In a recent interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, the planet's most successful synth act Depeche Mode have promised some surprising changes to the current tours setlist when the band return to the US. The Mighty Mode look set to dump live faves that have been dominating tours since the late 80's and replace them with 'an interesting' mix of old classics, fan favourites and even b-sides.

This news will be greeted with huge cheers from those who have regularly been attending Mode gigs since the 80's and whilst Mode live is one of the best gigs anyone can hope to attend - the one criticism of the world tours since 1993's 'Devotional' is the lack of pre-'Violator' tunes performed live. On the rare occasions when gems like 'Shake The Disease' have been performed, the stark electronics have been replaced by slow acoustic versions whilst other classics like 'Strangelove', 'Get The Balance Right' and 'Master & Servant' have not been performed since the 101 era.

In the Rolling Stone interview, Sir Martin Gore revealed the desire to add old Mode faves for the benefit of long term fans; 'There are some songs that are hardcore fan favorites, others that are hits, others that are new, but we like to mix it up. We're lucky we have an audience that wants us to mix it up. There’s an element of dilemma because there’s songs we have to play – ‘Enjoy The Silence’, ‘Personal Jesus’ maybe that’s it. We’ve done ‘Wlaking in My Shoes’ for years now, and ‘Never Let Me Down’...'

Possibly due to years of negative music press in the UK during the 'Speak & Spell' era right up to 'Some Great Reward', Martin and Dave have been reluctant to play old tunes though 'Photographic' was a rare surprise at London's famed Wireless gig back in the Summer of 2006 to huge applause. Martin has also gone on record several times voicing a dislike for tunes such as 'People Are People' and 'Strangelove' and the move to distance themselves has baffled fans over the years particularly when so many of the early tunes were years ahead of their time sonically even if some idiot people felt that the lyrics were clumsy at times. To his credit, Fletch has been championing the older tracks for each tour and there was talk of adding 'The Sun & The Rainfall' in recent years and you only have to grab a copy of The Singles 81-85 on vinyl to fully appreciate how these tracks still impress some 30 years later.