What is the Black Swarm – and how do you become part of it?

Many people who have been to a Depeche Mode concert will be familiar with the term Black Swarm. That’s the name of the loyal fan community that identifies with the band and follows them as often as possible. Fandom as written in books – the musicians don’t miss it either. After all, they have been looking into many familiar faces for years when they let their gaze wander through the front rows.

To belong to the Black Swarm, you need a special passion for Depeche Mode’s music – and that is particularly evident in Germany. The band has always had a good footing in this country and the death of keyboardist Andy Fletcher has only brought the fans closer together. The uninterrupted support was recently reflected in the rapid ticket sales for the European tour.

For the love of Depeche Mode: How do you become part of the Black Swarm?

For fans of Depeche Mode, Dark and Eighties sound who want to join the Black Swarm, there are various places to go on the net – above all, of course, the website black-swarm.de, which is operated by Frank Zörner from Dresden. Here you can find out about Black Swarm events, get tickets for after-show parties after the concerts and buy merch. But you are only really part of the community if you also network with other members.

This can be done at Depeche Mode parties, for example Facebook group of the Black Swarm or via the forum depechemode-forum.ch. In the forum, the followers share, among other things, which concerts they will be at and which seats they have. In this way, many new acquaintances can be made quickly. At the same time, people support each other in getting tickets for the live shows, form carpools or exchange ideas about songs and other news.

To be included in the Black Swarm, all you have to do is be a true fan and want to follow your passion for Depeche Mode. In the forum it says: “Welcome, you are where you belong: in the club of the other crazy Depeche Mode fans! And that is a real stroke of luck for us!”