Word: jesus
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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After the first song, the curtain dropped and a thin man with a scruffy beard and Jesus-like hairstyle strutted to the front of the stage in front of a crowd of perhaps a mere 15,000. This guy, who did a great impersonation of a homeless person in appearance, was none other than David Gahan...
...practicing his few chords on a guitar. The crowd's reaction? Well, it must have been damn impressive because the crowd certainly was left speechless. The only new song which seemed to have revived the crowd from a coma was "I Feel You," which sounded very much like "Personal Jesus." I guess one can only write so much about "darkness," "religion" and "forbidden love" before they become repetitive. Perhaps for a couple of albums, those themes can be cutting edge and cool, but by the tenth album, they get more redundant than Maurice Ravel's "Bolero...
During some moments, however, the crowd seemed responsive and started to dance and sing along. When David Gahan sang "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence," the noise from the crowd was audible--not loud but definitely audible. Also Depeche Mode's rendition of "Behind the Wheel" and "Stripped" were definitely the highlights in a dull concert...
Running nearly an hour, the music could not be more artless: an endlessly repeated tape loop of a now deceased London derelict intoning a hymn tune. "Jesus' blood never failed me yet," he sings. "There's one thing I know, for He loves me so." The old man's voice is untrained and shaky. And yet the tape, recorded in 1971 for a documentary film, has an undeniable dignity that Bryars found irresistible. Starting with a simple piano accompaniment, the composer gradually expanded the orchestration in a series of live performances, which culminated in 1975 in a half-hour recording...
...Jesus' Blood is not for everyone. Its lack of development can seem monotonous, its shifting harmonies too subtle. Its strength lies in eloquent simplicity...