Gary Numan

Wulfrun Hall

Wolverhampton

DESPITE being a big fan of Gary Numan, I have never had the opportunity before to see him perform live.

And what a treat I had missed out on.

Numan came onto the stage all clad in black and didn't look much different from when he was at the top of the charts back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

There were a few more wrinkles but he still had the heavy make-up on and his eyes had a wonderfully futuristic look.

To chants of "Numan, Numan", he gave the fans what they really wanted - plenty of songs from his new album Jagged interspersed with some of the old favourites.

I must admit I hadn't heard many of the new songs before but I liked what I heard and thought Numan's deep voice perfectly suited the gritty song lyrics.

My personal favourites from the new album - Numan's first since the acclaimed Pure of 2000 - were the suitably spooky Haunted, the gritty Slave and moody In A Dark Place.

The fans liked these too and, when it came to the chorus, a sea of arms was raised in adulation.

Numan milked the crowd for all the adoration but, apart from a gracious goodbye at the end, he was a man of few words which suited his stage persona.

But he never stopped gyrating throughout, and the mic took quite a hammering.

There was no room at all in this set for his famous song Cars which would have really jarred against the heavy rock numbers being played.

But his old favourite Are Friends Electric? proved a fitting encore to the set and sent everyone home with a real spring in their step.

AG