Depeche Mode in Hollywood - what could go wrong?

My MeeHive account is paying its first dividends, since it helped me to find this Los Angeles Times article:

Authorities plan to shut Hollywood Boulevard near its storied intersection with Vine Street on Thursday for a free concert by the electro-pop band Depeche Mode.

Parts of the 8 p.m. event will be videotaped for airing later that night on the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show.


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Ah, Depeche Mode in Hollywood with thousands in attendance. Brings back memories. Slicing Up Eyeballs remembers:

Almost 20 years after sparking a near-riot when 20,000 fans showed up for an in-store appearance, Depeche Mode once again is venturing out onto the streets of Los Angeles....

Slicing links to a forum thread with a number of personal stories from people who went to the Wherehouse that evening, many years ago. Here's Franklin Avenue's summary:

In 1990, Depeche Mode had just released their "Violator" CD... and decided to make an in-store appearance at The Wherehouse music store in the Beverly Connection. About 15,000 people showed up -- some camping outside the La Cienega store for days.

By the time the band showed up, chaos erupted.

Both the Slicing post and the Franklin Avenue post include a YouTube video of the contemporary news coverage.



Franklin Avenue adds some observations:

Check out these news reports from the time... and how strangely out of touch these anchors sound. Odd that everyone keeps referring to the "hot new band from London," when Depeche Mode had been selling records in America for a decade by that point (and had even already performed its famous Rose Bowl show two years earlier).

And here's part two:




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To my knowledge, Zev Yaroslavsky has no comment on the Kimmel event.