When Depeche Mode turned photographers for fan

When Depeche Mode played at the Ulster Hall in Belfast in 1983, Brian McDonnell didn't just go to the gig and listen to their music.

He threw a roll of film on stage with a note attached, asking the band to take a few photographs and send them back to him.

Unbelievably, the band did just that.

Now, almost 40 years later the pictures have resurfaced after Brian's sister, Anne McDonnell-Lawrence, shared them and the story behind them, with the Facebook group Belfast Concert Photographs of the 1980s.

The unique pictures from Depeche Mode show both posed and candid moments of band members in what appears to be a dressing room.

Brian died 20 years ago after suffering a heart attack, at the age of 37.

Speaking to BBC News NI, his sister recalled what happened the night of the concert and said Brian was a life-long Depeche Mode fan.

"Depeche Mode was his favourite, he always went on about them," she said.

"All I remember is him telling me he was at the concert and he had brought a film for a camera with him - he wrapped his name and address around it and asked them to take photos and send them back to him.

"He never thought he would even get a response. I don't know how long after, but he got the film sent back to him.

"That was all photos of Depeche Mode."

Depeche Mode was founded in Basildon, England in 1980 and was made up of David Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke.

After the release of their first album, Clarke left the band and was replaced by Alan Wilder in 1982.

They had chart success in the 1980s and 1990s, with singles including New Life, Enjoy the Silence and Just Can't Get Enough.

The band was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

While Depeche Mode started with four members, it is now made up of just Gahan and Gore.

Anne said Brian was delighted to actually receive the photos and proudly showed them off to his friends and family.

She told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme she found the pictures in an envelope when looking through photos belonging to her late mother.

"A couple of times I tried to get them posted on a [Facebook] group I'm in with Depeche Mode - I had asked a few times but nobody got back to me," Anne said.

"So when I saw the post on the Belfast concerts' one, that's when I thought: 'I'll hoke them out.'

"I asked did the guy want them. I told him the wee story and that's it - it has escalated."

The pictures and their history have since been picked up and shared by The Belfast Empire Music Hall's Twitter account.

Anne said the attention around the photos has "been brilliant" and just what her brother would have loved.

"Brian loved being the certain of attention, he loved to party, he loved to sing," she said.

"It was his anniversary there in August. He was 20 years dead and we were all talking about how 20 years is a long time.

"But it's my personal opinion that that's him saying to me: 'You're not paying me anymore attention, I want attention'. I think he set it up.

"Every time we hear a Depeche Mode song on the radio, we just think of him."