Wrapping up the July run of gigs at the Piece Hall was another great sign-up from Cuffe & Taylor: Gary Numan. I, like many of his fans, thought this was a bold decision to go with, as Gary is mainly used to playing medium-capacity venues around the 2k mark, not a 6k outdoor venue, so to enter through the massive gates of the Piece Hall at 7.15 and see the place already incredibly busy was, I’m sure, a massive relief to him and his management.
Support was from Ladytron, whom I’ve seen before, and they were given a very generous hour slot; however, I wasn’t very impressed with their performance; it felt phoned in with very little energy on stage and very little interaction with the crowd. A bit surprising really, as it wasn’t like they were performing to a small crowd; I would have said the place was probably at least three-quarters full before they came on stage, they just seemed disinterested.
The same couldn’t be said for Gary, though; from the off, it was clear he and the band were on a mission to entertain. It’s not often they get to play to a crowd of fans of this size, and it seemed to step everyone up their game a few notches with Gary prowling the entire stage as soon as he entered it, only occasionally stopping at his mic stand and his keyboard.
For someone who was once so uncomfortable on stage, it may have taken the best part of half a century, but now at 68 he has become a formidable front-man, his snarls and posing a gig photographer’s dream.
Indeed, the whole stage set-up and lighting was a sight to behold as the night drew darker, from the band bathed in red during Cars, to the blue and white by the final closer Are Friends Electric, when the whole lighting almost bleached out your sight; it was a feast for the eyes as much as the sound was for the ears.
My better half is a massive Numan fan, from Are Friends Electric being the 1st single she ever bought with her own money right up to the present day, so naturally I’ve been dragged along to a few of his gigs and honestly? I don’t think I’ve seen or heard him better, and going by what quite a few other fans have said, including some die-hards, it seems we’re very much in agreement – something quite unusual when it comes to Numan fans; they can be somewhat, shall we say, outspoken…
So the performance was great, what about the song choices? Well, it was an eclectic mix; some of the firm fan favourites were there, M.E., I Die, You Die, some of the newer stuff to remind us all he isn’t a legacy act, Ghost Nation.
My Name Is Ruin and the stone wallers already mentioned above but also a few rarely heard like Jagged, Mercy and RIP so he covered a broad spectrum for the curious fans just down because he was in town who have never seen him to the die-hards, being a man of very little words he and the band managed to pack an awful lot into ninety minutes and that time flew by in a flash.
Prince once said about Numan, “There are still people trying to work out what a genius Gary Numan is,” and there probably are, but if Gary sticks to playing at venues of this size, they’ll be a whole lot less out there.
For the man who nearly lost it all by the early 90s, his comeback in recent years is nothing short of incredible, and he’s probably better now live in 2026 at 68 than he has ever been previously which is a credit to those around him, his wife Gemma and the kids, Raven, Persia and Echo, who have helped keep him grounded and driven – is it selfish to hope he continues a bit longer whilst hes delivering performances like these than to hang up his bondage tape and trade them for some slippers and the quiet life?
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