Concert review - Gary Numan at Birmingham HMV Institute

Gary Numan

HMV Institute, Birmingham

Concert review and photos by Ian Harvey

There's a certain intensity about a Gary Numan gig and a certain intensity about his fans too.

While the teenage girls queuing for a boy band somewhere else in the same venue were heard squealing their delight later on in the evening, the 40 and 50-somethings in the main venue set up regular chants of 'Numan, Numan'.

Click on the image to the right for more gig photos

The star of the evening didn't disappoint, his distinctive vocals set across a vast wall of synth and guitars, Numan laying claim to being the godfather of industrial metal to such a degree that it's impossible to imagine the likes of Marilyn Manson or Rammstein existing without him there first.

A whole raft of unsettling and intriguing video projections – some by competition winners – accompanied and enhanced songs such as Crazier, Call Out The Dogs and Absolution, as Numan soaked up the adulation of his fans, far more the rock god than the automaton of old.

Numan had said on his website that this tour was a chance to uncover some very rarely played tracks. "It will be a radically different set to what we have been playing and I'm unlikely to play a set like it again for many years so it should be quite an interesting and exciting experience," he told fans.

But, of course, he saved his biggest hits for last, sending the crowd home happy with a final run-in that included I Die, You Die, We Are Glass, Cars and Are 'Friends' Electric?