GARY NUMAN + AGENCY-V – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 25.6.25
The impact of the music of Gary Numan becomes increasingly difficult to pinpoint with each passing year; the synth-rock pioneer made a tremendous crack in the music world’s atmosphere with the chart-topping success of Tubeway Army hit ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ and the solo monster ‘Cars’ in the trailing years of the 1970s. Over his nearly 50-year career, Mr. Webb has explored all manner of electronic and synth-based music that he sees fit to cast his image upon, whether it be the rockier and New Wave-tinged prowess of his two Tubeway Army albums (a self-titled release and 1979’s ‘Replicas’), and his infamous ‘The Pleasure Principle’ record, the cold and explorative ‘Telekon’ which furthered his critical triumphs of the early 1980s, and, one of my personal favourites, the more sophisticated and patient ‘Dance’ album which continues to be a cult classic among the Numan zeitgeist.
After the commercial silence of the late 80s to early 90s, a resurgence in both his music and fanbase took the form of albums such as 1994’s ‘Sacrifice’, 1997’s ‘Exile’ and 2000’s ‘Pure’, cementing a new form of industrial music that was inspired by the likes of Nine Inch Nails and ‘Songs of Faith and Devotion’-era Depeche Mode (thanks to the encouragement of wife Gemma). Since the turn of the millennium, a successful string of albums such as 2006’s ‘Jagged’, 2017’s ‘Savage (Songs From A Broken World)’ and 2021’s ‘Intruder’ have seen a full circle of interaction and engagement from fans, both new and old, revitalizing the interest of Gary Numan and his work in the run-up to a three-night stint at Brighton’s Concorde 2 to preface his debut performance at Glastonbury Festival this coming weekend.
After chatting to Nightmare Air member (plus Gary Numan tour manager and front of house engineer) Dave Dupuis about Kraftwerk and Jupiter 8s with my dad, we found our spots in the dark blue lights of the Concorde 2 hall, patiently awaiting the support act, Agency-V, the resident opener for Numan’s Brighton shows this week. Formed in 2020, these guys are an electronic rock trio formed by Lloyd Price of Massive Ego, Peter Steer from Tenek & Tin Gun, and Marie Williamson from AfterDark.
From their résumé alone, it’s obvious that these guys have past musical experiences, but how would the sounds that culminated in their ‘Never Meant To Be’ album, set for release this July, come across live to the Numan crowd for the third and final time in Brighton? Lloyd steps out into the light and programs the opening introductory piece, with its cinematically slow drum beat, for Peter and Marie to follow suit and assemble their places on the stage. The first song for the night arrives in the form of ‘Dangerous Ground’, which presents the band’s sound instantly with callbacks to the music of Assemblage 23 and Mesh (Lloyd even looking like Mesh frontman Mark Hockings with his beanie on), via vibrato synth melodies and high energy production. Marie takes a moment to say hi to the Numan crowd before checking the crowd’s previous attendance at the Monday and Tuesday shows. The glitching vocal pad melody of ‘Freaking Out’’s intro gives way to a strong plane of EBM with Marie’s vocals lightly dancing over the top of such a grand soundscape.
‘Pray For The Sun’ makes use of a slower pace and heavier drum rhythms, with Peter and Lloyd pairing together for some inventive synth and guitar synchronicity in the pre-chorus. We are treated to a currently unreleased song from the trio, ‘Who We Used To Be’, one of the best tracks in the set sonically. Despite a failed moment of audience interaction led by Marie, the band make use of their instrumental strengths with more minimal 808 drum progressions taking hold of the mix. The song ‘We Can Erase You’ features a guitar riff that reminds one of Numan’s ‘My Name Is Ruin’, with its twisted and jagged rhythmic melody, before leading to a really strong chord progression in the song’s final moments.
An interesting change of pace, the band engage in a rendition of Garbage’s mid-90s hit ‘Stupid Girl’, a refreshing, if slightly peculiar choice for a cover to introduce this late into the set, but a sonically creative cover nonetheless. Marie is quick to quip “We wrote that ourselves, did you know that?”, the moment the song ends. ‘Give It Up’ is another solid moment in the set, despite it not featuring anything musically different to what the band had delivered to us already, before Marie, Peter and Lloyd give their thanks and appreciation to both the crowd and to Numan for having them. The heaviest song of the set, ‘This Time’ is a great track for the trio to end on, thanks to its erratic synth drum programming, a distorted guitar line that really cuts through the production and a dynamic climax that really pulls the song through to an apex. While Agency-V may not hold as bright of a candle to other previous Numan supports I’ve been lucky to catch (Nightmare Air and Jayce Lewis still standing as my favourites so far), it’s clear that the light ahead of them can only lead to brighter things, and I wish them all the best with their new journey.
Agency -V:
Marie Williamson – vocals
Lloyd Price – synths and programming
Peter Steer – guitar
Agency V setlist:
‘Dangerous Ground’ (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
‘Freaking Out’ (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
‘Pray For The Sun’ (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
‘Who We Used To Be’ (unreleased)
‘We Can Erase You’ (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
‘Stupid Girl’ (Garbage cover) (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
‘Give It Up’ (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
‘This Time’ (from 2025 ‘Never Meant To Be’ album)
Shortly after 9 o’clock, the obligatory cries of “Nu-u-uman!” begin to flood the room as the lights dim down and the dark industrial rhythms of ‘Halo’, from one of my favourite Gary Numan albums, 2006’s ‘Jagged’, sweeps across the stage, manifesting itself as the walk-on music for drummer Jimmy Lucido, keyboard player David Brooks, bassist Tim Slade, guitar legend Steve Harris and the man himself, Valerian, Mr. Webb, Gary Numan. A marvellously dark and dystopian introductory track for the set, the group of musicians surrounding Numan balance their instrumentation perfectly, even complimenting his vocals with some strong backing layers. Shortly after this track concludes, Numan takes a moment to highlight his lack of make-up, stating that he “looks like a f**king gargoyle” due to an illness he’s currently waging war on; subsequently, the medicine he’s taking for it has made him feel really giddy, leading to a less prominent inventory of the strange body movements he is known to make in-between vocal passages. Despite his worries of the set being poor, the audience cheer him on regardless, giving him the strength he requires for his 100 minute set.
Numan and his troupe progress with ‘The Chosen’, a rhythmically exciting cut from his most recent ‘Intruder’ album from 2021, before we arrive at ‘Metal’, one of my favourite songs from his entire discography! A ‘Pleasure Principle’ classic, this rendition equips a lengthy, dark ambient introduction that works in Numan’s favour in revitalizing his older material, whilst maintaining the strange, lingering sensation that comes with the track’s momentous groove and ominous synth passages.
‘In A Dark Place’ enters almost immediately after the final beats of ‘Metal’ and marks the first instance of Numan playing guitar for the night. A distinctive Nine Inch Nails influence in sonics, I bear witness to some tremendous audience interactions in the song’s big chorus and call and response dynamics in the verses. One of the most important tracks in Numan’s arsenal, the title track from 2000’s ‘Pure’ sits within a weighty soundscape thanks to the extra guitar work and dark, foreboding synth arrangements, like a lost transmission, reaching out from the undead.
Then, we come to ‘Cars’. What could be said about this song that hasn’t been said already? Now considered to be a polarising song for Numanoids (thanks to its repetitive song structure and perceived over-performances), this song was one of my earliest memories of music, so naturally, my love for this track still prevails, especially with its souped-up, rockier instrumental backdrop. The bleak atmosphere of ‘Jagged’ makes a third appearance on the song ‘Haunted’ with a powerfully inventive chorus and metal-tinged soundplay, while the grittier ‘Everything Comes Down To This’ is as desolate as a Numan song could get, lyrically, with a brief moment where Steve almost knocks his guitar over clambering back and forth from the stage platform.
We come to a couple of proud father moments as we enter the second half of the main set, starting with the introduction of daughter Raven Numan’s song ‘Nothing’s What It Seems’, which follows in her father’s footsteps sonically, however I feel that Raven’s mic was too quiet for us to really take in the power of her songwriting. Secondly, a famous pairing of Gary and his daughter Persia is assembled for ‘My Name Is Ruin’, a modern Numan classic, often heralded as a keystone track for his triumphant return to his current streak of commercial and critical attention. The song’s sludgy guitar riff and club-like drum grooves in its chorus are prime Numan, with its false ending still bewildering the waves of cheering fans.
The Andy Gray version of ‘Pure’ highlight ‘A Prayer For The Unborn’, compared by my uncle Darren to “R2-D2 on steroids” with its erratically-sequenced synth introduction, remains to be one of the most devastating songs in Numan’s discography. I always forget just how powerful and heartbreaking this track is, even with this being the fifth time I’ve witnessed such a song live. Now, the ultimate Numan song followed suit, ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’, his first number one and, culturally, one of the most important songs of the 21st century thanks to its unique, alien atmosphere. Even entering its 46th year of public performance, Gary still beams the biggest smile on his face every single time he plays this track, and so he should; the waves of crowd reactions and chanting still stand tall in stature to this day. A socially derelict number from ‘Replicas’, and a remarkably strong fan favourite, ‘Down In The Park’ features some creative percussive textures underneath the band’s interplay, before the inevitable waving arms in the song’s “chorus”, led by Numan, sweep across the air of the Concorde 2.
While it may not have been the strongest vocal performance I’ve heard of this track (although that might be more to do with Numan’s current illness), ‘M.E.’ features some of the best synth work of the entire night from David’s inventory of Rolands in addition to Numan’s iconic Virus TI synthesizer. After the detailed arrangements of underrated ‘Savage’ track ‘Pray For The Pain You Serve’, we reach one of my top ten Numan songs, and the closer for the main set, ‘Telekon’ reissue addition, ‘I Die: You Die’, which sees, surprisingly, the biggest crowd response of the entire night! All the components of a classic Numan track of the golden era of ‘Telekon’ are here, a driving rhythmic tour de force, electrifyingly sharp synthwork and a towering vocal performance that continues to drive Numanoids crazy. As this track reaches a climax, the Numan-spearheaded quintet depart the stage, leaving the Concorde 2 hall to be flooded with a sea of tempo-increasing applause and the subsequent callouts of “Nu-u-uman!”.
As with every show of the Brighton residency, we are gifted with a two song encore to round the night off; starting with ‘Pleasure Principle’ cut ‘Films’, portrayed sonically with a gloomy and despondent backdrop, donned with shines of red and white light to mimic the iconic album cover. Meanwhile, the final track for the night, ‘Here In The Black’, while on the surface it could be seen as a somewhat odd choice for a closer, does feature some of the hardest hitting guitar patterns I’ve ever heard, with a classically industrial Numan sound palate to boot.
Gary takes one final moment to wish the crowd farewell as he and his band leave the Brighton stage for the last time before Glastonbury. Overall, this show (all three in general) has seen an incredible mix of material from Numan’s ever-growing canon of material, with the ‘Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Jagged’ albums leading the setlist with most songs played. My only complaint, track selection-wise, is, of course, a lack of ‘Jo The Waiter’, but what can you do? Nevertheless, it’s always fun being able to see Gary Numan live, from my first show of his as Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2011 at the age of ten; now, thirteen years, and eleven performances later, Numan, at the age of 67, still continues to wow audiences of die-hard fans and welcomes in several generations of new ones. See you at The Park, Glastonbury on Saturday 28th, 6pm!
Gary Numan:
Gary Numan – lead vocals, keyboard, guitar
Steve Harris – electric guitar
Tim Slade – bass
David Brooks – keyboards and programming
Jimmy Lucido – drums
Raven Numan – vocals
Persia Numan – vocals
Gary Numan setlist:
‘Halo’ (from 2006 ‘Jagged’ album)
‘The Chosen’ (from 2021 ‘Intruder’ album)
‘Metal’ (from 1979 ‘The Pleasure Principle’ album)
‘In A Dark Place’ (from 2006 ‘Jagged’ album)
‘Pure’ (from 2000 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Cars’ (from 1979 ‘The Pleasure Principle’ album)
‘Haunted’ (from 2006 ‘Jagged’ album)
‘Everything Comes Down To This’ (from 2013 ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ album)
‘Nothing’s What It Seems’ (with Raven Numan) (unreleased Raven Numan song)
‘My Name Is Ruin’ (with Persia Numan) (from 2017 ‘Savage (Songs From A Broken World)’ album)
‘A Prayer For The Unborn’ (from 2000 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ (from 1979 ‘Replicas’ album)
‘Down In The Park’ (from 1979 ‘Replicas’ album)
‘M.E.’ (from 1979 ‘The Pleasure Principle’ album)
‘Pray For The Pain You Serve’ (from 2017 ‘Savage (Songs From A Broken World)’ album)
‘I Die: You Die’ (from 1980 ‘Telekon’ album – cassette version)
(encore)
‘Films’ (from 1979 ‘The Pleasure Principle’ album)
‘Here In The Black’ (from 2013 ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ album)
Thanks for the review. I’ll be watching Glastonbury set from my mobile whilst sitting by the pool in Spain. But I’ll be in Bristol in November.