Review of Gary Numan's show at the Middle East/Downstairs, Cambridge, MA, 3 May 1998 from the "Boston Globe" by Jim Sullivan

"Numan rocks. '90's style, in his return"

CAMBRIDGE - Surprise No. 1: At 10pm, the lines outside the Middle East Sunday night were split in two - lucky ticketholders along Brookline Avenue waiting to get into the club and the 100-plus unlucky wannabe purchasers strung out along Mass. Ave. Co-owner Nabil Sater kept explaining to the goths unwilling to beleive that Gary Numan's show was sold out. Proving ...you never know in this business. The Britsh synth-pop pioneer of the late 70's/early 80's has been virtually invisible for a decade and a half in the United States. His latest album, "Exile", his first in eons, just came out on an indie label, Cleopatra. Yet, a solid fan base remains, or has been re-created.

Surprise No. 2: What the sweaty, packed crowd got was no less than Nine Inch Numan, with Numan and his four backing musicians plucking a chapter from Trent Reznor. Where Numan used to project an icy, disconnected personna - both in his music and in stage presence - now he's jumped into the deep end of the techno/industrial pool, with synth beats and a live drummer, with metal-tinged guitar licks ripping out of the gliding synth-based melodies. Onstage, Numan was no robot, no android: he was working hard for the money. Dressed in a stylish black trenchcoat (until the heat overwhelmed), he was mobile, theatrical (Jesus-on-the-cross poses), and in your face.

It made sense, actually, as synth-based music has moved well beyond the cliche of yore. Numan played five songs from "Exile" - giving them a much harder kick than on the disc - and dipped into the catalog for, amoung others, "Cars", "Films", "Down In The Park", and the closing trio of "Fragile", Me, I disconnect from you", and "We Are Glass." There was still the signature wafting synth-wave sound; there was just a whole lot more action around it. "Cars" ws played early and jacked up a notch - a smart move that brought everyone into the show. Numan played a little guitar and no synthisizers, thus freeing himself to be the Bowie-esque frontman. (He'll never escape the Bowie comparisons; in "An Alien Cure" he even pinched the guitar lick from Scary Monsters.") Catch him from a certain angle and he looked like a younger, slimmer Gary Glitter. And where does he find eyeliner that doesn't run, even in a hothouse?

Negatives? A somewhat muddled vocal mix and a somewhat limited melodic universe. Still, there was a hard, dark ambience in both music and lyrics. Numan projected cynicism and angst in his 20's and continues to do so in his 40's. But to nick a phrase from Depeche Mode, this was a dark celebration. Imagine, Gary Numan: Rocker.

Opening was the eight-year old San Fransisco-based quartet Swichblade Symphony, fronted by Tina Root, who has a bit of Nina Hagen in her. The group's synth-rock is cut from the same fabric as Numan's, although they're more into the hypnotic than the thrashing. Switchblade Symphony was the snake charmer; we were the snake.

Jim Sullivan

c 1998 The Boston Globe

The Globe Newspaper Company