There are a few artists out there who have been much imitated but never matched and Gary Numan must sit right at the top of that list.
Since seeing Tubeway Army perform ‘Are Friends Electric’ on Top of the Pops all those years ago in 1979 I have been fascinated by his image and followed his career on and off ever since.
Tonight’s impressive stage set had the look of something designed for much larger venues with the lights and video screens filling the O2 Academy in Bournemouth with images of lava and a world on fire that perfectly matched the mood of the evening and the tone of the songs in a set list that covered nearly every aspect of his near forty five year career.
Gary takes to the stage in his customary futuristic garb that is perfectly complimented by guitarist Steve Harris and bassist Tim Slade who are dressed like and have the look of The Engineers from Prometheus.
It’s a great visual line up across the front of the stage that works well with the overall feel of the show.
The gig opens with Intruder the first of five songs from the 2021 album of the same name and quickly moves along with 1980’s Remind Me To Smile and 2016’s Everything Comes Down To This.
Despite the set list being taken from the entirety of his career the flow of the show is a perfect balance with each song flowing seamlessly into each other.
The main set exception to this is Cars which unsurprisingly received one of the biggest reactions of the evening but sounded slightly less industrial that the other songs. It’s still a great song though and goes down a storm.
Numan moves around the stage like a man half his age and has lost none of the vocal or visual impact that has seen him thrill crowds down the decades.
The band are tight and in turn move and fill the stage on the occasions that he retreats to the back to play keyboards.
The main set closes with The Chosen and We Are Glass but it’s not long before they are back with a two-song encore which for me was the highlight of the entire gig.
Jo the Waiter and the stunning Are ‘Friends’ Electric leave the crowd on a real high having seen an artist and band at the top of their game.
What more can you ask for than to see a musical icon perform songs old and new that leave you wanting more and looking forward to the next release or live show.
A fantastic evening.
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