has with its fans, SPIRITS in the Forest’s director Anton Corbijn explains, “Fans feel they belong to this group, almost like a cult following. Depeche had already done many straight concert videos and films and we wanted to show the connection their fans had with the group.”

Granted, one has to be a fan of Depeche Mode to fully understand the devotion these fans have with the band and to completely appreciate the resonance of SPIRITS In The Forest. But one could say the same thing about any concert film. One wouldn’t go to a concert film featuring Bauhaus or Celine Dion if they’re not already a fan of Bauhaus or Celine Dion (and isn’t that undoubtedly the first time those two acts have been mentioned in the same sentence).

The Depeche Mode lineup has remained relatively constant for decades with Dave Gahan, still a whirlwind and age-defying 57-year-old leading the brigade, the band’s de facto musical director and songwriter Martin Gore prominently out front, and keyboardist Andrew Fletcher content to leave the theatrics to Gahan, the guitar licks to Gore, and lurk in the shadows.

Seeing the film in cinemas on a large screen with a vibrant hi-def sound system is probably as close to experiencing a Depeche Mode concert as one can get, and with the band’s last tour completed it’s unknown when the group will be back on the road again. Bouncing around on stage for more than two hours like whirling dervish has to take a toll on any 57-year-old, especially one who has battled well-publicized health issues as Gahan has. SPIRITS in the Forest will have to satiate DMode fans for the time being and the film does this in spades, over the course of its two-hour running time immediately vaulting the film to the summit of concert films. It is that visually and emotionally stunning.

Director Corbijn continues, “Dave (Gahan) and all the band members were very keen on making SPIRITS in the Forest about the fans. Some of these fans have been with them since the start and have evolved as the band has evolved. Quite a few, however, are younger, and are fans because the band speaks to them about subjects that appeal to every age group-life, death, religion, sex, despair, hope.”

One of the band’s biggest fans and the person perhaps most suited to discuss the band’s allure is the one who contributed in large part to the band’s success in the US, Sirius/XM 1st Wave host Richard Blade. Blade was one of the main DJs at KROQ, the leading rock station in Los Angeles in the 80s and one of the premiere stations breaking new bands anywhere in the world. Blade even titled his autobiography, World in My Eyes, after the band’s 1990 hit. Through their visits to Blade’s show on KROQ and his Video One TV show, along with hosted in-stores and appearances, Depeche found their stride Stateside in Southern California in the mid 1980s.

“They shot to stardom primarily in Southern California because they understood what our station, KROQ, meant to SoCal listeners,” Blade told me when we discussed the band’s appeal. “They always came on my KROQ show plus the one I did with Video One to plug new records or tours and they understood the power of both to the kids of Greater Los Angeles. That commitment culminated with their 1988 Rose Bowl show.” That famous appearance at one of the most iconic outdoor venues in the word silenced the band’s detractors who viewed the concert as a colossal risk. It ended up being a massive success and catapulted the band to superstardom in the US and around the world.”

Describing the group’s tight connection with its audience, Blade adds, “I think DM’s strength is that they speak to kids who don’t quite fit in. Those who are standing on the sidelines and are struggling to get by and the band’s lyrics deeply resonated with these kids.”

Minneapolis DJ Jake Rudh agrees, “DM have this allure that is magical. As with so many kids I grew up with them in the ‘80s and they became “my band”. Echoing the individual stories that are the focus of SPIRITS in the Forest, Rudh adds, “I can remember specific moments in my life that are associated with hearing one of their songs for the first time. From People Are People on the radio to Never Let Me Down Again on MTV, I was instantly hooked and pulled into their world.” The Boston Globe’s review of the band’s fifth studio album, Black Celebration, perhaps said it best when it wrote, “Introspection has never been this tuneful.”

Despite the band’s three plus decades of success and the tremendous influence on bands that came after it, Depeche Mode is not currently in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though they are on the ballot this year. Rudh predicts, “I think they have a good shot. The Cure entering the Hall last year opens the door for so many from that era to be included.” Blade, who is as knowledgeable about bands from that era adds, “It’s a shame that so few new wave/alternative bands are presented in any way in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that’s why I am hoping they make it this coming year. They influenced so many major artists that have come along in the 80s, 90s and even today.” Director Corbijn makes it 3-for-3 by saying, “Of course I think they should be in.”


Anton Corbijn is the award-winning director of the films Control, The American and Life and has directed music videos for bands such as U2, Coldplay, The Killers, Travis, and obviously, Depeche Mode

Richard Blade is the best selling author of “World In My Eyes”, his autobiography. He is also one of the most popular and best known DJs in America and hosts a daily radio show on both SiriusXM 1st Wave Ch. 33 and on KCBS. His next book is the historical novel, SPQR, which comes out December 2nd.

Jake Rudh is a long-time radio and club DJ in Minneapolis specializing in hosting events and interviewing artists from the classic alternative world. He can be found on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current and the house that Prince helped build, First Avenue.

All sales figures courtesy of Billboard Magazine

Theaters, tickets and showtime information can be found at:

Depeche Mode: SPIRITS in the Forest: Get Tickets | Trafalgar ReleasingDepeche Mode: SPIRITS in the Forest: Cinema Screenings & Ticket Booking - The Official Showtimes Destination


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