In fact, the show takes place on a day that has a very special meaning for the band.
Depeche Mode are playing in Leipzig on Friday, May 26th as part of their “Memento Mori” tour. The fact that the concert will be a special occasion is not only due to the fact that it is the first German show on the tour. May 26, 2023 is also the first anniversary of the death of Andy Fletcher, who was part of the synth-pop formation for over 40 years. He died of an aortic dissection at the age of 60.
Fletcher has always been considered the low key part of the band by Depeche Mode fans. Both musically – he didn’t have a songwriting credit for any of the group’s 100+ songs – and personally. In public appearances, he stayed in the background, holding together the group, whose fellowship was apparently suffering from the big egos of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore. “Andy has always been something of the band’s glue. It would have been unthinkable for him that his death would have meant the end of the band,” Gore told Rolling Stone last year. Gahan told us this in an interview on the subject: “One of Fletch’s strengths was that he stood between Martin and me. Like a referee. Over the years we got used to Fletch being there and taking on that role. Now he was gone. And Martin and I had a mission to become friends.”
At the start of the “Memento Mori” tour in Sacramento in March 2023, his bandmates dedicated the song “World In My Eyes” to him and showed earlier recordings of him on the screen. The current record itself also contains an obituary for the deceased. “ANDREW JOHN FLETCHER – 1961 – 2022. In our HEARTS and MINDS. Dave & Martin” is written in the album credits.