Gary Numan performs emotional homecoming concert

GARY NUMAN + RAVEN NUMAN – EVENTIM APOLLO, LONDON 21.11.25

It’s a forgone conclusion that the Grade II listed Art Deco style Eventim Apollo (fka Hammersmith Odeon) has not witnessed many nights as emotionally charged as this evening’s Gary Numan live performance, since it swung open its doors as the Gaumont Palace cinema in 1932.

Not only was electronic pioneer Numan born in Hammersmith on 8th March 1958 as Gary Anthony James Webb, but on 28th September 1979 he recorded his ‘Touring Principle’ show at the venue, which was released to the general public on VHS and Betamax video in 1980, narrowly pipping Blondie’s ‘Eat To The Beat’ in October 1980 as, I believe, the first commercially available music video available to purchase. ‘The Touring Principle’ video was an edited version of the concert which had special effects of the time added to the recording. Then around the time of Numan’s famous trio of farewell concerts at Wembley Arena on 26th, 27th and 28th April 1981, the gig was released on vinyl as ‘Living Ornaments ’79’ by his label Beggars Banquet Records. 

The emotions were also flowing this evening on account of the untimely passing of Numan’s young brother, John Webb (aka Donovan Silver), who at the age of 60 collapsed after saying goodbye to Gary at his tour bus in the early hours of Saturday 15th November shortly after Gary’s performance at Leeds O2 Academy. John was a success in his own right, having at one stage even become a captain of a 737 for ‘Go’ (British Airways). 

During this evening’s sold out performance, Gary spoke to his loyal and devoted fans whilst on stage about what had happened. The trigger being the highly emotive ‘Please Push No More’ ballad from his UK No.1‘Telekon’ album which came out on 5th September 1980. A song which featured other departed souls, namely bassist and close friend Paul Gardiner (1958-1984), as well as drummer Cedric Sharpley (1952-2012), and historically a composition that has moved many souls, as well as Gary himself, during the trio of farewell performances at Wembley Arena. It was penned, as I see it, as a reaction to the tremendous pressures that he was under at the time, having become an immediate superstar the previous year. 

I think it’s just best to let Gary say it in his own words. Thus this is what he said:

“Thank you very much. But I think most of you know that I had some terrible, terrible news this week, sorry. I would like to dedicate this show and the whole tour to my brother. My dad said tonight, this is the first time we’ve been together since it happened, so thank you. I just want to say I know this is probably….this is a weird thing for you and I am sorry, I don’t mean to be weird but it just f*cking is. But I just wanted to thank you for putting up with my emotions. I was born here. This is where I come from, Hammersmith. The last show that my mum ever saw was here. So this is special for many reasons, you know, and I just wanted to say thank you for coming and I’m very grateful. Thank you.”

As you can see, family is everything to Gary and throughout his illustrious career they have been his rock. Sitting in the photographer’s pit this evening is long-time Numan fan Gemma O’Neill, who famously became Mrs Webb (Numan) back in 1997. Together they have a trio of daughters, Raven, Persia, and Echo, who are finding their own way into the world. In fact, Raven Numan is the support artist for this special 45th anniversary celebration of dad’s famed ‘Telekon’ album. More about Raven shortly. 

Gary Numan mentioned his mum during his speech, this being Beryl Webb (RIP), and she used to run Gary’s fan club as well as merchandise and the bands’ clothes. Gary’s dad, Tony Webb, was Gary’s manager for 30 years. Although I’ve been a Numanoid since hearing ‘Down In The Park’ at Diplomat Record shop in London Road, Brighton back in 1979, and seen Gary live in action many, many times, I have never actually met Tony in the flesh before. That is until this evening, as luck would have it, I found myself literally sitting next to him. As I sat down, I asked him if he had seen Gary in concert before, the reply “Yes a few times!” and then I did a double-take and thought “OMG it’s Tony”. I piped up “You look like Tony” and after a nervous shuffle he came clean. Throughout the evening, there was much banter between us, and I can honestly say, hand-on-heart that Tony is an extremely lovely chap, who is still bright as a button, with a quick-whitted sense of humour. His companion Angela was just as lovely. 

As you may know, I make notes throughout the performances I review, but this evening I endeavoured to keep these to a minimum in order not to disturb Tony’s enjoyment, and also the fact that it was a tad scary making notes in front of dad! 

So to this evening’s 19 song 96 minute concert which is gig 8 of 15 on the tour. As you may have concluded, I’m not actually down the front this evening, but high up on the centre of the front row of the balcony. From there, the musicians appeared to be the same as the recent previous tours, although possibly, some with less hair, in order to blend in with the bandmates. So we have Gary Numan, who remains a vital force in music, on lead vocals, guitar and keyboard; along with (stage right, our left) Steve Harris on guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals; Tim Slade (stage left, our right) on bass and backing vocals; (I think) David Brooks (rear stage right, our left) on keyboards and programming; and (I think) Jimmy Lucido on drums.

The intro synth sounds ring out as they take to the stage to the fans’ pleasure. The lighting, as always, is looking very impressive this evening and it appears that the whole stage floor is awash with red panels, plus there are white lights that shine upwards and some that also shine downwards, and as the set progresses we see that there is also side lighting and when compared with the other lighting, they make the red double red belt designs of the ‘Telekon’ cover, which was Gary’s third consecutive UK No.1 album.

They commenced with album opener ‘This Wreckage’ which was also the first tune of his trio of 1981 Wembley Arena concerts. On conclusion the musicians were rewarded with deafening applause, whoops and cries of joy. It’s going to be something rather special this evening! ‘Remind Me To Smile’ was selection two, but half way through there was a sound problem and it seemed as though all channels cut out bar the one which was overloaded. We could hear all the others playing without amplification for a short while, which was novel, but within a few seconds everything was back to normal. 

‘Remember I Was A Vapour’ was choice three which featured a double keys approach. The haunting ‘I Dream Of Wires’ followed, after which we had the ‘Telekon’ album title track, which appropriately is the track that had the red belt lighting. Interestingly, the lighting was set to yellow during ‘Sleep By Windows’ which is a rarely used lighting colour choice for Numan, but I really loved it. Numan took to the guitar for the first time this evening for this track and the band rocked out. There was next a rare live outing for ‘A Game Called ‘Echo’’, for which Numan also played some guitar. The haunting B-side of ‘This Wreckage’ single came next with the performance of ‘Photograph’, which benefitted from a trio of them on keys (Brooks, Harris and Numan). The aforementioned ‘Please Push No More’ came next, and I like Numan had tears. I rubbed my eyes a bit too much and made them a little sore. Every fan in the whole building were willing him through this difficult choice with an outpouring of love. 

After this Numan needed to recompose himself and what better way in order to discuss the long lost tune ‘Like A B-Film’ which is from the forthcoming ‘45th Anniversary Expanded Edition’ of ‘Telekon’ and one which came to light after Numan gave label Beggards Banquet a pile of tapes and they miraculously discovered the hidden gem. Numan confessed that he hadn’t even remembered recording it (who sounds ominous), but added that he thinks that it didn’t make the album because it’s a happy tune, which drew universal laughter. Harris was also on keys along with Brooks for this track as well. I love this song and honestly feel aggrieved that I’ve been robbed of 45 years of not being able to enjoy it, but I guess at least we have it now!

‘The Aircrash Bureau’ is up next and this features Numan on keys, and this is followed by a truly powerful rendition of ‘I’m An Agent’, which quite possibly was my choice cut of the night. Lucido’s drumming was impeccable on this and Numan laid into his guitar with added vigour. Hit single ‘I Die: You Die’ was notable for the double cymbal sound and it’s always a crowd favourite, and this was followed by the tune he briefly signed off his live music career with back at Wembley Arena in 1981, ‘We Are Glass’, for which this is cemented in my heart as a treasured memory, having attended all three gigs. 

The musicians vacated the stage, with Numan being the last to go, as no doubt he could feel the love in the air. A short while afterwards the guys returned, and with the whole of ‘Telekon’ out of the way, they rewarded themselves with with a trio of rockier punkish numbers culled from the debut ‘Tubeway Army’ album, these being ‘My Shadow In Vain’ with Numan on guitar, a great rendition of ‘Friends’, followed by ‘Listen To The Sirens’ which featured some really meaty bassnotes from Slade, and was almost tune of the night for me. The tempo was brought down with the longer live version of the epic ‘Down In The Park’ which begins with the quiet piano version intro, before hitting the tune proper. And that was our lot! No ‘Cars’ or ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ were required this evening! To round it all up in a single word “Memorable!”. Nuff said! 

Gary Numan:
Gary Numan – lead vocals, keyboard, guitar
Steve Harris – electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Tim Slade – bass, backing vocals
David Brooks – keyboards and programming
Jimmy Lucido – drums

Gary Numan setlist:
‘This Wreckage’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album & 1980 single)
‘Remind Me To Smile’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘Remember I Was Vapour’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘I Dream Of Wires’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘Telekon’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘Sleep By Windows’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘A Game Called ‘Echo’’ (from 1985 ‘1978 / 1979 Volume Three – (A Collection Of Unreleased Recordings)’ mini album)
‘Photograph’ (from 1980 ‘This Wreckage’ single)
‘Please Push No More’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘Like A B-Film’ (from forthcoming ‘Telekon (45th Anniversary Expanded Edition)’ album out 12.12.25)
‘The Aircrash Bureau’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘I’m An Agent’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘The Joy Circuit’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album)
‘I Die: You Die’ (from 1980 cassette version of ‘Telekon’ album & 1980 single)
‘We Are Glass’ (from 1980 cassette version of ‘Telekon’ album & 1980 single)
(encore)
‘My Shadow In Vain’ (from 1978 ‘Tubeway Army’ album)
‘Friends’ (from 1978 ‘Tubeway Army’ album)
‘Listen To The Sirens’ (from 1978 ‘Tubeway Army’ album)
‘Down In The Park’ (from 1979 ‘Replicas’ album & 1979 single)

garynuman.com

As mentioned earlier, support on the tour comes from Gary’s eldest daughter, Raven Numan, who I had previously encountered live at Gary’s special 1000th concert performance, which was at the Electric Ballroom on 15th April 2023 (Review HERE). 

Raven is on vocals and her band comprises Ade Fenton (keyboards and laptop), Ben Simon (guitar), John Azopardi (drums) and Jack Coxill (bass) and this evening they are all clad in black and are on stage for 40 minutes, from 8:01pm to 8:41pm. During that time they offload 9 powerful compositions, with a handful of these yet to be released. The lighting, just like Numan’s set, is very good indeed and adds to the enjoyment of the solid performance. The sound quality is good as well. The five of them are positioned all in a straight line towards the front of the stage, with Raven holding court in the middle.

They kick off with the banging yet-to-be-released ‘Children Of The Bad Revolution’, which certainly lays down the ground rules of the performance and is more than widely accepted by the house full of punters. ‘Magnolia’ is tune two and Raven gives out a big wave to grandad up in the balcony, who, along with Angela, reciprocate. After this were are two more unreleased numbers, ‘Killing Me Slowly’ and ‘Inside Of You’, which are both solid tunes and are followed by two singles from last year, these are the chugging ‘My Reflection’ and the Numan-esque ‘Going Down’, which is the best tune thus far and has signalled Raven’s potential in the goth, industrial, synth world. 

The unreleased ‘Pretty When I’m Hurt’ is upon us with its slow intro and powerful vocal delivery. After this, Raven addresses the crowd for the first time, having previously let her material speak for itself. She informs us that a couple of weeks ago, she released her homage to Nine Inch Nails with the release of her take of ‘In This Twilight’. I noted that she is more confident than my last encounter and that she is sounding more American these days, having partially lost her English accent, as the family emigrated from sunny Sussex, namely Waldron, (which sits midpoint between Heathfield and Hailsham) a number of years ago to Los Angeles. She signs off with her ‘Here For Me’ single from last year, which is another slow chugger of a tune that builds and builds. With a “Thank you. Thank you so much”, she was gone! I look to my side and there’s grandad Tony beaming with pride! What more can I add? Both Gary and Raven do it all again tomorrow at the Brighton Centre. 

Raven Numan band:
Raven Numan – vocals
Ade Fenton – keyboards and laptop
Ben Simon – guitar
John Azopardi – drums
Jack Coxill – bass

Raven Numan setlist:
‘Children Of The Bad Revolution’ (unreleased)
‘Magnolia’ (unreleased)
‘Killing Me Slowly’ (unreleased)
‘Inside Of You’ (unreleased)
‘My Reflection’ (a 2024 single)
‘Going Down’ (a 2024 single)
‘Pretty When I’m Hurt’ (unreleased)
‘In This Twilight’ (Nine Inch Nails cover) (a 2025 single)
‘Here For Me’ (a 2024 single)

raven.lnk.to/bio