Gary Numan – Telekon 45th Anniversary Tour Live At Liverpool Academy

Gary Numan brought the Telekon 45th Anniversary Tour to a sold out, and over-heated Liverpool Academy; the stage shrouded in mist pierced by horizontal double light beams, vertical double light beams. Red beams, the instant signifiers of Telekon. Following the sudden and tragic death of his brother John earlier in the week some, myself included were surprised Numan had even made it this far into the tour; Numan had made it known previously that Telekon had been his brother’s favourite album, as such this album gained further intensity and the delivery of it each night more poignant.

Numan steps into the darkness flanked to his right by guitarist Steve Harris, whilst bass player Tim Slade fills the left side of the stage, David Brooks obscured behind an array of keyboards hits the repeated opening note of a blackened This Wreckage, before those distinct keys being to swirl, Numan burst into life, he traverses the stage, clinging to the mic stand, Numan moves with menace perfectly complimented by both Steve Harris and Tim Slade, Numan’s voice is strong – this is not the This Wreckage that appeared on Telekon, this is a brooding ominous piece, similarly with Remind Me To Smile which has morphed into a grinding industrial tinged monster, the pace is reduced for I Dream Of Wires which retains that alien feel yet has been brought back to life with a new found potency.

Photograph was always a brave choice to play live, but here Numan’s band offer up a beautiful transitional delivery that perfectly sets the scene for Please Push No More which becomes the moment of the entire night, Numan’s voice is noticeably fragile and by the first chorus he is openly crying, he tries to wipe away the tears – this is Numan publicly mourning for his brother, at one point he just has to sit and let the tears flow, the crowd are there for him, supporting him, carrying him through the moment, allowing him the space, and as the song ends Steve Harris holds Numan gently kissing him.

How Numan is expected to move forward from this point I had no idea, yet he does by introducing Like A B Film, a discovered Telekon outtake “I have no memory of writing it” adding that he thinks it was not included on the initial release as “its quite happy… that’ll never do”. I’m An Agent was always a more traditional rock song embellished by the trademark synths, here though with the reappraisal of four decades the track has switched into an industrial behemoth, Numan traversing the stage, occasionally stepping behind his trusted Virus T12 to add shards of noise to the soundscape, the same goes for The Joy Circuit and the magnificent I Die You Die which sees Numan almost spitting out the chorus.

He encores with the pulsing Listen To The Sirens which literally explodes from the stage, its clear that tracks like this remain an inspiration to many other bands, and arguably a blue print for multiple artists and genres, before concluding with Tubeway Army‘s Down In The Park a track that has retained its place in Numan’s live set throughout his career, from the dystopian lyric to that keyboard refrain, if a single track could define Gary Numan then this is the one. Numan delivered a powerful set, overcoming personal tragedy to do so, these dates are the sort of dates that fans will recall in many years to come – magnificent.

Live photography courtesy of Phil Newall, Gary Numan‘s website can be found here.