Gary Numan Puts on Electronic Rock Masterclass at Leeds O2 Academy [Photos]

There are few artists who have been as influential on rock music as Gary Numan. Cited as an influence by everyone from Nine Inch Nails and Fear Factory to Foo Fighters, for over four decades, Numan and his music have in some way influenced almost every band with an electronic leaning. Touring in support of 2021’s Intruder album, the nineteenth of his incredible solo-career, Numan arrives in Leeds so we striped up our faces and joined the masses for this electronic rock masterclass.

Opening with the title track of his 2021 album, the scene is set for a show which sees the audience pummelled with blasts of bright lights and video screens flashing up images as Numan throws himself around the stage while his bandmates stomp around behind him. When not lunging about, Numan is wrapped around his microphone stand fixing a piercing stare out at the crowd who are lapping up the likes of “Metal” and “Halo”. Mixing the set up with tracks from a career that has spanned four decades, tracks like the “Cars”, the go-to Numan track for most metal bands to cover, arrives towards the end of the main set much to the delight of this very hardcore Numan crowd.

Elsewhere, new tracks like “The Chosen” share a setlist with the brilliant “I Die You Die” with Numan wrapping up the night with sense-pummelling renditions of “A Prayer For The Unborn” before taking fans back to 1979 for the genre-defining synth-rock masterpiece “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”. There couldn’t have been a more perfect way to end this night, a night hosted by a rock icon where new and old collided to create something truly unforgettable.

Gary Numan Set List

1. Intruder
2. Me! I Disconnect From You
3. Halo
4. The Gift
5. Metal
6. Here in the Black
7. Is This World Not Enough
8. Films
9. Pure
10. Resurrection
11. Down in the Park
12. Everyday I Die
13. Dead Sun Rising
14. Cars
15. My Name Is Ruin
16. Love Hurt Bleed
17. The Chosen
18. I Die You Die

Encore:

19. A Prayer for the Unborn
20. Are ‘Friends’ Electric?