WORDS AND IMAGES MICHAEL BOND
Gary Numan takes to the stage at a sold-out O2 Ritz, for the 3rd time in less than 2 weeks. Tonight’s show is part of his epic 45th anniversary tour celebrating two iconic albums, the Tubeway Army’s “Replicas” and his debut solo album “The Pleasure Principle”. This tour has seen numerous venue upgrades and extra nights added due to the phenominal demand for the electronic music pioneer.
Dressed in gray and black with heavy eye makeup, Numan is accompanied by Steve Harris (guitar, keyboard) and Tim Slade (bass), Jimmy Lucido (drums) and David Brooks (keyboards) are both on risers at the back of the stage, separated by a glowing triangle which is the focal point of the atmospheric and futuristic looking stage set.
Opening the night with the title track from Replicas, Numan draws on his vast experience as a frontman and performer, working both the stage and the crowd, projecting his energy throught the whole room. Without any chat the momentum of the set quickly builds, taking the crowd on a journey through electropop with tracks M.E, Me! I Disconnect From You and Films. Numan clearly wants to let the music do the talking tonight, as he breathes new life into these album tracks that in some cases, may have never been played live ahead of this tour.
As the set continues, Numan shows why he is still at the top of his game, holding the crowd with his stage presence and he still clearly enjoys performing live. This enjoyment and energy is also reciprocated back from the packed crowd as they show their appreciation song after song.
The 22 song set is a mix of tracks split evenly across the two seminal albums, with the encore culminating in two true classics “cars”, Numan’s debut No. 1 solo single and “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” which brought the celebration of a career that has spanned four decades to a close. Tonight, has given fans an opportunity to look back over the years and appreciate the influence of a legend that shows no sign of slowing down.
SET LIST
1/ Replicas
2/ M.E.
3/ Me! I Disconnect From You
4/ Films
5/ We Have a Technical
6/ Do You Need the Service?
7/ Engineers
8/ Observer
9/ Praying to the Aliens
10/ Tracks
11/ Conversation
12/ It Must Have Been Years
13/ You Are in My Vision
14/ Airlane
15/ Complex
16/ Down in the Park
17/ The Machman
18/ Metal
19/ Only a Downstat
20/ We Are So Fragile
ENCORE
21/ Cars
22/ Are ‘Friends’ Electric?
FOLLOW GARY NUMAN
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
