Simon / For the love of Numan

This is my friend, Simon, of Not Quite Light (and that Manchester photo) fame. He is one of the most lovely and loving people I've ever met. When he asks "What would love do?" he's one of the few people who genuinely mean it.

The first time we met, we found some common ground in a teenage obsession with Gary Numan but whereas my affection for the robo-rocker is somewhat qualified these days, Simon's love for him remains pure and simple. 

I'd said that I wouldn't see Gary Numan again after the three nights at The Forum when performed 'Replicas', 'The Pleasure Principle', and 'Telekon'. Not that the concerts were bad - quite the reverse! - but because I felt it was a good point of closure (much like the Kraftwerk gigs at the Liverpool Philharmonic and Royal Albert Hall, which I declared as the end of my live relationship with them).

It was the Bluedot festival that scuppered both those resolutions - Numan, last year, and Kraftwerk, this - and then Bob compounded matters by very generously buying me a ticket for Numan's 40th anniversary tour, specifically for tonight's show at the O2 in Liverpool. 

After drinks and excellent food at Bob's bar, Papillon, he, Simon, and I made our way to the O2 for the gig. It was pretty good, actually. Numan had a stand in bassist who was more sensitive to the playing on the earlier material, which made a big difference for me, plus the venue is a good size, ie not too big, well filled by both sound and audience.

High points for me were 'I, Assassin', which I've never seen live before, and a muscular 'Me, I Disconnect From You', plus there was a poignant moment during 'Cars' where he played footage from when it was originally released (see today's extra). And that was just as well because I think 'Cars' should have been retired years ago.

Bob found the show a bit rocky and I would give the whole gig a qualified 8/10 but Simon was happy all the way through. Just look at him!

****
-11.1 kgs
Reading: 'In Aleppo Once' by Taqui Altounyan