Gary Numan and Glasgow have been a match made in Heaven ever since his first gig at Glasgow Apollo waaaayyy back. His love for Glasgow is always evident when he plays here and the feelings are returned in metaphorical buckets.
Talking of metaphors… does familiarity really breed contempt? Gary last played Glasgow in what feels about a week ago when he brought his highly successful and critically acclaimed acoustic show to the city. How will the punters feel about this quick return?
Good? Bad? Indifferent?
The queue outside the venue about 30 minutes before the doors opened would suggest that they felt good about the quick return… they felt very good!
Tonight was the 45th anniversary of ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Replicas’ tour and Gary had promised something special.
The iconic old venue was packed to the rafters well before the 8:30pm kick off and it was hot… it was VERY hot in the venue.
Dead on 8:30pm the background musak died along with the house lights and the PA system blasted out the opening strains of tonight’s show. It was atmospheric and it was synthetic; a veritable wet dream for the 80’s synth and electronic stalwarts in attendance.
One could imagine they had been somehow been transported back to the birth of mainstream synth music… a musical edition of the TV show ‘Life on Mars’ where Gary plays the part of Gene Hunt.
As Gary and his band of very talented merry men took to the stage the reason for not having a support band became clear; the stage was packed with synthesizers, a huge stage set and a lighting rig reminiscent of one of Gary’s best loved backdrops.
‘Replicas’ gets the crowd going from the off… that’s they way to start a gig!
A set list of 22 songs gets ripped through barring one stoppage when a fan at the front barrier became unwell. Gary noticed and immediately stopped the show. He sat cross legged at the edge of the stage to monitor the situation whilst showing concern for the stricken fan.
After the not insignificant stoppage Gary and the lads got back to work and bombarded the crowd with one banger after another; there was absolutely no filler or downtime in the setlist.
All the big tunes were played; not churned out like some bands of that era do but lovingly played by musicians enjoying their craft. The lighting was spectacular and blindingly powerful; the sound was crisp with a bottom end to shake the very soul of everyone present.
A short, but well earned, stoppage after 20 songs allowed not just Gary and his crew to cool down but also allowed the crowd a brief bit of respite but just as everyone was catching their breath the stage set burst into life again and Gary was back out to rock the house down.
Everyone had stayed put; they knew he’d be back out and they knew there would be at least two big hitters coming their way.
‘Cars’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’ To end with?
Big enough for you?
Yes please!
Then… time to go. In what seemed like a flash the show was over.
The love affair between Gary Numan and Glasgow still burns brightly and his adoring fans can’t wait for the next meeting of hearts. History shows that he will be back soon… probably next week and going by the reactions of the fans that is a week too long!
Scottish Music Network hope that the fan who became unwell at the front of stage made a quick recovery; it’s never good to see.
Photographs & Review by John Brown
