Review: Depeche Mode, ‘Memento Mori: Mexico City’ – An Unsurprisingly Potent Live LP

Venerable alternative rock band Depeche Mode have released a brand new live album, Momento Mori: Mexico City, from their most recent tour (2023-2024) in support of their last LP,  Momento Mori. The live album is actually a soundtrack to a concert movie they shot of this show in Mexico City, entitled Depeche Mode: M. I’ve got to tell you, this is one helluva live album that stands on it’s own without the video! I had vaguely heard about this concert movie but now I realize I’ve got seek this thing out.

I’m a little pissed at myself for not seeing Depeche Mode on this tour. Of course they came nowhere near where I live, but last time they toured for the great, politically charged 2017 LP Spirit, I traveled first to Denver and then to Tulsa to see them. The Tulsa show was quite a trip… it was like going to a rave in the basement of a fundamentalist church. I wasn’t sure if the Tulsa citizens were going to clap or riot…

Ever since the Rock Chick turned me on to Depeche, I had always wanted to see them and when they announced the tour for Spirit (2017-2018) it was a no brainer to travel. Momento Mori was a little different for me. While Spirit, with songs like “Where’s The Revolution” and “We’re Going Backwards” was an instant classic for me, Momento Mori was more of a “grower,” one of those albums that takes a while to bore into my psyche. It was a bit of a dark record.

Sometimes, when a band I love puts out an album that doesn’t instantly hit my lower brain stem, I hold off on going to see them in concert. “I just saw them,” or “This album isn’t grabbing me like the last one,” are common misconceptions I’ve allowed myself to fall under. I also had a wedding to pay for and that was looming large on my mind (and my budget). Like not drinking on an empty stomach, when am I going to learn that it’s always a treat to see one of your favorite bands? I think Mori turned out to be a great album, but my expectations got in the way. It was, to me, a little dark and it heralded the loss of founding member/keyboardist Andy Fletcher, “Fletch” to his adoring fans and bandmates alike.

With Fletch’s loss as a back drop Mori was bound to be a little somber. Who can lose a friend and not feel it? We saw some live footage of Depeche early on this tour and it was the Rock Chick who scuttled any thoughts of going to see them when she said, “They seem sad. I think this will be a tour that might lack some punch.” Listening to this live album (and looking forward to seeing the concert film) makes me realize for once, she might have been wrong…don’t mention to her I said that. I can almost close my eyes and envision lead singer Dave Gahan twirling like an extremely handsome, sexy Praying Mantis in white boots.

Depeche Mode are a model of what a veteran rock band should do in concert. They play a bunch of their new songs – as groups used to do in the old days when they had something new to play – which keeps them vital and sounding alive. They also throw in a smattering of greatest hits. But what I love is that DM also play a lot of songs from their string of great albums over the last few decades like Ultra (1997), Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993), and even a few from Playing The Angel (2005). Like last time, Dave Gahan (vocals) and Martin Gore (songwriter/guitar/keyboards/vocals) augment the concert lineup with longtime sidemen Christian Eigner (drums/keyboards) and Peter Gordeno (bass/keyboards/backing vocals).

The show starts, after an intro thing with a quick blast of two tracks from the latest album, “My Cosmos Is Mine” and “Wagging Tongue.” I might like these live versions better than the studio versions on the album. “Walking In My Shoes” will always be a favorite live and this performance is no exception. “It’s No Good” is another highlight, of which there are many.

They go all the way back to ’83 for “Everything Counts” and it’s a real treat. One has to feel that’s a nod to Fletch and their early days. “Precious” is one of my favorite late era Depeche songs and I’m thrilled it’s here. Martin takes the mic for “Home” and it’s great, as usual. He gets his Keith Richards’ moments at the mic and I’m always up for it. “Soul For Me” is stripped down to just Martin’s singing and piano, a truly beautiful, quiet moment in a powerful show.

“Ghosts Again,” the first single from MM is even more powerful in concert. “I Feel You” kills! They hit thru a string of tracks that really form the emotional heart of the show: “A Pain That I’m Used To,” “World In My Eyes,” and the oft overlooked “Wrong.” Then they blow my mind and go all the way back to 1986’s Black Celebration for “Stripped.” They turn the blues on it’s head for “John The Revelator.” “Enjoy The Silence” which ends the main set is another killer.

The encore starts slowly with “Waiting For The Night” but quickly kicks in with two big highlights in “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Personal Jesus.” I’ve got to find Music For The Masses and Violator on vinyl and I’ve gotta do it now.

Another treat on this album, after the concert is over, Depeche tack on four studio tracks from the Momento Mori sessions. These are not demo’s or stripped down sketches, these are fully realized songs. I have to tell you, these are all great songs. It makes me wonder why they’d have left these off the album? I really like “Survive,” but “Life 2.0” and “Give Yourself To Me” are also great songs. Frankly, “In The End” should have been on the record. Any of these tracks inclusion on the original album would have made it that much better.

Depeche Mode is one of the world’s greatest bands and they are always going to show up in concert. This live album is a wonderful reminder of their power and glory on a stage. I’m sad about Fletch, but these guys, as they sing, “will survive.” Every fan needs to hear this live album, if just for the bonus studio tracks that didn’t make Momento Mori’s final cut.

This is, simply put, a great live document of a great band and a late career gem of a live disc. Moody, atmospheric, and rocking this is sensational music.

Check this one out! Maybe it’s not too late to ask Santa for it… Cheers! (If anybody knows if/where I can stream the concert movie, please drop it in the comments).