Depeche Mode "Sounds Of The Universe" Tour In Danger Of Cancellation

21 of the Second Month 5769

Today News1 reports that the Depeche Mode concert tour is in danger of being canceled.

After the show in Israel, two of Depeche Mode's concerts have been canceled, in Athens and in Istanbul, following the illness of the lead singer David Gahan. It is possible that this will be the end of the tour.

(Tip Credit: Sophomore 74 Studios)

But the day before, DepecheMode.com, the group's official website, had already reported that...

Depeche Mode have been forced to cancel two shows on their 'Sounds of the Universe' tour, yesterday's show in Athens (May 12) and tomorrow's show in Istanbul (May 14), due to the illness of singer Dave Gahan.

Dave fell ill with a severe bout of gastroenteritis shortly before he was due onstage in Athens which resulted in his immediate hospitalization. At this stage, Dave's primary concern is to return to full health and resume the tour as soon as possible.

Fans in Athens and Istanbul have been advised to hold onto their tickets as an announcement will be made shortly with regard to rescheduled dates or cancellation.

But, since this statement was made, it looks as if shows scheduled for Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, have also been canceled. Still, we will have to wait and see if this really is the end of this tour.

The Tel-Aviv (Ramat Gan) show was the official opener of the "Sounds Of The Universe" tour, not counting the "warm-up" show played four days beforehand in Luxembourg.

At the group's Tel-Aviv press conference, a connection was made between opening in Tel-Aviv with the cancellation of the group's Tel-Aviv show three years ago due to the Second Lebanon War. That show, scheduled for the night following Tisha b'Av, was supposed to have been the closing show of "Touring The Angel."

Andrew Fletcher (synthesizers) said...

"As you must remember, we were very disappointed on the last tour, which would be the last [show] of Touring The Angel, when we had to cancel the show. But instead you've got the show of Tour of the Universe...."

(Tip Credit: Israelly Cool)

The show three years ago was reported to have been canceled not for political reasons, but due to the safety concerns of the group's crew.

At the time, I suggested that the show might have been canceled, as it was on a night when listening to live music is forbidden. So now, you might be asking the question, "Then, why wasn't canceled when it was a day before Lag b'Omer? And why were concerts in Athens and Istanbul canceled, but the concert in Israel was allowed to carry on? And am I making way too much out of all this? I don't know.

There are a few more interesting things to point about Depeche Mode and its Israel connection. They concern the lead singer, David Gahan, seen here visiting the Kotel (Western Wall).

His birthday falls on 5 b'Iyyar, Israeli Independence Day (1962).

In the Gregorian calendar, it fell last Shabbath, the day before the concert.

In addition, various conflicting reports have been made about his connection to Judaism. One is that his biological father is Jewish. One is that his parents converted to Judaism, after he was born, but reverted back to Christianity. David himself has also made mention of his affinity for Judaism.

But, enough about the band....

Throughout this post, the question many of you may have had burning a hole through your brains is whether or not I ended up going to the concert myself. No, I did not,...even though a friend claimed he had acquired passes to the after party at the Tel-Aviv Port (where the three band members actually did show up...kicking myself, kicking myself...).

There really wasn't much to discuss and debate, after I found that I had no way to get home after the concert, nor anywhere else to spend the night, except for the beach (been there, done that). So, the issues of whether I should go or not, and why I should or should not go, turned out to be moot.

Well, there's always next time....