By Fiona Shepherd

Published 23rd May 2024, 04:55 BST

Given his fidelity to delivering hits, connoisseur cuts and fan favourites, Gary Numan doesn’t really need an excuse to showcase some of his earliest material, but the 45th anniversary of the release of Tubeway Army’s Replicas and his first solo album The Pleasure Principle is as good an opportunity as any to chart his transition from the earnest art rock sound of the former to the full synthesizer immersion of the latter, for which Numan was initially vilified.

Could he have known that the freaks will inherit the earth? Nearly a half-century on, that grating robotic delivery has stood the test of time and the mighty Numan synthquake, pitched somewhere between the machine music of Kraftwerk and the Europhile pomp of Simple Minds, which would go on to influence electronic dance music to the present day, still has the capacity to shake any room.

Performing under classic Eighties neon and flanked by a guitarist and bassist who looked like extras from The Man Who Fell to Earth, Numan applied his tortured yelp to Replicas’ wall-of-synths sound, leavened with funky bass, and the rocking thrust of M.E. as later sampled by Basement Jaxx to turbo-charge their hit Where’s Your Head At?

These synth rock epics were interspersed with austere instrumental passages where Numan retreated behind his keyboards. In general, he has become a more comfortable performer over the years, happily throwing rock poses like a committed old age goth, as long as he doesn’t have to engage in any chit-chat with the audience.

Mid-set highlights included the Bowie brutalism of Do You Need the Service? and the one finger fuzz synth refrain of Observer, a catchy tune with creepy sentiments. Down in the Park was even doomier, while a couple of crunchy punky numbers with minimal synths varied the menu before the inevitable encore onslaught of Are “Friends” Electric? and the Cronenbergian Cars.

Music review: Gary Numan, Academy, Glasgow