Gary Numan
Gary Numan returns to the live arena with a Liverpool date and Getintothis‘ Banjo has the details
Gary Numan is many things, but perhaps what he is most of all is a survivor.
Starting out in the 1976 punk scene, first with Mean Streets and then Tubeway Army, Numan made the then usual guitar based punk sound.
Soon however, synthesizers started to appear in his records. Sensing which way the wind was blowing, Tubeway Army’s second album all but abandoned guitars in favour of synths and Numan found himself at the cutting edge of a fashionable new sound.
Subsequent records were released under his own name and Numan became not only a star, but the face of the synth pop revolution.
Of course the trouble of being in fashion is that, pretty quickly, fashions move on and a scene’s leaders can find their star falling as quickly as it rose.
Following 1980’s No 1 Telekon album, Numan’s sales started to slip while those of Human League and Depeche Mode rose. As is often the case with these things, the pioneers get the arrows while the followers get the gold.
Gary Numan at Liverpool’s Olympia
Numan still continued to make albums, his style evolving over time, but without his former success. And then a funny thing happened. Bands as diverse as Nine Inch Nails, Basement Jaxx and Sugababes covered his songs and spoke of his influence.
Suddenly, Numan found himself to be hip again and a new chapter in his career began.
His live dates again started getting rave reviews and the venues he was playing started to get larger. Since then, Numan has been a constant presence on the road and commands a large and loyal audience.
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New album Savage: Songs From A Broken World has garnered positive reviews and Numan was awarded an Ivor Novello Inspiration award for songwriting.
The album focuses on Donald Trump and the threat of climate change, Numan saying: “The songs are about the things that people do in such a harsh and terrifying environment. It’s about a desperate need to survive and they do awful things in order to do so, and some are haunted by what they’ve done.
“That desire to be forgiven, along with some discovered remnants of an old religious book, ultimately encourages religion to resurface, and it really goes downhill from there.’
Those who have seen Numan play recently will need no further persuasion to catch him on his latest tour. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, do yourselves a favour and experience a man who has fought his way back to the top through sheer tenacity and songwriting skills.
Gary Numan full UK tour dates are:
Portsmouth Pyramids Centre March 12
Warwick Arts Centre March 13
Leicester O2 Academy March 14
Edinburgh Assembly Rooms March 16
Middlesbrough Empire March 17
Preston Guild Hall March 19
Hull City Hall March 20
Sheffield Foundry March 21
Isle Of Man Villa Marina March 23
Liverpool O2 Academy March 24
Northampton Roadmenders March 25
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