Gahan is accused of closing out the show by telling the 30,000 fans gathered in Peru’s capital, “Thank you very much, Chile!”
This was seen as an especially big no-no because Peru and Chile have long held a grudge against one another dating back to an 1879-84 war. The South American countries still haven’t made up and fight over their border and which country can claim the bragging rights to coming up with pisco, a potent grape brandy.
The Associated Press noted that two other artists recently had trouble identifying exactly where they were when it comes to Peru. Mayte of Mexican pop band RBD yelled out “Long live Chile!” during a 2004 Lima concert and Alanis Morissette declared “Thank you, Brazil” during a 2003 concert in Peru.
A representative for the British synthpop band told the AP that Depeche Mode is not one of the artists that made such a gaffe. Web master Daniel Barassi said that after singing "Never Let Me Down Again," Gahan actually shouted, “Thank you very much, good night!” – a phrase he customarily says at the end of a show.
Yesterday Pollstar posted a YouTube video of Tuesday’s performance and the first commenter defended Depeche Mode and wrote that Gahan clearly said “Thank you very much, good night.” Another commenter agreed that Gahan said, “Thank you very much, Chile.”
To me, the clip is very mumbled and it really could go either way.
If you haven’t already, watch the short clip and tell us in the comments whether you hear “good night” or “Chile.”
Last night Depeche Mode really did perform in Chile with a show at the Club Hipico in Santiago. On Saturday the band plays Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina followed by an extensive European tour.
Click here and here for the AP articles.
Click here for Depeche Mode's Web site.