Depeche Mode performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2023. Nate McKinley/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO —Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Depeche Mode brought their Memento Mori tour back to the Bay Area on Sunday, performing songs from throughout the band’s glossy songbook at Chase Center.

The English New Wave band began the tour last March on the West Coast—San Jose being the second date—and while the song list was not drastically different in San Francisco, the band worked in a handful of key additions while showing a great comfort level with the newer material from Memento Mori, which RIFF’s staff has named one of the year’s best.

Frontman Dave Gahan, guitarist-keyboarist Martin Gore and their touring bandmates Peter Gordeno and Christian Eigner, once again kicked off the show with new tunes “My Cosmos Is Mine” and “Wagging Tongue.” On the opener, Depeche Mode droned over the ominous melody while Gahan stood at the front of the stage with outstretched arms. His sparkly, well-fitted suit allowed him to twirl around, part dancer, part showman. The 61-year-old spent much of the show in motion—a continuous momentum engine.

Depeche Mode performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2023.

The jacket was gone, however, by the third song, “Walking in My Shoes.” Gahan held his microphone stand over the heads of attendees around him, letting them scream the lyrics back to him. He showed off his fancy white boots to the camera at the end.

While the crowd at this sold-out show reacted well to the new material, there was a noticeable buzz whenever Depeche Mode kicked into a classic like “It’s No Good” and “Policy of Truth.” Gore did a great job of delivering the guitar riffs throughout the night, but “It’s No Good” was especially noteworthy. He switched off between keyboards and guitar numerous times.

Depeche Mode performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2023.

“Policy of Truth,” meanwhile, was an effective and hard-hitting set addition—one of five songs the band has added to its performances since those early tour shows. The others included dirge-like Memento Mori song “My Favourite Stranger,” during which Gahan paced around frantically while shaking his head; a Martin-sung “Strangelove,” backed only by piano with an arrangement that at times recalled U2’s early single “October;” “Black Celebration;” and to kick off the encore, a Gahan-Gore duet of “Condemnation” that the two performed on a walkway that stretched outward from the main stage to kick off the encore.

Gone from the set were “Sister of Night,” “Speak to Me,” “Soul With Me” and “Wrong” — which San Jose got last spring. In all, Depeche Mode performed at least one song from nine albums during their more than two hours on stage.

The show’s other Memento Mori song, “Ghosts Again,” fit in well with the older material. Other highlight included the simmer and bombast of “In Your Room” and the sleek “Precious,” during which Gahan turned to face the back of the stage and shook his butt for the crowd. The poppy “Everything Counts” was a prelude to encore highlight “Just Can’t Get Enough,” which Gahan extended by conducting the audience like a choir.

Young Fathers perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2023.

Gore also sang “A Question of Lust,” his operatic delivery ringing throughout the large room. Gahan again dedicated “World in My Eyes” to their late bandmate Andrew Fletcher, with hundreds of fans raising their hands to recreate the shape featured on the cover of the song’s single release.

Following “Stripped,” “John the Revelator” and a rousing “Enjoy the Silence,” the band left the stage. At this point, the arena filled up with phone lights, a moment made special because it wasn’t requested, and the band returned for the bluesy “Condemnation” duet, “Just Can’t Get Enough,” “Never Let Me Down Again” and “Personal Jesus.”

After casually strolling on stage to open the show, Scottish trio Young Fathers built its own energy. Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and ‘G’ Hastings were backed by a couple more musicians to create various cacophonous grooves. Sometimes they would build their voices into a wall of sound; for others, they would complement each others’ singing or screaming.

They seemed to have a fun time mixing abrasiveness with melody on songs like “Get Up,” which was tinged with xylophone strikes; the aggressive throb of “Rain or Shine” and “Old Rock n Roll,” which featured earthy percussion and a sound that resembled the cash register from Pink Floyd’s “Money.” They drew from noise rock, art-rock, hip-hop and soul music.

Following the slower, almost tropical-sounding “I Heard” and “I Saw,” Young Fathers ended on an explosive note with “Toy,” off 2018’s terrific album Cocoa Sugar.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Nathan McKinley at Instagram.com/memories.by.mckinley.