'ARE FRIENDS ECCENTRIC?'-
Gary Numan @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, 6/04/02
(Sorry It's an old picture above troops, the venue on Saturday was so packed I was unable to take a decent photo!)
It’s appropriate that Gary Numan’s latest gig is taking place a week after Easter, as its been 2000 years since anyone pulled off a comeback of the magnitude that Gazza’s succeeded. But perhaps the most beautiful thing about the 2nd coming of the Numanoid is that its not an ‘in your face’ nostalgia fest celebrity resurrection of the one currently being practiced by the members of Spandau Ballet and Limahl, rather it’s Gary’s past creative endeavours, be it the Sugarbabes sampling the medley of ‘Are Friends Electric’ or Trent Reznor covering ‘Metal’ that are coming back into the public arena. Gary’s back in such a subconscious way, Joe punter probably hasn’t realised it yet. Yet whilst Gary's back, it’s still easy to feel it’s still his older material that is his best known. Two years after the excitement surrounding the hardcore industrial sounds of the guitar rich ‘Pure’ , and its still ‘Cars’ that everyone remembers. Even Gary himself has announced that his next album will be a return to a more electro-based sound. Still, perhaps that’s what his fans want, and he’s always been one for giving them exactly what they ask for. Tonight’s gig is a perfect example of this. A low-key show held for two reasons. Firstly, to give him a chance to play to his fans in a small venue (The Shepherd’s Bush Empire). Secondly, to organise a show which can be filmed for a future DVD release which Gary is planning to both finance and produce himself. As tonight’s show is planned for a hardcore audience, it will come as no surprise that the average age of the fans tonight is a lot older than has been seen at recent Numan shows. Hence, with baby sitters being at premium rate on a Saturday, there’s a lot of little cherubs that Mummy and Daddy have bought along to see their favourite synth pop super star. It would be easy to say there’s a playgroup atmosphere about, but maybe Gary’s fans really are getting younger as I spotted a few tots in full Numan make up!
Let’s get some obvious things out of the way: The Shepherd’s Bush Empire is my least favourite venue in London (Alongside the Hackney Ocean). It’s a theatre designed for filming That’s Life and Wogan, not live music, hence the view from anywhere other than the front of the stage is truly appalling, All I can say is thank the maker for the Elevated soles on New Rock boots! Why the powers that be can’t put in a nice concrete slope in this place I’ll never know. However, it has some damn fine acoustics, which as anyone who remembers the drum heavy sound mix at Gary’s 2000 Brixton gig will testify, leads to a truly improved atmospheric experience.
Likewise, prior to Gary’s major 2000 gig, the ‘Pure’ CD had only been available for a few weeks, and it was easy to feel deluged by all an onslaught of unknown new material. Tonight this isn’t a problem, as not only are the new songs now like old friends, but due to the video filming, we’re greeted by a vast cavalcade of old favourites, many of which haven’t been played for years. Cue a procession of greatest hits ranging form the upgraded cyber bondage of ‘Metal’ to the sadistic atmospherics of ‘Down In The Park’. Fans of the dream-like ‘Exile’ album don’t go home short changed tonight either, with the luscious ‘Absolution’, the mean and moody ‘Dark’ and the LP’s title track all making an appearance. Gary even manages to turn what has to be his worst single, ‘Every Day I Die’ into a creeping psychotic ode- well bowled sir! And of course the deconstructed guitar menace of the ‘Pure’ album is bought to life with ‘My Dream’, ‘I Can’t Breathe’ and the title track itself. Though as I’m writing this review a few days after seeing Sulpher (co producers of the ‘Pure’ album) live it’s easy to wonder which of the two came first!
Whilst they may be playing a smaller stage tonight, Gary’s band has decreased in size yet again. Now down to a four piece it’s easy to wonder if in a few years time we’ll be watching Gary perform solo alongside a DAT machine! However, the keyboard player also plays some live bass on the older songs which means there’s a lot more physicality about the all round performance. Recent years have seen Gary become more the singer/guitarist to the band rather than it’s star, but tonight he’s sliding back into his old front man role, and his maturity and new found confidence lead to him being a lot more physical and up front than in his 80s heyday. If further proof is needed that the iceman has thawed, he even puts on a silver sequinned shirt thrown to him by a fan. "Not my colour" he quips. As ever, shaven headed guitarist Rob Harris is a key factor to the show. He could be strumming a chord from ‘Barbie Girl’ and still succeed in looking terrifying. He pounds his fret board with such aggression its easy to feel worry for Gary’s safety!
After a long and satisfying set, the band depart, only to return a few minutes later. Just when we’d all thought they’d run out of old tracks to play, Numan and Co dig up a celestial rendition of ‘This Wreckage’. The Clash friendly riffing of proto punk track ‘My Shadow In Vain’ follows, reminding us that Gary was turning up the volume 20 years prior to the ‘Pure’ album. The big two (do I need to tell you their names?) round the night off. Tonight’s version of ‘Cars’ bears more than a passing resemblance to Fear Factory’s 1999 cover, being so guitar heavy, it’s easy to forget that there’s only one guitarist on stage. Likewise, the fret board theatrics continue for an obscenely heavy (And very long) ‘Are Friends Electric’. Somehow I don’t think we’ll see the Sugarbabes performing a version like this on CD:UK!
However, despite Gary’s habit of performing at least 3 encores, this brings proceedings to an abrupt ending. Guess somebody somewhere doesn’t want to have to spend too much time editing the whole thing together on video! In fact tonight’s show, had a distinct theatrical flavour, and at times it was easy to feel that the band were playing up to the cameras, but who cares- this is one show I could quite happily watch on DVD over and over again. I still haven’t heard ‘Berserker’ played live, but there’s always next time, right Gary?
'ABSOLUTION'-
Gary Numan At The Brixton Academy, 20/10/00.
"I can’t believe it- this has got to be the first time since 1980 that I’ve had to queue to get into a Gary Numan gig!" ponders the Numanoid in front, his Panstick foundation slowly running as the rain showers down. Yes, let it be known a lot of people want to see Gary Numan tonight if the ocean of people outside the Brixton Academy is any indication. It maybe the epic industrial soundscapes of the ‘Pure’ LP ringing in the ears of the masses or a famous fan club that includes everyone from Beck to Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor, possibly even the fact that the hostile music press has turned Numan friendly, but all of a sudden there is many a person who likes Gary Numan. What’s even more surprising is age range of Gary’s current fan base. Amongst the balding first generation Numanoids is a majority of muti pierced youths who could barely have been out of Pampers when ‘Are Friends Electric?’ topped the charts.
To the show itself there is a revigorised freshness. Beams of light flicker to a pulsating hum, reviving the much-missed Numan light show that only the original fans got to see in full. Soon the great man himself is upon us, shrouded in a full length PVC trench coat as he and manic guitarist Rob Harris fly in every direction possible for the title track from new LP ‘Pure’. It’s fortunate that Gary’s new found physicality is on hand as the sound mix leaves a lot to be desired, the grating guitar surges that drive the track’s LP incarnation hidden under the drums and vocal.
For all the Cyberdyne technology that powers Gary’s modern assault, the Sinclair Spectrum production of ‘Me, I Disconnect From You' shows up it’s successors with a sprightly up beat chorus. A return to the Gothic grandeur of the ‘Exile’ album becons with the looped percussion of ‘Angel Wars’. In fact, with all the loops and sequencers in the Numan arsenal, the body count on stage is surprisingly low, and even the keyboardists present are restricted to handclapping for the most part, their sections handled by DAT technology. Considering the small legion of personnel that Gary once commanded on stage, it will come as no surprise that the bloated live sound of old has been replaced by a sleeker, aerodynamic creature.
After B-Side ‘Magic’ has made a welcome visit (Though sadly not A-Side ‘Absolution’) more new material such as ‘Little InVitro’ crosses the horizon. Whilst it’s now possible to hear those all important guitars (With an extra player added for good measure), the ‘Pure’ material feels too restricted and flat live, in vast contrast to the living breathing atmospherics of the CD. It’s easy to get the sensation that the songs are so new that Gary has spent so much time in the studio preparing them, that he hasn’t had time to really think about how he’s going to perform the tracks on stage.
The next song is one Gary’s had plenty of time to practice; its name is ‘Cars’ and not surprisingly the crowd greet it fondly. ‘Metal’ follows, deconstructed to it’s bubbling bass line and eerie atmospherics; Trent Reznor is no doubt down the front taking notes! In fact the real surprise tonight is just how contemporary many of Gary’s oldest songs sound with their enlivened industrial loops and stripped down aesthetics. ‘Down In The Park’ is another ideal example of this (Despite the rumoured appearance by Marilyn Manson failing to materialise) yet it’s techno noir atmosphere is somewhat ruined by the crowd’s over appreciation and sing along attitude to the track. There’s something rather unnerving about two thousand Numanoids singing merrily to a song that chronicles futuristic blood sports!
Despite Gary’s often quoted statement that he wants to be judged as much for the strength of his contemporary material as his better known eighties back catalogue, nineties Numan is noticeable largely by it’s absence. Hence, ‘Dead Heaven’ (A.K.A. The one that rips off the melody to Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy the Silence’) is a most welcome treat. An upbeat rendition of ‘Are Friends Electric’ is destined to be a fine close, but do you really think that Gary’s legions would let him escape without performing an encore or two?
As Gary leaves us it is with a restrained sorrow, and the shock that a career that once appeared on an ever decreasing circle is now spiralling upwards out of control. At a time when many of those who have kept the beacon shinning for post punk (Siouxsie, The Cure) appear to be on a downward slide, Numan looks destined to return to the Arenas that he has made infrequent visits to in recent times. Numanoids (Of all ages!) unite- ’Dominion Day’ is upon us!
GARY NUMAN-'Pure' (Eagle Rock Records)
At the very mention of the name 'Gary Numan' ten years ago, the average music journalist would burst into fits of unstoppable laughter. Upon listening to the new LP 'Pure', these self-same writers would no doubt be running for cover as only one person is cackling now- Gary Numan himself. It may have taken him the best part of a decade to pick himself up and brush off the last vestiges of the so-so white funk that polluted so much of his late eighties output ('The Fury', 'Outland') but after two near misses with 'Sacrifice' and 'Exile', the godfather of electronica has finally delivered the album he always promised.
It’s been a while coming, but 'Pure' is the record that 'Exile' was bursting at the leash to be; this is Gary with the kid gloves off, pulling no punches. The influence of his new associates Fear Factory and Marilyn Manson has obviously rubbed off, resulting in an edgier industrial wasteland that leaves many of Numan’s peers (and prodigies!) rusting in the dark.
For all the bleakness that drives 'Pure' and it’s grating surges of guitar feedback, there is still a distinct element of melody on tracks such as 'One Perfect Lie' and 'Little InVitro' as rolling pianos drift into the foreground (a’la the harmonies versus feedback duels that the Mary Chain raged in the eighties), the final product being a sound that is less spacier and more sparse than 'Exile'. Yet despite Gary's willingness to experiment, there are times when 'Pure' feels too much like a Numan LP. Despite Gary’s borrowing from the likes of Marilyn Manson for the eerie 'Rip', Numan’s distinct sound is welded so tight to the foundations of the LP, that the resulting hybrid feels that it could have been pulled into far more darker recesses than those it makes visits to. In fact, the moments that make the most impact are those where those where Gary blows the windows wide open for the bombast of such tracks as 'Pure' and 'I Can’t Breathe'.
Perhaps the real breakthrough with this LP regards the element of the Numan sound that was always less than perfect- Gary’s monotonous nasal vocal. For this record Numan’s voice takes a lesser place in the mix, at times sounding both the haunted and the haunter ('Fallen'), yet no longer at odds with the music, if anything becoming another instrument, taking on a fearful new ambience.
Very rare is the artist who reaches the pinnacle of his career twenty years down the line, but ever the chameleon, Gary has proved he has the versatility and the openness to change as taste and technology require- Perhaps he’ll still be releasing a menacing chuckle in 2020......