GARY NUMAN & DIRTY HARRY
INDIGO ARENA 03/12/09
Finally, almost a decade after the Millennium Dome’s conceived purpose I visit for the first time. This is not the sort of place that attracts many shows I would be remotely interested in and immediately I find the environs claustrophobic, corporate and detestable. A friend had been given free tickets to see Gary Numan though, through the power of Facebook and this could not be missed. It was also nice on getting there to discover that we had VIP tickets on the front row of the balcony directly overlooking the stage and as Gary Numan is one act I do not mind sitting down to, this with all the extra breathing space that went with it was more than welcome.
First up was Dirty Harry, obviously I was well aware of the great Clint Eastwood movie from 71 and subsequent sequels but also knew who the band were and got exactly what I expected from them. This is all about singer / guitarist Harry backed by her Sassoon school sculptured skinny band. The singer is gobby, brash and full of herself, the antitheses of the LA (even if she arrived there via London) rock star and it must be said great with it. Apparently Harry had a strict religious upbringing, a vicar for a grandfather and mother in charge of Sunday school. Obviously she rebelled in true rock n roll style as her performance exuded sex appeal and must have had a few pacemakers smoking even if the audience were not fully going for it below me. As for the songs themselves they were loud and arrogant, biting and caustic as the singer husky voiced and occasionally injecting a glam laden whoop commanded on numbers like ‘Dirty Boys And Girls’ The sound it has to be said was excellent here, it made a change from my usual haunts and I fully appreciated the clarity of the music through an obviously superior sound system. Dirty Harry may not have been my normal sort of listening pleasure but after a cursory comment about Transvision Vamp to the person sitting next to me they did win over and I got fully appreciate where they come from.
There was only really one person everyone here wanted to see though and expectations were high with chants of ‘Numan’ booming through the arena from every angle. They literally pulsed onto stage with the electronics literally reverberating right through us. The ‘Airline’ had well and truly taken off. It should be pointed out that this was the 30th anniversary of pioneering album ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and it was being played in entirety here. This keyboard heavy classic actually had no less than 4 synthesizers on stage with Gary and cohorts including Ade Fenton manipulating the otherworldly sounds out of them backed by a bassist and drummer. Quite a few parts of the album are instrumental and we were kept waiting for the vocals but when they hit on ‘Metal’ there could be nobody else behind them. As for the Numanoid he was decked in black shirt, black tie and black boots and with black hair looking in fantastic condition, he looked like he had if anything got younger since I interviewed him (namedrop sorry) a few years ago.
If I had been told that I would be seeing songs that I remember from three decades ago being aired in front of me all that time later I probably would not have believed it. I would also have not believed that the main arena should have been hosting a famous singer who had changed colour and died from a drug overdose after a turbulent and very strange life. Odd what happens when you think about it. After a few numbers, just behind us the WAK’s arrived (wives and kids) including I believe Gary’s young daughters all wearing matching protective headphones to watch dad at work. ‘Complex’ went out to Paul Gardiner Gary’s former bassist in Tubeway Army who died in 1984 of an overdose in Northolt (and having lived there has my full commiseration). Joined on stage by Chris Payne another well known collaborator (and writer of Fade To Grey by Visage fact fans) this was a fitting tribute. Chris was playing what I could only describe as some sort of electricviawhatsit and when he came back later Gary introduced him and called the instrument a strange little black thing so I was not the only one confused. The sound again was excellent with bass plodding through like slow marching diplodocus on numbers like ‘Films’. Visually it followed you everywhere too and I mean everywhere with a projection screen in the toilet!
Everyone knew one particular number and it was the smash hit (pun intended) ‘Cars’ seemingly flung out with wild abandon and again invoking images penned by JG Ballard of futuristic cars flying up and down the A40. I also really enjoyed the machinery take over of ‘Engineers’ with its robotic delivery and projector screen imagery going off on overload. Gary said, as he has done before, how much he hates nostalgia trips but he was also glowing as he stated how much he had enjoyed this.
When the machine breaks down we break down! Not so, as for the second part of the set the guitars took over for a set that other artists (Trent Reznor take a bow) built their entire career around. This was no greatest hits package either and even included a couple of numbers I was not au fait with but now realise that the first and heavy as hell ‘The Fall’ is actually the new single, which more than bodes well for the future. ‘Pure’ and ‘Jagged’ via a backdrop of on screen flames were newer ones too but between them was for me the highlight of the whole show and old classic ‘Down In The Park,’ which was played with in heavy bristling and dynamic way making it a complete showstopper. Another despite a piano etched start caught nobody out, it might not have sounded electric but was an old friend, know what I mean?
If anything the encore struck as understated ‘We Are So Fragile’ sounded great and it was nice to get an old Tubeway Army number and another bit of purity in the form of ‘A Prayer For The Unborn’ was played instead of anything perhaps a bit more obvious. Basically tonight exceeded all expectations and Gary Numan delivered one of the best shows I have seen this year and I am really looking forward to a future release in 2010. It is no surprise that he has such dedicated fans including one person pointed out on the front row who has seen Numan way in excess of 300 times. Pure Devotion!
Pete Woods
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