Up-Load UK, Gigs News & reviews Gary Numan Nottingham

We were at Rock City in Nottingham with the Band Three Quarters as they were playing in the club after Gary’s set so we were privileged to spend most of the day and night around the great man himself.

It was wonderful to sit in the empty main hall as we watched him and the band go through their sound check, it was almost like having a private concert with him. The lights were dimmed and the stage lighting and effects were going as he stood on the stage and sang through his songs.

It was our first glimpse of what was to come and we heard a few of the new tracks from the album ‘Jagged’ it was really mind blowing stuff as his distinctive vocals echoed around the room and his almost ghostly figure stood on the stage looking every inch of the star that I remembered so vividly from the very early ‘Tubeway Army’ stage of his career.

It was a totally different atmosphere in the hall next time we saw him however, the fans had arrived and had watched the support band ‘Rubix’ play, they were not the type of band that we expected to see support Gary but were a good warm up band who seemed to please the crowd with their flamboyant stage persona’s and varied set list and I’m sure we will be seeing them play again before too long.

It was now the time that everyone had been waiting for as the lights were dimmed and the room erupted into ear splitting chants of ‘Nuuuuman, Nuuuuman’ which were accompanied by loud feet banging into the floor, this must have gone on for ages. Even after Gary had taken to the stage and the crowd had let out their huge screams of appreciation you could still hear the chanting from every corner of the room.

The mixture of fans in the crowd was incredibly varied, from the Industrial and Goth fans dressed up in their finery to the ‘Old Skool’ Punks that had followed Gary since his career began, there were even teenagers there and older more conservatively dressed fans. All this just goes to show how obscure a range of fans he has and also what a varied career path he has followed with his changing music styles, the only thing that has remained consistent throughout his career is the way he looks – all dark and mysterious, with plenty of eyeliner, and a huge charismatic air about him.

Nobody would leave disappointed as he worked his way through the set list, which was over an hour and a half long and covered tracks from the new album as well as a few old favourites.

His new material is definitely Industrial in sound but is full of amazing guitar riffs and screams, the pounding drum beating out it’s rhythm to the equally outstanding synthesized sounds from the two keyboards that he is so well known for.

Jagged sounds like it is going to be a killer album with tracks on it such as ‘Halo’, ‘Slave’, ‘Haunted’ and my personal favourite ‘Pressure’ and of course the album’s title track ‘Jagged’. All the new material was very well received by the adoring crowd and we will be rushing to the shops t get our copy as soon as they open!

There was a short break in the set while Gary left to get a well deserved rest and drink, which resulted in the chants of ‘Nuuuuman, Nuuuuman’ echoing once again throughout the hall.

After a short time he bounced back onto the stage and the crowd were happy again.

With arms outstretched almost in a crucifix shape the oh so familiar chords of one of his best works to date started up and the room went mad ……. This was ‘Are Friends Electric’ the first really big Tubeway Army track with it’s amazing sound that has been sampled by many bands since the original release in 1978.

Unfortunately we had to leave after this track as we had to finish setting up for Three Quarters but the crowd were still going strong for a few more tracks that we were straining to hear from the lower hall.

However we were lucky enough to see Gary in his dressing room later in the evening and even managed to have a quick chat and get some items signed by him.

It was an excellent night all round and we can’t wait to see him again on 15th July at the GuilFest festival.

Keep up the brilliant work Gary, you have always been one of our heroes !