On a beautiful Thursday March 6th evening, a crowd of Numanoids wearing “Tubeway Army” T-Shirts gathered inside The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles, California. Every one of them was eager to see Gary Numan, an artist that rarely needs any introductions. Known for being one of the big icons in the new wave, industrial, and electronic music movements, Gary Numan has inspired artists such as Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) and Marilyn Manson.
Setting the tone for the night was UK based Roman Remains and Los Angeles’ own Big Black Delta.
Roman Remains is an electronic-industrial project formed by The Duke Spirit members Liela Moss and Toby Butler . Roman Remains recently released their new album titled Zeal. Moss’ unique voice added a rich fullness to the band’s sound. Their songs had exhilarating pop like vibes mixed with heavy beats and a nice layering of synth. Intriguing and entertaining Roman Remains are definitely a band worth checking out.
Big Black Delta is a solo project from Jonathan Bates of experimental rock band Mellowdrone. The band came out requesting the lights to be turned down low so everyone could see Bates dance around the stage while creating crazy silhouettes within the on-stage fog. Their metallic use of Bates’ voice with synth created excitement around the theater and a strangely addictive feel. Dedicated to consistently releasing new music Bates keeps things fresh with Big Black Delta and they were unquestionably an excellent addition to this tour.
The time had come for one of the pioneers of synth-pop/ new wave, Gary Numan, to take the stage. The Mayan Theater was packed tight wall to wall with fans making for an extremely impressive showing. Currently touring in promotion of his 20th album Splinter: Songs From a Broken Mind, fans appeared ecstatic to experience the new material live. Opening up with “Resurrection”, Numan commanded the stage with high energy and youthfulness. Full of life he exhibited an array of movement through each song, dancing around, stretching his arms out high into the air, and spinning his guitar or microphone around at times.
The audience in attendance was a broad range of generations. Captivated by his style and sound a new generation of fans have been obtained by Numan over the years especially with collaborations with Trent Reznor of NIN . Concentrating primarily on the newer material Numan offered his dedicated fans classic tunes such as “Down in the Park,” “Cars,” and “Are Friends Electric?”. Enthralled in his performance and live recreation of the music, Numan moved through the 22 song set steadily with limited dialogue and a series of gracious appreciations to fans in the form of thank yous. There is no doubt Numan’s onstage presence captivated and electrified the audience with an out-of-body experience and a must see performance.
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