As the name suggests, this was Numan’s 1,000th live show, recorded at Camden’s Electric Ballroom in November.
It follows closely on from “A Perfect Circle”, which marked his return to OVO Arena, Wembley. Back in the early 1980s, Numan famously announced he would stop touring altogether — yet 1,000 shows later he clearly never kept that promise.
I thought “Perfect Circle” was good, but this is even better, and it’s a mark of the quality that he drops “Cars” as the second song. “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” arrives mid set.
I was a fan of him back in the day, with Tubeway Army standing the test of time as a strong album, but I lost interest until the recent record and his set at Bluedot. There he showed that his music was loud, industrial and brutal, with a “Dune” like vibe to the presentation.
The goth -metal sound is effective and, even without knowing all the songs, this is an enjoyable live album. Numan is clearly at his best on stage, and it’s far more than a band simply trotting out the hits.
Ideal for Numan, rock and goth fans this Christmas.
JMC
