Gary Numan Brentwood Leisure Centre 23rd October 1993

 

I have previously indicated in an earlier post of the Marquee gig (here) that in 1993 I shot myself in the foot when it came to Gary Numan. For 1993 was the year when the revival started. Something clicked for him (I believe with the help of Gemma) that enabled him to reverse his ailing fortunes (musically speaking). A big part of this could be put down to a major rethink of the set. Compare the set below to the 1991 Electric Ballroom set posted recently. Basically, he went back to the songs that meant the most to his loyal but (surely) dispirited fanbase. He did this to the extent that songs that hadn't been heard from a stage since 1978 were getting an airing again, 'That's Too Bad', 'Jo The Waiter' and 'Bombers' (at least in the Marquee set if not this one).

Maybe there is something in the psychology of musicians, whereby in order to avoid accusations of standing still you have to keep moving forward such that older material always loses out to the new. I get it. Then a musician comes to the point in their career when suddenly the old stuff is suddenly cool again... people start referring to songs as classic this and classic that. For Numan that came at around this time, 15 years or so into his recording career. It was in the mid to late '90's too that the generation that had grown up on watching Tubewsay Army/Numan on Top of the Pops were now in bands themselves (some of which at this time were in bands that ultimately became part of the yet to be named Britpop scene) and telling the likes of Sounds and NME who their influences were. Here Numan hit pay dirt, for the first time ever, his back catalogue was in vogue and he was being given the respect within the music industry that had eluded him for so long. The return to form 'Sacrifice' album of 1994 firmly established his current upward trajectory and he has not looked back since. Furthermore, Numan has fully learned that there is nothing wrong with nostalgia so long that it is done well and whole-heartedly.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-CIjfrahKRZ

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-uak1VvkAN8

Electric Ballroom Camden London 26th September 1991

 

I didn't really plan to see Numan in 1991, having arrived at the conclusion after last seeing him in 1988 that he and I were now on divergent musical paths. However, in 1991 I took up a university work placement in Crawley, West Sussex close to where my parents lived. The company was at that time Smithkline Beecham and I was working in one of their laboratories for a period of six months. Whilst chatting one lunchtime with my new work colleagues the topic of conversation switched to music and I mentioned that amongst other things I liked Numan, they laughed, as one of the number gathered around the table, Iain, was a big fan. It was Iain that offered me a ticket to see Numan play the Electric Ballroom in Camden where he was playing as part of the 'Emotion Tour'. I took the ticket thinking that this would be an opportunity to meet up midweek with my then girlfriend (now wife) Gunta. At that time I was living back at my parents' place as there was a health crisis in the family at that time and it was also an chance to save a bit of money for a few months and Gunta was living in Ealing Common.

On the night Iain and I met Gunta in The World's End pub (where the drinkers of the band also happened to be pre-gig) for a couple of hours before I said googbye until the following Saturday when I would return to London. We got to the venue in time to see the support, Freak U.K. who left little impression on me. Come the main event, on this evening Gary didn't really stand a chance. I was confident that I wouldn't enjoy the gig and in that respect I was not wrong. Material that represented my perception of Gary Numan had been swept from the set, only 'Me! I Disconnect From You', 'Cars' and 'AFE' has survived the musical cull. The vast majority of the set was fairly recent i.e 3-4 years old and it was all infected with his current leaning towards a soul/funk vibe, supplemented with bouncy keyboards and backing vocals aplenty. If that is your Numan era I have absolutely no issue with that, it's just not my cup of tea at all. The sound 'Soul Protection' that was included in the set that night is a perfect example for me of the extent to which Numan was struggling to stay relevant at this time.

The audio quality of this gig is great and I removed some glitches that existed on the original tape before it was digitised.

Luckily for me, and I am sure that others reading these posts will be with me here, better things were on the horizon.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-RJ2qdOD6Gd

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-xoQjfgns7U