# World Violation Tour

The World Violation Tour was a 1990 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the act's seventh studio album, Violator. It was estimated that by the end of the tour, Depeche Mode had toured to 1.2 million fans.

## Background

Depeche Mode's previous tour, the Music for the Masses Tour, had run from late 1987 to the middle of 1988, and was supported by the live video and record release of 101 in early 1989. Violator was released in March 1990 and had already seen two successful singles to support it, "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" by the time the tour started. In April, the band attended a record-signing event in LA at a record store, but the event drew so many fans that the band had to be escorted out, and a riot nearly ensued.

## Tour details

The band rehearsed for the tour in Pensacola, Florida, the same city where the tour kicked off. It was the first time the band has performed live in the state, and the band received some flak from locals who didn't understand their appearance; Alan Wilder was quoted to Rolling Stone saying "I've been called a faggot about twenty times today, mostly from guys leaning out of trucks. This is sort of a backward place, isn't it?"
The tour kicked off with a North American leg in late May, finishing up in early August in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. The North American dates were met with high demand with sellouts in Dallas, Chicago, Orlando, Tampa and Miami; 42,000 tickets for the concert at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey had reportedly been sold within four hours of going on sale, while the Dodger Stadium shows had sold out on the first day of sale. Later in the month, the group played a sole date in Australia, in Sydney, prior to a six-date tour of Japan in September. Following the Japanese dates, the band commenced a European tour, beginning in Brussels in late September. The leg included three dates at the Palais Omnisports Bercy in Paris, where the group performed to approximately 50,000 people. The leg lasted two months and concluded with the final show of the tour in Birmingham, England, in late November.
Tour projections were made by Anton Corbijn, presented on large video screens behind the band. The tour required approximately 100 stage crew and 11 trucks to transport the set and equipment.
Rolling Stone called out the tour as one of the highlights of the 1990 summer music scene, saying "These British synth poppers offer post-industrial melancholy you can dance to. And their misery certainly loves company – on their last tour, they sold out the Rose Bowl."
Industrial band Nitzer Ebb opened for the band in North America and Europe.

## Recordings

Depeche Mode never released any official content from the World Violation Tour for commercial purposes, the reason for which Alan Wilder stated was that there was too little time lapsed from Music for the Masses Tour to release a new live EP from this tour, as 101 had been released the previous year.
Two concerts of the American leg of the tour, one in San Francisco and one in LA, were recorded by the staff of the stadium; the band issued 90-second snippets of each song from the LA show on their website in 2012.

## Musicians

* Dave Gahan – lead vocals
* Martin Gore – guitar, samplers, percussion pads, lead and backing vocals
* Alan Wilder – samplers, percussion pads, backing vocals
* Andy Fletcher – samplers, percussion pads, backing vocals

## Set list

* "Kaleid" (intro)
* "World in My Eyes"
* "Halo"
* "Shake the Disease"
* "Everything Counts" (Tim Simenon/Mark Saunders remix)
* "Master and Servant"
* "Never Let Me Down Again" (Split and Aggro mixes)
* "Waiting for the Night"
** "I Want You Now" (*) (acoustic)
** "Here Is the House" (*) (acoustic)
** "Little 15" (*) (acoustic)
** "World Full of Nothing" (*) (acoustic)
** "Blue Dress" (*) (acoustic, only performed at San Diego and Paris)
** "Sweetest Perfection" (*) (acoustic)
* "Clean"
* "Stripped"
* "Policy of Truth"
* "Enjoy the Silence" (with bits from the 'Bass Line' remix)
* "Strangelove"
* "Personal Jesus"

### Encore 1

* "Black Celebration"
* "A Question of Time"

### Encore 2

* "Behind the Wheel"
* "Route 66" (Bobby Troup cover)
Notes:
* Set lists differed between dates, with rotated songs (denoted above) and song omissions.
* "(*)" denotes song sung by Martin Gore.

## Tour dates

| Date | City | Country | Venue/Event |
| North America ||||
| 28 May 1990 | Pensacola | United States | Pensacola Civic Center |
| 30 May 1990 | Orlando | United States | Orlando Arena |
| 31 May 1990 | Miami | United States | Miami Arena |
| 2 June 1990 | Tampa | United States | USF Sun Dome |
| 4 June 1990 | Atlanta | United States | Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre |
| 6 June 1990 | Columbia | United States | Merriweather Post Pavilion |
| 8 June 1990 | Saratoga Springs | United States | Saratoga Performing Arts Center |
| 9 June 1990 | Mansfield | United States | Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts |
| 10 June 1990 | Mansfield | United States | Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts |
| 13 June 1990 | Philadelphia | United States | The Spectrum |
| 14 June 1990 | Philadelphia | United States | The Spectrum |
| 16 June 1990 | East Rutherford | United States | Giants Stadium |
| 18 June 1990 | New York City | United States | Radio City Music Hall |
| 21 June 1990 | Montreal | Canada | Montreal Forum |
| 22 June 1990 | Toronto | Canada | CNE Grandstand |
| 24 June 1990 | Burgettstown | United States | Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater |
| 25 June 1990 | Cincinnati | United States | Riverbend Music Center |
| 26 June 1990 | Cuyahoga Falls | United States | Blossom Music Center |
| 28 June 1990 | Clarkston | United States | Pine Knob Music Theatre |
| 29 June 1990 | Clarkston | United States | Pine Knob Music Theatre |
| 30 June 1990 | Milwaukee | United States | Marcus Amphitheater |
| 2 July 1990 | Tinley Park | United States | World Music Theatre |
| 3 July 1990 | Tinley Park | United States | World Music Theatre |
| 5 July 1990 | The Woodlands | United States | Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion |
| 6 July 1990 | The Woodlands | United States | Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion |
| 8 July 1990 | Dallas | United States | Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre |
| 9 July 1990 | Dallas | United States | Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre |
| 11 July 1990 | Morrison | United States | Red Rocks Amphitheatre |
| 12 July 1990 | Morrison | United States | Red Rocks Amphitheatre |
| 14 July 1990 | Calgary | Canada | Olympic Saddledome |
| 16 July 1990 | Vancouver | Canada | Pacific Coliseum |
| 18 July 1990 | Portland | United States | Memorial Coliseum |
| 20 July 1990 | Mountain View | United States | Shoreline Amphitheatre |
| 21 July 1990 | Mountain View | United States | Shoreline Amphitheatre |
| 22 July 1990 | Sacramento | United States | Cal Expo Amphitheatre |
| 25 July 1990 | Salt Lake City | United States | Salt Palace |
| 27 July 1990 | Phoenix | United States | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| 28 July 1990 | San Diego | United States | San Diego Sports Arena |
| 29 July 1990 | San Diego | United States | San Diego Sports Arena |
| 31 July 1990 | San Diego | United States | San Diego Sports Arena |
| 1 August 1990 | Universal City | United States | Universal Amphitheatre |
| 4 August 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Dodger Stadium |
| 5 August 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Dodger Stadium |
| Oceania ||||
| 31 August 1990 | Sydney | Australia | Hordern Pavilion |
| Asia ||||
| 4 September 1990 | Fukuoka | Japan | Shimin Kaikan Dai Hall |
| 6 September 1990 | Kobe | Japan | World Memorial Hall |
| 8 September 1990 | Kanazawa | Japan | Ishikawa Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan |
| 9 September 1990 | Nagoya | Japan | Nagoya Civic Assembly Hall |
| 11 September 1990 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| 12 September 1990 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| Europe ||||
| 28 September 1990 | Brussels | Belgium | Forest National |
| 29 September 1990 | Dortmund | West Germany | Westfalenhallen |
| 30 September 1990 | Dortmund | West Germany | Westfalenhallen |
| 2 October 1990 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Valby-Hallen |
| 3 October 1990 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Valby-Hallen |
| 5 October 1990 | Gothenburg | Sweden | Scandinavium |
| 6 October 1990 | Stockholm | Sweden | Stockholm Globe Arena |
| 8 October 1990 | Frankfurt | Germany | Festhalle Frankfurt |
| 9 October 1990 | Hanover | Germany | Messehalle Hanover |
| 11 October 1990 | Lyon | France | Halle Tony Garnier |
| 12 October 1990 | Zürich | Switzerland | Hallenstadion |
| 14 October 1990 | Frankfurt | Germany | Frankfurt Festhalle |
| 15 October 1990 | Stuttgart | Germany | Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle |
| 17 October 1990 | Munich | Germany | Olympiahalle |
| 21 October 1990 | Paris | France | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy |
| 22 October 1990 | Paris | France | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy |
| 23 October 1990 | Paris | France | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy |
| 25 October 1990 | Liévin | France | Stade Couvert Régional |
| 26 October 1990 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Rotterdam Ahoy |
| 28 October 1990 | Hamburg | Germany | Alsterdorfer Sporthalle |
| 29 October 1990 | Hamburg | Germany | Alsterdorfer Sporthalle |
| 31 October 1990 | Berlin | Germany | Deutschlandhalle |
| 1 November 1990 | Berlin | Germany | Deutschlandhalle |
| 3 November 1990 | Strasbourg | France | Rhénus Sport |
| 5 November 1990 | Barcelona | Spain | Palau Sant Jordi |
| 7 November 1990 | Madrid | Spain | Palacio de Deportes |
| 9 November 1990 | Marseille | France | Palais des sports de Marseille |
| 11 November 1990 | Milan | Italy | Palatrussardi |
| 12 November 1990 | Rome | Italy | PalaEur |
| 14 November 1990 | Bordeaux | France | Patinoire de Mériadeck |
| 15 November 1990 | Bordeaux | France | Patinoire de Mériadeck |
| 17 November 1990 | Brest | France | Parc des expositions de la Penfeld |
| 19 November 1990 | London | England | Wembley Arena |
| 20 November 1990 | London | England | Wembley Arena |
| 22 November 1990 | Birmingham | England | NEC Arena |
| 23 November 1990 | London | England | Wembley Arena |
| 26 November 1990 | Birmingham | England | NEC Arena |
| 27 November 1990 | Birmingham | England | NEC Arena |