My Depeche Mode Debacle (2022) - Our Geek This Week

Welcome to My Anxiety and Fandom

Depeche Mode MEMENTO MORI TOUR 2023

Note: Yesterday tickets for M, the latest Depeche Mode concert film went on sale. Sadly, it looks like the only showing will be in Ann Arbor, about two hours away from me, and on a weeknight no less. I’m doubtful that I will be able to go, which makes me sad, but it reminded me of the time when I thought I didn’t get tickets to see Depeche Mode in Vegas. I wrote what follows on October 7, 2022, as a Facebook post. I am preserving it here on my blog that is wholly mine.

My Depeche Mode Debacle

As many of you may already know, two days ago on October 4th Depeche Mode announced not only a new album but also a world tour. Well, worldtour is a bit generous as yes, technically it will be hitting North America and Europe, but that’s it. The group that has become synonymous with the number “101” was announcing only 42 tour dates in 41 cities. (And then later today, 43 dates in 41 cities.)

And of those 42 (now 43) shows, only six of them were going to be in the US. Me, living in Michigan, saw that the closest venue was going to be Chicago.

“That’s fine,” I thought. After all, Shalee and I had literally just returned from a weekend in Chicago that was ultimately quite wonderful, though there were some mishaps, including a twisted ankle and one homicide, but that’s another story I’ve already told.

I like Chicago, and sure, it’s a little farther away from us than Detroit, but it wasn’t an insurmountable distance. I’ll buy tickets there.

Or, so I thought.

Then I checked the date and saw that the show was smack dab in the middle of spring break.

Shit.

I knew with Fletch passing away this summer that this could very well be Depeche Mode’s final tour. I figured that maybe they had only scheduled a small(ish) tour to see how things went without Fletch there to play peacemaker, to keep things running smoothly. As I said earlier, this band and the number “101” were now forever linked, so 42 concerts seemed like not nearly enough. Their last tour five years previous included 130 shows in total. Surely they would schedule more dates later, right?

But of course, there’s no guarantee of that. What if the tour doesn’t go smoothly and at the end of it Dave and Martin tell each other to fuck off and that’s it, that’s the end of Depeche Mode.

I can’t risk not seeing them if this could be their last tour.

But again, the Chicago date is in the middle of spring break, so no dice. This is Anilee’s senior year, after all, and I didn’t want to miss out on that.

So, maybe Toronto then, eh? Sure, it’s seven hours away by car, but Shalee and I have passports, we could always fly to Toronto. The US dollar is doing pretty good against the Canadian dollar, so maybe that would be fun.

The Toronto date is…

…a little bit after the Chicago date, so still during spring break.

Crap.

Vegas!

I have dear friends in Vegas, maybe we could go to that show! Flights to Vegas are usually quite reasonable, so maybe we could make this a fun trip instead of Toronto or Chicago. Surely the Vegas date is…

…the very first day of spring break.

Well, shit.

I mean, yes, I would love to see Depeche Mode, especially if this could be their final tour, but spring break is spring break and I don’t want to miss out on spending time with the family. It wasn’t the fun decision to make, but as I’ve learned these last 10 years as I became a father, yeah, lots of times you don’t get to make the fun decision, you have to make the decision that’s right for the kids. Being a parent is about knowing how to be selfless.

In that frame of mind, I actually rather quickly made my peace with it all. Yes, this could be Depeche Mode’s final tour, yes, I would like to be there for it, but as cliched and Fast&Furious of me as I can be, family comes first.

Shortly after I realized that I couldn’t attend any of the shows my friend Fiebig in Colorado suggested that maybe we make it a guy’s weekend and all meet in Vegas for the show. Again, that sounded appealing, but I said no. I couldn’t.

I had already posted a picture on social media of the DM tour dates when they made the announcements, before I knew that the dates wouldn’t work for me. Friends were commenting that I should just do it, to YOLO, etc.

But again, I knew I couldn’t, so I expressed such.

My friend Ringo in Oregon commented that he and his wife, Kelly, were going to buy tickets for the Vegas show. I was envious, but knew I couldn’t go.

My friend Coxy in Atlanta texted me asking if we were going to get tickets, and if so, he was in, no matter where, no matter the price. I told him that I couldn’t go.

Honestly, I was OK with not going. I wasn’t going to go and that was it, it was decided, it was resolved.

That was Wednesday.

Then, Thursday night Shalee told me to go. I told her what I said here already, it’s Anilee’s spring break, for her senior year, and I wasn’t going to miss it. To which, Shalee countered that no senior girl wants her dad to go on spring break with her and that I should just go ahead and buy the tickets to Vegas. She explained that Anilee and her friends had spoken about maybe going to Mexico, or somewhere else, but whatever it was, it hadn’t been decided yet and that I shouldn’t wait to hear what Anilee was going to do and instead just make plans to see the VanDreumels (the aforementioned dear friends in Vegas) and go to the show with Fiebig, Ringo, and Kelly.

I was a bit dumbfounded.

I hadn’t considered this. I certainly hadn’t expected this.

I wasn’t going. That was the truth, that was reality. I just couldn’t go, I was certain.

But now…

Maybe?…

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” Shalee said. She noted that if things transpired such that she didn’t need to go on spring break with Anilee then she would head to Vegas too just to see our friends, that she didn’t need a concert ticket. And if she couldn’t make it, then that was because she was with Anilee on her spring break. Regardless, I should buy the tickets and go.

This was less than 14 hours before the tickets actually went on sale.

I sprung to life and called up Adam. He and Holly answered immediately and said I was thinking of getting tickets to the Vegas show.

“We’re in,” said Adam. “Holly and I both want tickets.”

I was surprised.

“What? Holly is a Depeche Mode fan?” I asked. She explained that she wasn’t a huge fan, but sure, if this could be their final tour, yeah, she’ll go see them.

An hour earlier, Hell, fifteen minutes earlier, I wasn’t even considering going to see Depeche Mode, now it sounded like I was going to be buying tickets the next day.

I already knew that Ringo and Kelly were going to buy tickets, that meant that we would need five more: Coxy, the VDs, Fiebig, and me.

Not knowing what the ticket limit would be, I suggested to Fiebig and Ringo that we divide and conquer. Typically ticket limits are around eight tickets each, but I’ve seen some events where there was a limit of five, and certainly no less than four. With seven people I suggest that Ringo buy his, Kelly, and Fiebig’s tickets and I would buy the tickets for me, Coxy, and the VDs. Not knowing the different pricing tiers, we decided not to spend more than $200 per ticket, including ticket fees, though the VDs said they were good with going up to $250.

Was I really going to spend that much on a concert ticket? I had told myself just a few years earlier that I would never spend more than $120 on a concert ticket, not unless Jesus Christ himself was selling tickets to his return to Earth (a joke, of course, as I am an atheist).

Now I was considering spending twice that amount for a single ticket, albeit to see my favorite band in the world, but still.

Our plan was in place, we just had to wait until 1PM Eastern(10AM local time in Vegas) to buy tickets during the “Fan Sale.”

Still with me?

TL;DR - the DM tour dates I wanted to attend were all during Spring Break and I realized I couldn’t go, but the night before tickets went on sale Shalee convinced me to go with the VDs, Coxy, Ringo, Kelly, and Fiebig.

Got it? Good.

I’m working from home the next day and I go to DepecheMode.com about 12:50PM and click on the link for tickets in Las Vegas. From there I am put into a queue as tickets aren’t on sale yet, but a message tells me that it will let me in as soon as it can once the tickets do go on sale. I noticed that the tickets are through AXS instead of TicketMaster, which was a surprise, but no worries, I have an AXS account already.

Time ticks to 1PM and I watch the queue. I’m immediately greeted with a notification that a lot of people are trying to buy these tickets so I’ll be let in to do so shortly. I watch as the little blue queue bar doesn’t seem to move at all, but after several minutes it eventually begins to move from the left to the right. I get anxious as it slowly approaches the right, nervous that the show is going to sell out before I have a chance to purchase any tickets.

And still I wait.

Eventually the blue bar stretches across my screen and I get a message that I am now entering the ticketing portal. I am prompted for the “fan sale” password, which I input (MEMENTO2023), whereupon I am welcomed by a picture of the stadium seating chart with multiple price tiers to the right indicating prices. I select Tier 4, which has tickets for $179 before service fees as Tier 5 is $259/ticket before service fees, which is beyond the VDs budget. I request five tickets because I think, well, I need four, but if Shalee can somehow go to the show we’ll have a ticket for her, and if not, well, I can sell that other ticket, right? I don’t realize at this point that selling a single ticket may be harder than I realize, but again, I am an idiot, so I move forward with my five tickets.

My tickets selected, a five minute timer starts counting down on the screen. I’m given an option to either pay $15 per ticket to have physical copies mailed to me, or I can just have the digital tickets sent to my AXS app on my phone. Anyone who knows how Dutch I am knows that I selected the latter.

To do this I need to sign into my AXS account. No problem, I go ahead and enter my email address and password, or at least, what I thought was my password, which I find is definitely not my password.

Shit.

I click on the “forgot my password” link and am informed that a link has been sent to my Gmail account. I switch over there, click the link, and enter the password I thought my password already was, but wasn’t. But now it is. I hit “submit” and the screen tells me that it will take me to the AXS site.

And then does nothing.

I switch back to the ticket screen and see the timer is down to about 1:27, so I decide to just assume that my password has been successfully changed and then once again enter my login and (now new) password.

I hit enter and joyously it connects to my account. The timer resets to 5:00 and I am now prompted to enter in my credit card information, which I do in a few seconds. The timer resets once again and then I’m prompted to enter in my billing address, which again I do, and again hit “submit.”

I get to the final screen, the timer one last time resets to five minutes, but the CONFIRM PURCHASE button never lights up. I look up to the left and see that there’s a spinning wheel on the website as if the page is trying to confirm my credit card number with my billing address.

But it’s just spinning.

I try to click on the CONFIRM PURCHASE button but it’s still not active.

The wheel continues to spin.

4:00

Spinning.

3:00

Still spinning.

2:00

Fuck me, it’s not going to finish.

1:00

I click on the CONFIRM PURCHASE area several times, but as the site has not confirmed my address and credit card, nothing happens.

Eventually, as my heart implodes the page times out.

My tickets, which were never really mine, are released back to the public.

Fuck!

I jump back onto the sales page and again choose the fourth tier and five tickets.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my pulse quicken.

Fuck it, I try for four tickets for tier 3, for $259/ea. The website happily tells me that there are tickets available.

But this is more than Adam and Holly were willing to pay. I quickly call him, and yeah, it’s more than they wanted, but fuck it, they say go for it.

I hang up and return to the sales page. Four tickets ready to purchase.

But fuck, what if Shalee can go?

I release the tickets and select five for tier 3.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

OH NO!

Panic.

I reduced the number of tickets back down to four.

I try again. And again.

And again.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

FML!

I move down to tier 5. Four tickets.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

Tier 6.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

Ringo is sending me screen shots of his tickets. I tell him that I can’t get any, that they are all sold out.

He says to try tier 3, it shows that there are tickets at that level.

I try.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

I keep trying, the same result.

I change to best available no matter the price.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

I hate this site. I begin to hate myself. I feel like I’ve fucked up and this is all my fault.

The site taunts me.

I keep trying different tier levels. Ringo texts me that there should be tickets available. There aren’t.

I try again.

I try another level.

I notice that SOLD OUT appears next to tier 4.

I try again.

I message Adam and let him know I couldn’t get tickets. I text Jason that I missed out on tickets. I do the same to Ringo and Fiebig. I message the DM fan club group that I am in that I couldn’t get them.

I am defeated.

I’m not getting tickets.

fuck.

I try again.

SOLD OUT appears next to a couple of other tiers. I try a tier that doesn’t show as sold out.

“Oops, there are no tickets in that tier.”

But I notice again that the tiers indicated as SOLD OUT change every time I try.

Maybe they are slowly releasing more tickets. Or, maybe other users are timing out like I did.

After 15 minutes of trying I again try tier 3 for $259 tickets.

It let’s me in for four.

So be it. I wanted an extra for Shalee, but I’m not backing out again. I move forward, re-entering my credit card, my address, and this time, oh this time, thank you Flying Spaghetti Monster, oh thank you, the CONFIRM PURCHASE button lights up red, it’s active. I click on it and receive a confirmation page.

HOLY FUCK!

I open my AXS app on my phone. It asks for my email and password. I enter them and then click on the ticket icon in the lower right.

It shows me that I have four tickets to see Depeche Mode in Las Vegas.

I sigh.

If I smoked, I would want one now.

But I have the tickets.

I IM Adam a screenshot of my tickets. I text Jason. I let Ringo and Fiebig know that after trying and trying and trying I finally got in, and yes, motherfucker YES, I have tickets!

I.
Have.
Tickets!

I have tickets.

I didn’t fuck up. Everything is going to be just fine.

I have tickets.

Heavy sigh.

Emotionally spent, I return to my work.