My Depeche Mode Tour Blog 2017/18 Schulzi on Global Spirit Tour : Depeche Mode in Santiago de Chile, March 21 or " Santiago or Chile?"

Next morning was travelday again.

I recovered totally and so I was in a very good mood as we landed in Santiago de Chile, where my friend Martin and I decided to use the public traffic options ( first a bus and then the tube) to our hotel in the heart of the city!

It is a real good option to travel safe with Uber, but if you use busses or the metro you could breathe more normal life. I prefer to be a part of the normal life. You have to buy a metrocard ( same system like in Madrid or London) and put so many tickets on it like you need. Very cheap, easy system and safe!

But we had a problem with the names of the station of the metro, we thought the station " Universidad de Chile" was the same like " Universidad de Santiago"! Lol, a big fault, so our journey into the city took a while longer then we thought. Santiago is the city, Chile is the country.....

Make sure where you are!!!!

Our hotel ( Plaza San Francisco) was located at the Avenue Libertador Bernado O'Higgins, the "aorta" of the city. An old hotel in an old pompous style, clean with everything you needed.

Excellent gym and a big pool, I swam every morning!

Best included breakfast ever in a hotel!

We walked through the city to find a vegan restaurant, but the only one we found was closed, my " Happy Cow" app ( a app for finding vegan and vegetarian restaurants and cafés) told not the truth.

So we had a meal in a cantina, but the food wasn't very good, to greasy .

As we came back into our hotel my friend Martin got ill. The food, or gastroenteritis, too, we didn't know, but he had more problems then me and had a really hard night.

Next morning he gave his best and we walked through the city again, took the funicular to the " Cerro San Christobal", a hill with the statue of the virgin Maria. 22 meters high with a small chapel inside, from there you have a wonderful view about Santiago. There is a small crossroad up to the virgin Maria. You hear chants of monks if you walk along the crosses, I was so impressed by this. From the hill we catched the cablecar, and made a roundtrip in windy heights about the hill and back!

It was a really hot day, my weather, and I bought a typical beverage of Chile called "Mote con Huesillos"( Mote are wheat groats and Huesillos are dried peaches). A wonderful delicious drink to refresh! You have to try it if you are in Santiago!

Then we strolled through the city, the vegan restaurants are all closed so we had a wonderful vegan lunch in Koreatown of Santiago, an area with many market stalls.

You could feel more safe in Santiago then in Lima, the whole atmosphere is more european, the people are richer than in Mexico and Peru.

But this country have a hard history and as I came into the old Estadio Nacional I remembered the book " the House of Spirits" of Isabel Allende. She describes the circumstances while the Pinochet era, as many people after the coup against the Allende government were captived in the Estadio Nacional. Don't forget the history, all these countries are not only vacationing countries, they have a background and a history and I think you have to know something about the countries you are travel to!

The stadium was very old and they didn't sell beer or any other alcohol while the concert.

I bought my t-shirt with the flag of Chile, a kind of routine!

This time we saw the support band "Matias Aguayo & the Desdemonas", I liked their music. The singer Matias Aguayo grew up in Gummersbach near by Cologne, Germany. He came on the catwalk, I laughed because there are rumours Dave hates it when the supporting bands entering his holy catwalk.

Then Depeche Modem came on stage. Dave looked recovered as well and he had a new haircut, so he looked very good!

We stood near by the catwalk really close to each other. I missed my friend Martin because he rested in the hotel, he was to ill to came with me.

The mood wasn't so good like in Lima, the first rows and the middle part of the front of the stage area made a good mood but the spark did not leap over. You could hear the people on the cheaper places more than the fans in front of the band. The prices for a ticket in the Front of the stage area was so high for the Chileans, no wonder. It was like in America, an event audience in the Front of the stage area. I lamented, that I didn't buy a cheaper ticket to be more part of the audience. The most people in the Front of the stage area started to clap hands as the beginnig of the songs, but then it stopped every time after a short while. Only a few people danced at " Personal Jesus", never, really never I experienced this!

While " It's no good" Dave's microphone got broken, sometimes you didn't hear him. He looked very angry! He got a new one after the song! Poor Sarne, the sound engineer!

Dave welcomed the audience with " Good evening!" Than after a while ( you could hear him thinking.... "where I am? Santiago? Chile?") and then he said " Good evening Santiago" with a very deep voice!

He made a crazy dance to " Useless" and laughed in an expressive kind!

To " World in my eyes" he danced like an old ballerina or a figure skater.

Sometimes I asked myself, what is surviving in his brain after all this wild pirouettes?

After " World in my eyes" he asked the audience " Hey, how are you doing? Everybody good? Good!"

He sang " Cover me" with an incredible voice, loved it.

But the scramble became to hard for me, I found a better place at the site and instead nobody was dancing at the sites, I did and so I enjoyed this concert really much, just the band, specially Dave and I..... me, myself and I.... Depeche Mode trinity.

It was still quiter while the Martin songs but a nice small sing a long as Dave came back on stage....

" In your room" , meanwhile the small film sucked me, I kept a eye on Dave, how he danced with his microphone stand, he rubbed against it like a table dancer.....Who loves who more? I don't know!!!

After "Where is the revolution" Dave shouted " That's right!"

Then " Everything counts", he came to the cat walk and waved to everybody, but this song didn't work like in Europe.... !

The Europeans had many memories mentioned to " Everything counts", it was a part of our youth, that's my explanation!

Instead Dave said his " Santiago, you are really the best!"

The Santiago front of stage area was maybe to stoned and maybe to welll-fed, to make a party!

I met facebook friends and they wrote, it was an amazing concert but they stood in the first rows. I knew that, you gave all the best in front of Dave and he smiled to you and you felt unique, but you didn't recognize what is behind you. This time I had the desistance. Don't understand me, it was a great concert and if it was your only one, it must be so great. I saw so many of Depeche Mode concerts on this tour, Santiago was number 55, maybe I was to well fed.

While " Stripped" Dave looked into the audience with a scruntiny!

Then " Enjoy the silence" and I loved Dave's view as the audience woke up.... he made his show but you have to know him to see the little differences and undertones in his mood.

He turned to stage and shot the rabbit on the screen. The drum clown did his best to destroy this genius song....

" Never let me down", well welcomed but the audience didn't wave their arms until the end of the songs.....

"Strangelove".... Dave came back and said " Beautiful couple" to Martin and Gordeno and then a lot more of laudarory attributes for Gordeno.... please, David, stop it!!!

" Walking in my shoes", meanwhile I was so bored by the film.... I had to find old pictures of my apartment in Berlin, it looked like the apartment of the guy Mikey Woodbridge in the screening of " Walking...".

I thought, please no more screens, I want only the band. Dave and Martin danced so wonderful together to this song, Gore most of the time one step beside the beat, I love it!

Then Dave put one leg on the box and threw his silver shoe a kiss..

" Question of time"! What was in Dave's mind? This song caused something special in him!

" Personal Jesus", the hardest shock for me because most of the people left the stadium while this song....

This is the problem with the front of the stage area and with the unbelivable expensive tickets. A normal resident of Countries in Southamerica couldn't pay this extraordinary prices.

I know a few bands who are possible to control what their management is doing. Unluckely Depeche Mode aren't interested in the situation of their fans. This is really disappointing!