Depeche Mode star heads special Valentine's concert

  • 2004-02-05
  • By TBT staff
RIGA - For one reason or another, Depeche Mode has long had a vast and devout following in Europe. When the group played in Riga three years ago, it drew a record crowd at Skonto Stadium that no one has managed to surpass since. So it's little wonder that a low-key concert headed by Depeche Mode keyboardist Andy Fletcher is being billed as a major event.

The concert, Mentos St. Valentine Night With Andy Fletcher, is an all out electronica affair, with support coming from some impressive acts, such as Rosewater, DJ Knabis and DJ Vital.
The venue for the concert is an intriguing choice. The Museum of Railroad History is better known for hosting poetry readings than avant-garde electronica concerts, but it's actually an inspired choice. The event's organizers have even promised that an old locomotive engine will serve as part of the lighting. That might well be worth the price of admission alone.
Andy Fletcher was one of the founding members of Depeche Mode back in 1980 (yes, that long ago), along with Martin Gore and Vince Clarke. Over the next two decades Depeche Mode (named after a French style magazine) went on to become the most successful of all electro-synth pop groups, easing many an anguished adolescent's passage into adulthood.
Latvian concert organizers are sometimes a little overzealous in their attempt to give value for money. In this case, for example, they have promised that everyone coming to the concert will be given free candy (Mentos, the mint makers, are the show's sponsors). And, in the exact words of a press release, "the Organizators of the event will tell a lot about the history and world traditions of St. Valentine's to the visitors of the event." But to top it all, they have reassured everybody that they will provide heating for the concert.
It should definitely be a memorable night, with so much talent on show, and not forgetting that romance will be in the air as well. Electronic music is one thing that Baltic artists do very well, so it should be interesting to see the Baltic contingent perform live.
Mentos St. Valentine's
Night With Andy Fletcher
Museum of Railroad History Feb. 13 begins 10 a.m.
2/3 Uzvaras Boulevard, Riga
Tickets 5 lats (7.50 euros),
available from Gailitis G, Universals Centrs, Mols, Maxima, Elkor and Upe music stores