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June 18, 1988 Pasadena, Ca

dave Gahan enJoys the silenCe

Hours before the biggest show of Depeche Mode’s career—at the sold-out, 80,000-capacity Rose Bowl— photographer and filmmaker Anton Corbijn captured a quiet moment between frontman Gahan and his infant son.

dave Gahan I was explaining to my six-month-old son, Jack, that Daddy was going to be singing here. The show was the last date of the [Music for the Masses] tour and, to be honest, I was thinking, “Where

do we go from here? It doesn’t get any better than this.”

anton Corbijn There’s a joke: A bull and his son stand at the top of a hill looking at a bunch of cows. The son says, “C’mon, Dad, let’s run down and fuck one!” And the dad says, “No, let’s walk down and fuck them all.” He’s looking down at his kingdom and showing it to his son. I was unaware of the significance of this event to them, but I remember

seeing Dave crying in the dressing room after the show. Just the emotion of all these people singing along with him—I was amazed by the enormous audience, and I think he worked hard at getting that response. Twenty years later, I’m now designing the stage and visuals for their first European stadium tour.

Gahan That was a monumental, life-changing event for us. Little did we know what would come next.

108 JUNE 2009 / SPIN.COM: WHERE STRANGERS BECOME FRIENDS

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANTON CORBIJN