Gary Numan live at The Roundhouse, London (25.5.2024)
A Gary Numan retrospective and very much an old fan treat. Now I really like the new Numan, the recent albums but I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to see him again and it was London and on a Saturday night with friends.
Last time was May 2022 in Plymouth and my 2019 Numan blog looks back my Numan encounters over the years, and recent years they are.
I will be brief. Let’s leave this one as photo heavy eh. A sell out gig and an extra date added. The man’s still pulling the fans back for more. There is no support band – it’s an hour and three quarters of Numan, playing all of the second Tubeway Army album, Replicas (1979), all of The Pleasure Principle, his first solo album (1979) and two b-sides of the era.
The stage is well defined by the lighting that creates a space like a room, and in a video. At the back a symbolic version of the Pleasure Principle pyramid. The flashing of light tubes is intense at times – very effective.
These old albums do get something of a makeover, with the heavier Numan sound. The man himself is no longer the mysterious man in a suit standing still but he is all over the stage in a manner that would wow a heavy metal crowd. He certainly has a more flexible spine than I could dream of. He plays guitar, keyboards at the rear of the stage, keyboards to the front and left. Both guitarists have keyboard stints. Great sound.
I’m pleased the showcased albums are mixed up and not just played through. Me I Disconnect From You is best for me, aside from the obvious singles with M.E. and Metal featuring high on my list as well.
The best? Down in the Park. It’s always my chosen old Numan one. I can eat up change in a juke box with that one (if I find one, and then it’s going cards and apps eh – a rare treat these days).
It’s an absorbing few hours, with the real crowd highs being the encores, the number one singles, Cars and Are Friends Electric? Who’d have thought when he wrote those, that 45 years later we’d be wondering if your car’s electric! They were revolutionary tracks that changed trends. Huge influences and here we all are, still listening..and now with a bit more oomph.
I was a little bit behind a pillar tonight but I adjusted with timing and leaning. I like it up in the small balcony – not every time but a leg saver.
More on The Roundhouse as a venue here in my Roundhouse venue blog.
As we filed out and up to the lifts of Chalk Farm tubestation the chatter from the hardcore fans (you know you can spot them) was excited and positive – I like that.
Gigs with Ivan 