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visual // 101
Before I start, let me make some contextual statements.
1) I love Depeche Mode, have done for many years and honestly
believe that they are the best - albeit misunderstood - rock band
to come out of the UK in the 1980s; 2) I think they are among the
most precise and thrilling live acts in the world; 3) I think their
songs have stood the test of time and, with very few exceptions,
still sound as good today as they did when they were released; 4)
I love 101 as an album - I think it's an excellent live document
of their swelling prowess and audience, and without it, I would
not have passed my GCSEs in 1993, as it was this long album (and
Pop! by Erasure) that measured my calvanistic revision timetable.
But, as positive as I am about Depeche Mode and
Mute Records in general, I do not like 101 the movie. That's
right, a Mute release I do not especially like.
There are some things I do like, of course, and
these are, in no particular order : you get to see the band, despite
filling 50,000-capacity venues, getting ready to go onstage in less-than-ostentacious
- communal - dressing rooms, with no visible rider or even
assistance; you get a choice Dave Gahan annecdote regarding
beating up a taxi driver (scrawny Dave Gahan? Never in a million
years), as well as his famous 'I'm not f**king Wordsworth'
pre-concert repartee, and his most un-rock n' roll description of
a 'puffer' to help his tired voice; you get to see Martin Gore
naively professing never to have heard Johnny Cash to a Nashville
store teller (the same Cash who later covered Gore's own 'Personal
Jesus') and receiving a fricking bumper sticker, grinning like a
child with a lollipop gifted by the shopkeeper; Alan Wilder
doing little to reduce his reputation as the chief techno genius
in the band at the time with his educational tour around one of
his MIDI keyboards; Andy Fletcher's odd dancing and the vague
notion that he doesn't actually seem to be doing a lot with his
keyboards; fantastic views of the California scenery mostly set
to the inspired cover of 'Route 66'; the band's rather impressive
personal jet; the glee of the tour accountant and manager after
calculating the ticket revenues.
That is, unfortunately, where my praise for Fraser
Pennebaker's 101 documentary or road movie - whatever
you want to call it - ends. My reasons are manifold, but my core
problem with the original print of 101 is that I simply don't
care about the cringe-worthy teenagers wending their way across
America to see the band in concert at the Passadena Rosebowl in
LA; I don't give a damn about their priveleged pilgrimage, their
lives and relationships and their tour bus drinking and puking.
Why should I? For me, it would be much more enjoyable to see more
of the band on their travels across the States. I'm convinced that
there are people who love it either for entertainment value or artistic
merit - perhaps it is a statement of irony that the motley bunch
of college reprobates get up to more mischief than the band - but
for me seeing some kids on a bus just detracts from the band itself,
and indeed the momentum of the tour and the swelling popularity
of Depeche Mode State-side.
The most frustrating thing about 101, however,
also turns out to be the reason that this DVD re-print is so desirable.
There is nothing worse in life than raised expectations that do
not lead to the expected conclusion, ultimately leaving you let
down and disappointed. It could be anything from a sneeze that just
fizzles out to a job offer that gets retracted - they leave you
feeling pissed off and bitter. The road trip print of 101
does just that with its fleeting glimpses of the band performing
live which occur between sequences of the bus kids and the band
(all taken from the Rosebowl concert, not - as it tries to appear
- from various points on that tour); half-performances and all-too-brief
snatches. Thankfully, on the second disc, this imbalance is redressed
by the restoration of full live performances of 12 tracks - the
visual accompaniment to the 101 double live album. It's this,
in my eyes, that makes this a worthy purchase. The second disc also
includes interviews between Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus
and Daniel Miller (via tele conference), Dave Gahan (in his
New York apartment), Andy Fletcher (in NYC) and Martin Gore (in
his plush Santa Barbara house). Gahan and Gore both promote their
solo work, while Andy is clearly overjoyed with Pennebaker's dog.
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