Devotional: watch the stage, then watch what surrounds it

A concert has more than one performer

The Devotional DVD separates out tour projections as extras, including material for Walking in My Shoes, Stripped, Condemnation, Judas, I Feel You, Never Let Me Down Again, In Your Room and Enjoy the Silence. It also includes an Anton Corbijn monologue and tour programmes. Together, these provide ways to study the presentation rather than only replay the concert. ^[1]

Why seeing the pieces separately helps

During a concert film, your attention is directed for you. A cut brings you close to a face; a wide shot restores the scale of the stage. A projection may be visible for only part of that time. Watching the visual material separately lets you ask what it contributes when the singer is no longer the obvious centre of attention.

Our suggested approach is to think about repetition, scale and contrast. Does an image hold still while the music pushes forward? Does it suggest a human presence, a landscape or something less easily named? Does it explain a song, or leave it more ambiguous? These are interpretive questions. A picture can become meaningful in relation to music without being a literal illustration of its words.

The release itself is an edit

The official archive records that Death’s Door appears as audio over the end credits, outside its original setlist position. It also notes that the original US VHS omitted Behind the Wheel, Mercy in You, Fly on the Windscreen and Everything Counts. The live Condemnation video on the DVD uses a different edit from the main film. These are specific differences, not merely changes in picture quality. ^[1]

Make a small double bill

Pick one projection available in your edition, then watch the corresponding passage of the main film. In the standalone version, notice how long you are allowed to stay with an image. In the concert edit, notice where your attention is moved elsewhere.

This comparison can be surprisingly revealing even if you have watched Devotional many times. The emotional force of a performance is partly musical, partly physical and partly a matter of what the camera allows you to see. Separating those layers briefly can make their reunion more powerful.

The reward is a better understanding of why a live identity can remain recognisable long after a tour ends. It is preserved not only in the setlist, but in a particular way of placing bodies, images and music together.