Depeche Mode scraps Israel show

NEW YORK - Synth-rock band Depeche Mode has cancelled a concert scheduled for Thursday in Tel Aviv due to the current crisis in the Middle East, according to the band's website.

The show at Hayarkon Park was slated to be the final date on the band's world tour and will not be rescheduled. The trek therefore ended Tuesday in Athens.

It began on an equally challenging note on November 3 in St. Petersburg, Fla. That was a day later than planned because the November 2 show in Ft. Lauderdale was cancelled as a result of security issues in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.

Depeche Mode's tour in support of its 2005 album "Playing the Angel" will be chronicled on the CD/DVD set "Touring the Angel: Live in Milan," due September 26.

Deep Purple recently axed a show in Lebanon as the warfare mounted.

- REUTERS/Billboard