By Keith Walsh
By creating powerful, passionate sounds across four decades, Gary Numan all but shatters the myth that only mad geniuses create the most important music.
Seeing Numan last night at The Glass House In Pomona was a confirmation that an artist can create some of his most vital music later in life. As he opened the set with a single from his new album Intruder, Numan presented sounds that build on his legacy while exploring new sonic textures.
Numan is inspirational in many ways. Not only is he a senior citizen at 64, he has Asperger’s on the autism spectrum, according to a diagnosis at the age of 21. Motivated rather than discouraged, in his twenties he helped popularize techno pop with major radio and MTV hits, and in his sixties, he’s creating aggressive electronic music that would make Trent Reznor blush and putting on ninety minute shows in cities around the world. A licensed airline pilot (until recently), Numan is anything but limited in his abilities, or unstable.
When he hit the scene in the late 70s with his cold musical take, portraying a human all but shuttered by a technological society, Gary Numan came across as an oddity. The music was compelling however, and his portrayal of the alienated character who spun melancholy electronic tunes was strangely charismatic. But it was difficult to imagine how he might break out of this mold into other styles.
Science Fiction?
But break out he did, releasing albums consistently across the decades. In 2017, Numan was roused by growing concern for the safety of the planet earth and its inhabitants, as our world got hotter, and global climate change was mishandled and scoffed at by politicians. His 2017 album Savage (Songs From A Broken World) imagined a world destroyed by drought and famine, reaching number 2 on the UK Charts. 2021’s Intruder builds on this theme, with lyrics that are thoughtful and philosophical, also reaching number 2.
While Gary Numan began a musical career with what might have been a theatrical gimmick, in actuality, his technological man was a character shut down by a harshly cold society, a character that has evolved into one engaged with positive change. He’s now playing a variation on this role, assuming the crucial position that the greatest science fiction takes – asking questions, and presenting apocalyptic scenarios, in the hopes that answers will return, and that humanity won’t face such a bleak future after all. Numan’s lyrics hold a mirror up to all of us, asking us to do better than the status quo would demand.
The show he put on last night was phenomenal, with Steve Harris on guitar, Tim Slade on bass guitar, David Brooks on keyboards, and Richard Beasley on drums. Despite using new Roland instruments, the keyboardist handled all the lovely sounds that were originally played on vintage Moog synths, as well as all the sounds from Numan’s catalog after the 80s. (Pretty sure about this line-up but not absolutely certain). Numan played occasional keyboards (Virus T1) and a Les Paul guitar. And while Numan is still very guarded onstage, never addressing the crowd directly, except when he exited the stage to say goodnight, he did allow occasional flashes of smiles.
The set started with his a recent single, the powerful “ Intruder” and showed a range of emotion that a casual listener might not be aware of. Songs like “I Am Screaming” and “Now And Forever” let Numan present a tender side. Of his classic hits, “Down In The Park” and “Cars” showed up during the lengthy encore.
Gary Numan dot com
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