Saturday 3rd June 2017 – Depeche Mode, London Stadium (Olympic Park)
A rare trip to the capital and an eventful day out which me and my old my mate Zip will never forget. It started with an epic pub crawl en-route to the London Stadium where the concert was being held.
The day should have been remembered for an awesome home coming gig by Depeche Mode – they were superb. However, as fans poured out of the stadium after the show word was spreading about a terrorist attack happening on London Bridge. Rumours of vans being driven into people and rampaging suicide bombers randomly stabbing people in pubs and restaurants!
This obviously made for quite a tense atmosphere outside the stadium and many people, including ourselves felt a bit anxious as the crowds dispersed and headed off into the night. We decided not to wander too far from our base, and chose the relative safety of a bar in Hackney Wick where we watched the news unfolding on the TV. It was here, and on the telly back at our ‘luxury’ accomodation (a room above a bookies in the East End) that the full extent of the attacks became apparent. It was horrific.
Our phones were buzzing all night with messages from folks back home, keen to know that we were both alive and well. A great day out in London ended with a very surreal night and the mood around the city remained tense as we headed for our trains home on Sunday morning…
The gig itself was incredible and had a real ‘home coming’ feel about it for local lads Depeche Mode. Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and the band put on a superb show in the still relatively new surroundings of the London Stadium. The stadium, originally built for the London 2012 Olympics is now home to West Ham United Football Club.
Were you at the Depeche Mode gig that night? What did you think of the show? How did you feel as you were leaving the stadium? Did you get caught up in events in central London? Share your comments below…
Yeah I was there with my mate James. We got caught up as armed police walked up the underground steps and blocked it as we were trying to get down. Then everyone’s phones started ringing and ringing as the news started to filter through. All the time more people are leaving the stadium and it was getting quite claustrophobic. We decided to get out the crowd and walk the opposite direction. Walked down to the Bow road then towards mile end using the tow paths as we wanted to get off the streets. Came up at Bethnal green and of course it’s Ramadan and packed on the streets which was pretty scary with what just happened. Plus an Aphex Twin concert had just finished and we ended up chatting to some pretty wasted ladies that came out of that concert and helping one out getting a cab home. Eventually making it back to Brick lane at 2am where we were staying. Just round the corner from London Bridge. Concert was awesome. Dave fell over and hurt himself but Martin effortlessly stepped in for a few songs. Seeing them again in Berlin in July, again with James. Hopefully no dramas this time!
It was a great gig but a very ‘erie’ night in London afterwards. Enjoy the gig in Berlin and I hope it’s a little less eventful!
I lived in Clapham at the time and we t through London bridge tube station with a friend on way to Stratford to the gig. was an awesome gig.
for some reason we decided to take a cab back to South London to a bar on Clapham high street and we saw the police cars zooming north as we made our way south.
I’m pleased we didn’t get the rube back as we could have been stuck and a very scary scenario. everyone was talking about it at the bar when we got there. so so sad