This Friday I will be at Manchester Arena to see Depeche Mode, precisely 16 years since I first saw them, on the Devotional Tour, in my home city of Sheffield. I’m 34 now, not particularly ancient but neither do I longer possess a waistline to ease effortlessly into a pair of skinny jeans: alas the fleeting years slip by. I’m still devilishly handsome, of course. Catnip for the ladies. The Arnold body with the Denzil face… oh, who am I trying to kid? I look like a melted Sam Rockwell. And not in a good way. Damn you Mr Pringle and your slices of fried starchy tuberous deliciousness.

Anyhoo, I digest. On Sunday I was with my friend Lee at the LG Arena and he commented that much of the crowd looked like they’d been with the band since the very early days, which was true, but I countered that he would be surprised by the youthful ages of some of my followers on here.

I’ve been thinking about this since. Even in 1993 it wasn’t easy to discover Depeche Mode, so how are new devotees recruited? I know the music is sublime but they’re not an easy band to discover, so what brings you here?