Luxembourg PM flew to NATO summit on Depeche Mode’s jet
Politico had a funny Depeche Mode related news bit up a few days ago. As it happens Luxembourg’s top politicians arrived at the NATO summit in Vilnius on a plane covered in the current Depeche Mode logo, which is a skull.
Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, and Defense Minister François Bausch were surprised to see the “big red skull” on the plane, as they had expected to be flying on a more official government jet. The band itself joined in on the fun, posting about it on social media.
Below you see the Luxembourg’s NATO delegation descending Depeche Mode’s jet. The image is a still from a video from ZDF heute-Journal.
It turns out that Luxembourg’s army had tried to book a flight through the European Air Transport Command, but there weren’t enough private jets available. So, they chartered the Depeche Mode plane instead. Depeche Mode are currently on a world tour for their new album, “Momento Mori.” They flew to Rome on Wednesday for their next gig.
Today at NATO Meeting 👀
— Depeche Mode Europe ✪ (@dmforumeu) July 11, 2023
source: ZDF heute-Journal #DepecheMode #MementoMoriTour pic.twitter.com/q8MmBCv9vs
Your little #Luxembourg anecdote from the NATO summit here in Vilnius. The photos from the arrival of FM Asselborn and PM Bettel shows a big red skull on the plane used by peaceful little Luxembourg.
— Philip Crowther (@PhilipinDC) July 11, 2023
It turns out they chartered a plane also used by the band @depechemode on tour. pic.twitter.com/VgBCEb6K7Q
The moral of the story is: If you want to fly to a NATO summit, make sure you book your flight early!
Depeche Mode recently announced an extensive list of new shows for 2024. The newly announced Memento Mori world tour dates are as follows:
- Jan 22: London O2 Arena, UK
- Jan 24: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK
- Jan 29: Manchester AO Arena, UK
- Jan 31: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
- Feb 03: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland
- Feb 06: Antwerp Sportpaleis, Belgium
- Feb 08: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Holland
- Feb 10: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
- Feb 13: Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, Germany
- Feb 15: Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, Germany
- Feb 17: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
- Feb 22: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
- Feb 24: Prague, CZ O2 Arena, Czech Republic
- Feb 27: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
- Feb 29: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
- Mar 03; Paris Accor Arena, France
- Mar 05; Paris Accor Arena, France
- Mar 07: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany, Germany
- Mar 12: Madrid Wizink Center, Spain
- Mar 14: Madrid Wizink Center, Spain
- Mar 16: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain
- Mar 19: Lisbon Altice Arena, Portugal
- Mar 21: Bilbao BEC, Spain
- Mar 23: Torino Pala Alpitour, Italy
- Mar 26: Budapest MVM Dome, Hungary
- Mar 28; Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
- Mar 30; Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
- Apr 3: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
- Apr 5: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Mother of Earth’.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
