Depeche Mode: 101

The title refers to the fact that the band's June 18, 1988 concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California was the 101st and final show of the Music for the Masses world tour. The number marked the culmination of a massive global trek that helped break the band in America.

D.A. Pennebaker directed the film, bringing his pioneering cinéma vérité style from earlier music documentaries like Don't Look Back (1967, about Bob Dylan) and Monterey Pop (1968). The film follows a group of fans on a road trip to the Rose Bowl while interweaving full concert performances.

The Rose Bowl show reportedly drew an audience of approximately 60,000 people, making it one of the largest headline concerts of the band's career at that point. The scale of the event was a landmark moment for alternative and synth-pop music in the United States.

The film and its companion live album feature performances from throughout the Music for the Masses tour, including 'Never Let Me Down Again,' 'Strangelove,' 'Behind the Wheel,' 'Everything Counts,' and 'Personal Jesus' was not included as it had not yet been released. Many of the concert sequences were captured at the Rose Bowl finale.