Devotional Tour

The **Devotional Tour** was a 1993 concert tour by English electronic band Depeche Mode in support of the group's eighth studio album, *Songs of Faith and Devotion*, which was released in March 1993.

The group continued to promote *Songs of Faith and Devotion* the following year on the Exotic Tour/Summer Tour '94, which included an additional North American leg. *Q* magazine refers to Devotional Tour as "the most debauched rock tour ever".

After a two month break, the tour was extended with a named second leg through which the group (minus Andrew Fletcher, who took a leave of absence and was replaced by tour manager and longtime band associate Daryl Bamonte for thirty-nine of its sixty shows) played to countries and territories they had never previously visited, including South Africa, Australia, East Asia, and South America as well as additional shows in the United States and Canada. The tour began with an eleven-week European leg, which kicked off in Lille, France, in mid-May and culminated in London in late July. In September 1993, the group began a North American leg, which commenced in Quebec City, Canada. The 50-date tour continued until early December, when it wrapped up in Mexico City. Later in the month, the band returned to Europe for a short tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The five date jaunt began in Dublin and ended, once again, in London.

## Releases

The concerts in Barcelona, Liévin and Frankfurt were filmed, with the compiled footage issued later that year on a video release entitled *Devotional*. The video was reissued on DVD in 2004. Additionally, a live album entitled *Songs of Faith and Devotion Live* was released in December 1993. The album was a track-by-track live duplicate of *Songs of Faith and Devotion*. The release featured recordings from the concert in Liévin, although two of the tracks were recorded in Copenhagen and New Orleans respectively. Certain tracks were also released on the singles Condemnation and In Your Room.

## Support acts

* Spiritualized
* Cane N Able
* Miranda Sex Garden
* Toyen
* Think About Mutation
* Sonic Smell
* Parallax
* The Sisters of Mercy
* Dreadzone
* Dub Syndicate
* The The
* An Emotional Fish
* Marxman

## Setlist

1. "Higher Love"
2. "Policy of Truth"
3. "World in My Eyes"
4. "Walking in My Shoes"
5. "Behind the Wheel"
6. "Halo"
7. "Stripped"
8. "Condemnation"
9. Song performed by Martin Gore
	* "Judas"
	* "A Question of Lust"
	* "Death's Door" (Acoustic)
	* "One Caress"
10. "Get Right with Me"
11. "Mercy in You"
12. "I Feel You"
13. "Never Let Me Down Again"
14. "Rush"
15. "In Your Room"

### Encore 1

1. "Personal Jesus"
2. "Enjoy the Silence"

### Encore 2

1. "Fly on the Windscreen"
2. "Something to Do" (only known performance: May 25, 1993 Brussels)
3. Song performed by Martin Gore
	* "Somebody"
4. "Everything Counts"

**Note:** Setlist additions featuring multiple songs are options which were rotated between dates.

## Trivia

* The two back-to-back nights at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico are unique in that they are the only two concerts on the Devotional Tour to not feature a support act.
* The Devotional Tour is the first Depeche Mode tour to utilize live female backing vocalists like Hildia Campbell and Samantha Smith, and is the only tour to feature backing vocalists who have also performed vocal duties on studio albums by Depeche Mode and Recoil.
	+ Later tours would also employ live female backing vocalists whilst expanding their performative responsibilities. These included the 1998 The Singles Tour, which featured Janet Cooke and Jordan Bailey performing synchronized dances in addition to singing back-up. Bailey would reprise her "lead" backing vocalist role for the Exciter Tour in 2001, where she was joined by Georgia Lewis.
* It was the first tour to feature traditional live drumming courtesy of Alan Wilder, who learned to play the drums in preparation for *Songs of Faith and Devotion* and its subsequent tour.
	+ Wilder would state that his endurance as a drummer improved over the course of the tour. As a result, and to maintain consistency with the "rockier" nature of the Exotic Tour set, several songs which had previously relegated percussion parts to tape on the "Devotional" leg of the tour were adjusted to allow Wilder an expanded role behind the drum kit. These songs included "Policy of Truth", "Halo", and "Stripped".

## Musicians

**Depeche Mode**

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

**Backup musicians**

* Hildia Campbell – backing vocals
* Samantha Smith – backing vocals

## Production staff

* Production Manager – Craig Sherwood
* Production Manager – Andy Franks
* Stage Manager – Howard Hopkins
* Stage Manager – Tom Wilson
* Rigger – Phil Broad
* Wardrobe – Carol Graham
* Wardrobe – Paula Bradley
* Keyboard Tech – Wob Roberts
* Guitar Tech – Jez Webb
* Drum Technician – Tom Wilson
* FOH Sound Engineer – Jon Lemon
* Sound Crew Chief – Dave Bracey
* Sound Crew – Scott Ashton
* Video/Projection – Richard Turner
* Lighting Designer – Patrick Woodroffe
* Stage Design & Concept – Anton Corbjin

## Bibliography

* https://dmlive.wiki/wiki/Category:1993\_Devotional\_Tour
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devotional\_Tour