Wed March 3rd 2004 Nottingham, Rock City

It's really frustrating being a Numan fan. His music is great, but live shows can be very disappointing sometimes. Often suffering (in my humble opinion) from a lack of effort in recreating the sounds used in the original songs - the anniversary show in particular was a real let down in this respect.
This show however was... well...fantastic!
He put everything into this - and it showed all night. The sound was great, the lights were brill & the set list was superb. A great mix of old & new. Highlights for me were M.E (with Gary playing the ORIGINAL keyboard solo using a damn good sound) & Down in the park. I'm not really a great fan of DITP, but I can honestly say it was the best version I've ever heard of it at any show he's done & I enjoyed it immensely - fantastic! Call out the dogs (another song that isn't a fav) was also excellent. Infact I'm struggling to think of a song that wasn't top drawer. It wasn't just what he did, it was the way he did them & it showed that songs from the past can be incorporated into his current set without thrash guitars being added to the arrangements.
He actually made me say 'oh wow' out loud about 6 times during the night & I smiled from beginning to end.
Jagged sounds like a cracker of a song & i'm really looking forward to the new album.
Made up I went - thanks for making the effort Gary & for putting on such a brilliant show.

Geoff

Well worth going! After seeing Gary over 20 times in the last few years, a midweek slog to Nottingham seemed like a lot of effort. My wife would not let me take other people - she wanted me back early! So I was on my ownsome. I only saw three people I recognised in the audience, there were so many new faces.

The vibe was good, the music was good. I certainly don't think Gary was miming, because he forgot to come in on two occasions! An excellent set, including Night Talk (that was more fun live than I expected), My Breathing, Desire, Prophecy and three totally new songs, all of which sound somewhat catchy to me! Gary actually spoke to the audience, if only to announce the new songs... M.E., Films, A.F.E., I'm An Agent, Crazier, Rip. It was just good!!

Paddy Vickers

Me and my friend Melanie thought the show was brill (10/10) we were stud in the middle proper going for it. love the new songs and carnt wait for the album to come out. thanks Gary for yet another top performance. top marks.

Lee Marsden

What can I say but fantastic. After a few microphone problems during which the crowd sang for him, Gary got into his stride and put in probably his best (and I dont say this lightly) performance that i can remember.I was most pleased to hear night talk played live and beefed upto his present music level. I just hope he releases Jagged soon as I am sure that it will be another top ten hit.
>From me and the wife ( Ali ) thanks again Mr Numan for another great night.I just hope the hearing returns soon in my left ear for the next tour!!!!!

Mainsy

The music and songs were truly awesome tonight, with the guitars slamming in like a thousand jack hammers on an acid trip, and the rhythms pounding away like the hangover you never want but always remember.

A delight to hear 'Night Talk' after so long, and I especially enjoyed the 'Graham Norton' version of AFE.

I really like the new songs Gary played at the gig, especially 'Does God bleed?' and 'Jagged'. I look forward to the next album when it finally gets completed and released, but for now I'll comfort myself with soem very happy memories of the 3rd of March.

And I got to meet him - which was nice!! ;)

Andy 'Rruman' Jones

To me 'Night Talk' was a moment to savour... pure pleasure at this one being included... would have liked to see 'Jo the Waiter' but that's because I like to hear his voice and this would have been clear.

Top marks to the sound guy .... I thought Numan was very clear (worried what my girlfriend would have said had she been to some of the other gigs).

Rock city is one of the best venues in my opinion .. Gary did great, the lights were better than in previous years and the crowd seemed well up for it... shame that it had to end.

3 new songs, all sounded good but liked does god bleed the most.

Glad that cars was not in the set list... all in all a fantastic gig.

Yorkie

I would only say one thing " amazing " Having three first timers with me who now are the proud owners of t-shirts and can't wait for the next gig. I think that sums up the night to a tee......cheers gary for a superb night out once again !

bigalsfunhouse

what a relief! after last years shows and lack of new material this numan fans faith was begining to slip.all thoughts of gary going through the motions where well and truly gone tonight with what i can only discribe as an awsome performance,a rock legand reborn and well and truly back on track.

opener films set the tone,all fear of dodgy micraphones gone!,then cot dogs.never sounding better,and a light show to match any,especially a fantastic im an agent.new songs impressive to my fave being haunted even a led zep feel to it!

all to soon the main set finishes to thunderous ovations gary at the front of the stage sucking in all the adulation and seeming surprised and moved at the awestruck reactin of the audiance.get used to it gary!

a fantastic gig and enjoyed night talk,these little surprises do make fans happy,especially older ones.roll on jagged halo!

Stuart

One of the best numan gigs i've been to for some time,sound was good,you could even hear gary singing this time.he did however play to much pure album again, although the older songs were a good mix i.e. films as the opener,good version of me,my breething,and song of the night, one i've never heard him do live ,night talk . all in all a sound night,got there a bit late for support so can't really comment on them ,what i heard wasn't bad,place seemed pretty full though.

paul hagan [airlane]

Wow,Numan never sounded better than this.
Every track a winner,excellent light show and every nook and cranny was filled with wall to wall numanoids.
One day all music will be like this.

markg

Numan is back on top form! Rock City was well and truly Rocked last night! Sound was excellent, band played almost to perfection(Night Talk started a bit shakily!) and Garys vocal was superb It was my partners first Numan show, and she loved it, another convert to the Numan family.
Last night was the best Numan show for many a year. Keep it up Gary

Mik Brookes

Great sound, good lights, could hear the vocals and the crowd got behind Gary and the lads.
A few technical hitches but this just helped with the atmosphere.
Gary and the band looked like they were working hard and this came through in the passion and appreciation from the crowd.
A bit too much smoke at times but this just added to the whole feel of the gig.
The group I was with all said that the support started off well but fell into some self-indulgent feedback dominated guitar twanging, that took away from some solid sounding songs.
Loved the new stuff and "Jagged" sounds like a real winner.
The oldies had been reworked but still had that "Numan" feel.
Top gig!

OddJob

The overall sound was fantastic. The vocals were clear, the keyboards cutting nicely through the mix, live bass just lifts the performance to a higher level, and the drums seemed crisper, more powerful yet didn't drown out the rest of the band.

The set list was..
Films
Call Out The Dogs
Crazier
Rip
Does God Bleed?
Metal
My Jesus
Walking With Shadows
Down In The Park
Haunted
Prophecy
I'm An Agent
Desire
Jagged
A Prayer For The Unborn
M.E.
Night Talk
My Breathing
Are 'Friends' Electric?

I don't know where the other guy got Engineers from, deffo not this show though... :o)

But talking of Engineers, a big hooray for the sound guy. Much, much better mate.
If Gary started singing a track and it was a little quiet, he turned up the vocal...! Not rocket science I know, but something we have lacked in past performances...
The lights were great too. I like Rock City as they do pack a lot of expensive lights in for a small venue. Very atmospheric.

I think we got the real deal tonight. Numan back to somewhere near his best.
The performance was slick, tight and energetic. Even AFE sounded good, fresh even, not the tired plodding routine of recent outings..!!
It seems the band really did put a lot of hard hours on set and it showed. A professional feel and a professional sound.

A big thumbs up for dropping in 'The Dogs' & 'Night Talk', the latter really rocking with some big guitars and banging drums on it.
A brave move to stick 3 new songs in the set also. Did they sound good? I think so, and a million miles away from the demo versions. These sounded like the finished article to me and could quite easily sit as they are on an album for my money....

All in all a very successful night. Great sound, great lights, great performance and for those of you who like to discuss such things, shorter hair than it has been recently.. :o)

Enjoy Cardiff and London you lucky people...

MrWall.

Brilliant.

Last night's concert was probably one of the best Numan concerts I've ever been to in terms of musical content. Absolutely awesome - the new and old tracks. Great atmosphere. Jagged Halo can't come out quickly enough!! Brilliant.

HarryJack

Set for the Fans

I went to the Numan gig at Nottingham's Rock City last night. For fans like me it was a real treat. Numan played three unreleased new tracks - 'Haunted', 'Does God Bleed' and 'Jagged' (you can download snippets of these on Numan's website). None of these tracks would be out of place on the 'Pure' album and I'm really looking forward to hearing the Jagged Halo LP.

The set was very eclectic but concentrated on songs from the beginning of his career ('M.E.', 'Down In The Park', 'Engineers') and tracks from Pure ('My Jesus', 'Prayer For The Unborn'). My recollection is that he played only two songs from between 1983 and 1994 ('Call Out the Dogs' being the best). I thought the last two singles ('Rip' and 'Crazier') went down a storm. The biggest surprise of the night was a live rendition of 'Night Talk' which (to my knowledge) he's never played live before. This came in his encore of six songs that (somewhat predictably) closed with 'Are Friends Electric?'. Given the small venue, it was just wonderful to see Gary and the band so close up from wherever you were in the room.

Overall I would describe it as a set for the fans. I took along a good friend who only knew Gary's biggest hits and he was disappointed that he didn't play 'Cars' and some of his other early 80s hits. I on the other hand loved it that we got three new songs, a song never before played live, and cracking renditions of the latest singles.

Dr. Mark Griffiths

Cracker of a Gig

Absolutely awesome gig! Rock City was rammed, as packed as it could be, and the atmosphere was excellent. Gary was in fine form, looking great and really putting some effort in. We had 'Crazier', 'I'm an Agent', 'Rip', 'My Jesus', 'Metal', 'Films', 'DiTP', 'Prayer for the unborn', 'AFE' and a mind boggling version of 'My Breathing' during the encores which nearly took the roof off, plus a load of others that escape me for the moment. There were a couple of surprises - 'Call Out the Dogs' and 'Night Talk' as well as three new ones, of which 'Jagged' was the pick.

All in all, a cracker of a gig!

Jon G

Retro

Retro lyrics, retro sound, familiar friend.
Jagged is the new numan.
The two other as yet untitled numan tracks sounded awsome in their simplicity and complexity.
superb venue. superb sound. we will be back. we are the numanoids.
amazing. london will follow, but can it compete, we will see...

Paidi Paul (Void) Keith Helen