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Interesting Pages
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Discography,
Albums,
Singles,
Live
Albums, Bootleg,
Bootlegs
CDRs, Pic
Disc, Video,
DVD,
Compilations,
Sampled
Mix, Collaborations,
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Lyrics,
Numan
Videos, Books,
Bootlegs
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List, Photo
Gallery, , Very
Important,
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REVIEWS
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| Gary Numan,
@ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London - 5 MARCH |
| When Gary Numan beamed down to planet Pop in the late
Seventies, his dystopian ditties may have put the alien in
alienated, but the sheer galvanic presence of his breakthrough
records found willing recruits to his army of Numanoids. As punk's
buzz-saw guitar became the new orthodoxy, Numan created a sound
dominated by the much-maligned synthesiser. With his unfashionable
desire to be a star and an avowal of Thatcher's policies, Numan
became an easy figure of ridicule.
Also, Numan's approach to electronic music lacked finesse.
Characterised by paranoia and dysfunctional machine-men, his brand
of futurism was updated pulp sci-fi, bolstered by his love of
gadgetry and paraphernalia. As he once said, he wanted to be the
sound of metal.
And metal is the predominant feature of this evening's show. Once
a cover-boy for the nascent Smash Hits, Numan has traversed
the magazine racks to become a Kerrang! favourite. The hard,
persuasive dynamic of his signature tune, "Cars", and the
clipped, battering-ram Moog of The Pleasure Principle, the
album that it came from, are echoed by the howling electro-rock of
his current work.
Numan's stage apparel is now standard 21st-century rock clobber.
The boilersuit of yore is in mothballs, the space-spiv look
consigned to yesterday's wardrobe. For the Numan faithful (and, boy,
are they faithful), that must be a relief. A tour T-shirt and a
quick shine of black to thinning hair now suffice as tribute to
their hero.
With legs often akimbo and mic stand at a perennial 45 degrees,
Numan has also adopted the stage vernacular of the rock god. The
divine description is no overstatement. There's a messianic edge to
his performance, complete with Christ-on-the-cross dramatics and the
persistent biblical references of his new material. To Numan,
"My Jesus" is "a collector of pain"; in
"RIP", Numan promises: "I'll even walk upon water/
I'll burn the soul of man." If all that sounds a trifle solemn,
well, light relief was never a Numan stock in trade.
But it's not all Christian-baiting. There's plenty of the
raging-with-machines that first gave gloomy cyber-youths their
figurehead. The Marilyn Manson-covered "Down in the Park"
gets the full industrial treatment but loses its glacial ambience.
The breakbeat favourite "Films" is boosted by a powerful
snare, and the crisp synth-figures of "Metal" are
transformed into veritable block-rocking beats.
Though the themes remain apocalyptic, Numan is no longer a sullen
figure. Fêted as a pioneer from New York to New Cross and cited as
an influence by everyone from Derrick May to Queens of the Stone
Age, he has plenty of reasons to be cheerful, and a glimpse caught
through the dry ice and frosty atmospherics reveals that even
machine-men sometimes smile. |
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REVIEWS
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| Gary Numan,
@ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London - 11 SEPTEMBER |
Firstly, I did'nt read Nuworld during the day so I did'nt know that the band were a member down until they appeared on stage.
I was standing there about 4 or 5 rows from the front behind Ladytron and Mach1ne and (rather unfairly to be honest) I stood there thinking that Numan had a point to prove...to me anyway. I had said that this may be my last gig and if the intro was Hybrid again, then in my opinion, it had better be a good set. Let me say that the negativity that's been floating around these parts lately had probably rubbed off on me too and dep down I wanted Numan to prove me and everyone else wrong.
I spoke to a fair few people before the gig and a lot of them said that they don't go on any of the sites because there is so much sh*te around. They want Numan to do the talking which I think is a fair comment don't you?
Anyway, the dry ice filled the stage and the Numo's started chanting...the place was packed and the atmosphere was actually very very good. "That's a good start" I thought as the intro began...it was'nt Hybrid!
It was 'Rip' from Purified and half way through the band took to the stage and then it went black for a split second...Then the whold stage lit up as they stormed into the chorus of 'Rip' and the night began...impressive start.
The lights were nothing special and it has to be said that if these weekenders are 'one offs' then surely an impressive lightshow could be supplied but the sound was up to scratch in my opinion. Sometimes the guitars and bass were too high in the mix but the sound guy obviously (this time) knew what he was doing as it was only a matter of seconds before it was rectified.
The songs flowed easily and tracks like'Voix', 'My Jesus' and the new stuff worked well togeather. There was no 'Does God Bleed' this time but we still got'Haunted' (my favourite) and 'Jagged' which went down well.
'Remind me to Smile' was refreshing and by then I had given the gig the thumbs up.
'Afe' and 'Cars' bought the usual Numo chanting as did 'Down in the park' which was very powerful. It was great to hear 'We are glass' again which went on for longer than usual with a huge wall of guitars and synths towards the end and guess what....Gary got EVERY line right! (We made a joke that someone may have been holding up cue cards down the front although we could'nt see).
In my opinion, 'We are glass' SHOULD have been the last song before the encore as it had everyone screaming for more but it was'nt. Next came the Hybrid version of 'A Prayer for the unborn' which as always kicked serious arse.
When the band came out again I thought I knew what was coming next but I was wrong. I had heard from the people that went to Birmingham the night before that Numan had played 'I Die You Die' and I was looking forward to hearing it but it was nowhere to be heard, nor was 'Fadeout 1930'.
What we were treated to instead was 'The Machman', 'It Must have been years' and 'Jo, The waiter' which had everyone going mad...they worked well even though Gary looks quite awkward playing AND singing at the same time.
Overall, it was a good gig.Numan was on form with his usual evil stares and moves and he looked good.He looked confident and at ease and as if he was REALLY enjoying himself.The band played well too and in all honesty, I can't see why anyone would come away from that gig disapointed...I was'nt.
Cheers to everyone that said hello and to anyone that got a cd mix from me, hope you like it.I met the youngest Numo of the night in Manic's little girl (very very cute)..and I must say, Manic looked gorgeous...wow!! (blush).
If the stage set was better this gig would have got a really high mark but I'd give it an honest 8/10 (yes really!).
Some people may disagree with me totally but I think the majority will agree. This review comes from someone who is a huge fan and went on about not getting excited etc etc but Gary Numan always pulls it out of the bag and you just can't fault him. This was'nt a performance from someone that "does'nt give a sh*t" etc ec...This was a good gig and I am glad I was there.
I just wonder whether there will be 2 bootlegs because of the setlist change?
THE
GARY CEE NUMAN PRINCIPLE |
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