Gary Numan live @ manchester academy 2002
Support for the night was provided by Rico. I wasn`t expecting them to be very good, but they managed to prove me wrong. They are not a Goth band, I would describe them more of electronic, metal hybrid. They played a musically tight set, and gave it loads of energy, especially their singer who bounced around the entire stage. They went down well with the crowd, but they didn`t seem to play a particularly long set.
Once the support band had finished the venue packed out. I wasn`t complaining after getting a nice comfy spot at the front. This was hindered though by three rather drunken people who crashed the front barrier barging through shouting "let the real fans through!" , charming! I got the impression you were meant to stand behind the barrier, not in front!. The bouncer had a hard time convincing them of this, but then how do you communicate with people with fewer brain cells than an amoeba!!
Gary kept the crowd waiting for a good 15 minutes, but it was worth it. The first half of the set was mainly newer material, highlights for me were My Jesus, Dark and Pure. I have to also pass comment on the guitarist who was excellent, even if he did look a bit scary ;p The entire band were exceptional and Gary - as you would expect - has an amazing stage presence, working the crowd up into a complete frenzy. The 3 `real fans` at the front were losing their energy by this point though and one of them had fallen asleep on the barrier. Some people have no stamina.
After finishing on I Can`t Breathe they launched into an encore of older material. When Cars started the crowd went berserk, I don`t think he would have got out alive if he hadn`t played it. It was leaning more towards the fear factory version than the original, and it would have gone on a bit longer if someone hadn`t have killed their microphone, ahem!
They finished off with an excellent rendition of Are Friends Electric which again pleased the crowd no end. Well the ones who weren`t asleep that is :D
Review by Evilgothicpixie