Gary Numan’s mixed bag at the Picture House

Dec 1 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

THEMED tours are all the rage these days, as so many veteran acts revisit their finest moments.

And so is it with Gary Numan, who arrived at this fine Edinburgh venue to mark the 30th anniversary of his Pleasure Principle album.

Any notion that such a landmark could be regarded as a ‘celebration’ is obviously not one that can be applied in the case of the glum electro-architect.

But sadly black-shirted Numan was way too deferential to his ultra-intense youthful self.

With the passing of time, tracks like Complex and Observer came over as less pioneering than merely stodgy.

Hunched over his keyboard throughout and surrounded by seemingly disinterested band-mates, Numan’s dedication on Films provided a fleeting glimpse of an explanation: “I started Tubeway Army with a bass player called Paul Gardiner who, um, he killed himself and I miss him.”

Only a heavy duty Cars saved the first half of the set from monotony, but the rest of the gig was much better.

Crunching guitars prevailed on industrial anthems Little Invitro and Sacrifice, while we were reminded in garish colours of the sheer weirdness of Down In The Park.

Never exactly a bundle of laughs, Numan’s remorseless musical angst was played out in front of a video backdrop that included still of a woman prodding sharp pencils into her neck.

It all added to the feeling that the teacher was taking lessons from his diligent pupils, most notably the likes of Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails.

An inevitable Are ‘Friends’ Electric? prompted a mass singalong before an encore that included its B-side We Are So Fragile.

Given an extra rock edge, these impressive moments were proof that the rigid format that went before was a good idea badly executed.

Andrew Welsh