The Human League Vienna 4th June 1980

They said of The Prodigy in the 1990's, the same could have been said of The Human League in the late '70's before pop stardom called by, they were Electronic Punks.

Certain bands were punk in their attitude in that they were around in '77 and didn't jump on the three chord bandwagon but instead decided to make their own unfathomable noise, in many ways as challening to the status quo as punk. Unlike the electro/new romantic bands that followed within 18 months or so the likes of The Human League and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark built their own synthesizers.... even those aspiring to be in a punk band could go down to Woolworths to get the gear, not so for the early electro-musicians, they had to make their instruments..... punks indeed, albeit in corduroy!

Unlike some of the other early electronic outfits, most notably Ultravox, The Human League did not take themselves too seriously, their music was a mixed bad of futuristic adsurdity ('The Black Hit of Space', 'Empire State Human'), unexpected covers ('Rock 'n' Roll Part 2', 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling') and songs that referenced 1970's popular culture of the day as in 'The Circus of Death' which features 'Hawaii 5-0' detective Steve McGarrett as its central character. The original Human League's take on the future was more Jetsons than robots and AI! In that sense they were not a million miles away from The Rezillos, and funnily enough Rezillos guitarist, Jo Callis, joined The League shortly after departing from Faye and Eugene.

What's more, The Human League were viewed with a certain credibility by the punk fraternity, supporting Iggy Pop and Siouxsie and the Banshees on UK tours.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-6zLnmInGyK

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-AjzXFj1oqt

Electric Picnic Festival Stradbally Hall Ireland 2nd September 2006

 

One of several festival appearances that Numan made in 2006, this one at Ireland's 'Electric Picnic. A shortened festival 'Jagged' set.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-pDZdqZy0bW

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-jFeYcfskQU

Heaven 17 The Adrian Flux Waterfront Norwich 8th November 2025

 

Here's something with some likely cross-over appeal. Heaven 17 putting in a solid appearance at the Waterfront in Norwich back in November of last year. There is an emotional tribute to Billy McKenzie of The Associates when the band cover 'Party Fears Two which is something of a highlight in my opinion (and not an easy song to cover by any means). Good to hear online too that the 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang' merchandise is selling very well at their gigs!

For those with an interest in British electronica, Martyn Ware's autobiography, 'Electronically Yours Vol. 1' is highly recommended.

Many thanks to Chatts for the share.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-YTl6szllmh

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-cUCbysnfUq

 

Cliffs Pavilion Southend 23rd November 2025

 

Another brilliant Telekon 45 gig, this time from Southend. Many thanks to Chatts for the share! Although thanks to Shadow23 for the remaster and making it sound so good!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-bKNMLMjUbc

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-TfbnzQyvVY

Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit Asheville NC 26th October 2013

 

To redress the balance after this mornings negative post, here's a recording of a Numan show from 2013 when he was very much heading back towards the second peak of his career. From the 'Splinter' period, this is a festival set from the grandly named 'Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit' in North Carolina, hosted by the U.S. Cellular Center.

Excellent sound quality for this one! Thanks to the 'Live Bootleg' blog site.

A word on the date, the original upload site states that Numan played this gig on 25th October (and whilst the Festival did run over three days from the 25th to the 27th, most sources including the official line up from the promoters indicates that the gig was played on 26th. Moreover, the NUMANME site has him playing at the Masquerade Club in Atlanta Georgia the previous night.

MP3: https://we.tl/t-YMeqFuJF20

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-BDAgzxtTgD

Cambridge Corn Exchange 1st April 1992

 

This was it, the nadir of a once glittering pop career. I have no doubt that there are people who maintain a positive view on this period of Gary's enduring career, but even the most diehard of Numan acolytes must struggle to be particularly positive about what he was attempting to do in the studio at this time. For those that were initially drawn to Tubeway Army and Numan in '79 and '80 this period was difficult to take.

Numan himself makes no bones about the fact that he was struggling against the odds to find his place ten years on from his original flush of success. A few quotes of his lifted from Wikipedia say all that needs to be said really. Although here he is talking specifically about the 'Machine & Soul' album that was to be released some months after this 'Isolate' tour (that was plugging late stage Numa studio albums), what he says was relevant to his wider early '90s output.

'I convinced myself [that Machine + Soul] was all right, that it was a 'clever' mix of funk, pop, rock and electronics. I almost convinced myself that I liked it. Not long after it was released though, I had to admit, only to myself for a while, that it was not what I'd hoped. There was nothing wrong with it as such, it just doesn't have much of me on it - not playing-wise, but emotionally. It is the most 'non-Numan' Numan album I've ever made, for my style, sound and character are completely missing. Whatever people think about my music, it's always been very personal. So, at a time when I was experiencing extreme lows in my career and private life, the last thing I felt like making was a shiny, polished pop record. But that's what I'd done.'

and

'I put out a really shit album in 1992 called Machine + Soul which I’ll regret for the rest of my life. I realised that what I’d been doing wasn’t the right way to do it. I took a bit of time out and really thought through everything. Even whether I wanted to leave the music business.'

Here we have the show from the 'Isolate' tour in Cambridge.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-9xqJUHyPik

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-SavX24lrPD

O2 Academy Birmingham 15th November 2025

So the tour concluded. Probably the best 'retro' dates that Gary has done to date. Of course the tour took an unexpected and tragic turn just three nights in with the sudden and tragic death of John Webb. Consequently, what started out as a celebration of the 'Telekon' album very quickly evolved in a memorial to a beloved brother, someone who had been a part of Numan's career right from those earliest dates in London's Roxy and other punk dives. Many of the audience at these gigs would have seen John up on stage as part of his brother's touring band in the mid-'80s. As such Gary had 2,000+ people each night that were to a greater or lesser extent sharing in his grief. As hard is it was to see him struggle through 'Please Push No More', we knew that he knew that the audience were solidly behind him.

I said it in my earlier post related to the Cambridge date that the show has an edge that I thought, if not missing in previous classic album tours, was more pronounced this time around. Maybe is was an outward manifestation of the whole band's determination to rack it up even more than usual under such circumstances. Whatever the reason, it worked!

This then is from the night in Birmingham when the news broke within the Numan camp. It's a wonder he got through the night.

Thanks to the original uploader (emmanuel).

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-WvYDc3MULk

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-JQbPDZdLM7