A la Mode: Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan.

Photo courtesy of Autódromo La Guácima

Whenever Prince performed in concert, he would insist on having a physician in the dressing room ready to inject him with a vitamin B12 shot. Iggy Pop once requested the backstage presence of seven dwarves and broccoli – which he hates – purely so he could throw it in the bin. It must, therefore, have come as somewhat of a relief to the organizers of the Costa Rican leg of Depeche Mode's world tour to receive a fairly sensible request list from the '80s electro-pop group.

With the band wanting nothing more outlandish than a couple of British newspapers, two tables with dark tablecloths and some wooden hangers for their clothes, it is reassuring to know that they will be here for the music and the music alone.

Regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands to have emerged from the '80s, Depeche Mode will play Oct. 8 at the racetrack in La Guácima de Alajuela, northwest of San José, before heading down to South America to finish the Latin American leg of its worldwide tour.

One of the first acts to establish a musical identity based completely around the use of synthesizers, they started life as a bouncy dance-pop four-piece, releasing the hit “Just Can't Get Enough” before gradually developing a darker, more dramatic sound – exemplified in the smash hit “Personal Jesus” – that ultimately rewarded them with more than 75 million album sales worldwide.

While the band's name may literally mean “fast fashion,” sales of its European chart-topping album “Sounds of the Universe,” released earlier this year, would suggest it is anything but.

Tickets for the concert may be purchased at select Servimás outlets, Bansbach stores, online at or by phone at 2206-7770. Prices range from ¢20,000 to ¢60,000 ($34 to $103).