August 2006 Archives

I'm sorry I haven't injected more that the occasional comment of late. I've been working two jobs and haven't had a day off for a while.

I only have to make it until Saturday. Then I can crash.

I miss you, Flower.

I was blown away last night.

First of all, I came home from a long day at work to find my love waiting for me. In the bedroom.

Life is really good.

And then, albeit with some trepidation, I went to see Gary Numan play at the Fine Line.

It was a sort of homecoming for me. The first piece of music I ever bought with my own money, without asking permission, without getting it approved by my parents, was a 45 RPM single of his song "Cars." The song was released in 1978. I bought it a few years after that.

Flash forward ten years and I was reacquainted with him via my friend Chuck at the record store. We listened to Gary's first album "The Pleasure Principle" in the store and at his apartment. Chuck was my gateway to a lot of excellent music, old and new. I still like new wave stuff. It still lives actively in my life.

I finally bought The Pleasure Principle on CD several years ago. I like the track "Films" the most.

But honestly, my knowledge of Gary Numan began and ended with that album.

A few months ago, I found out about Gary Numan coming to Minneapolis and my reaction was more about curiosity. I also found out about Zero 7 coming (in September) and I was more excited about that, initially.

What I knew for sure was that I would hear a few tracks from that first album. But I honestly didn't know what to expect stylistically. My friend Chuck told me that later albums had more of a jazz-fusion sound to his ears.

There was no jazz fusion last night.

So take The Pleasure Principle, filter it through 1990s Belgian techno with pulsing and trilling square-wave synth lines, then add heavy doses of industrial percussion and crunchy guitar and maybe you'll end up with something like the awesome wash of sound I was presented with tonight.

I expected moodiness during the show. There was that. Lots of primary-colored lighting and brilliant white. I expected electronics, and there was plenty of that, too. One fellow behind a rack of keyboards and effects reminded me of Praga Kahn or Lords of Acid with his nearly-shaved head and dark glasses. I even expected the black hair and eye-liner that I could see on several of the boys in the band, Gary included. There was a bassist, drummer, guitarist and keyboardist. The bass-player did double-duty as a keyboard player in some songs.

What I did not expect was the confidence and bravado I witnessed. Gary was a much better showman than I ever expected. The numbers were tight and he seemed aware of exactly what the other musicians were doing at all times.

I also didn't expect that Gary would not play keyboards. I mean, isn't that his thing? All his signature lines were played by others. He played electric guitar for two songs. Really.

I have to think, if New Wave music had come out of the gates swinging and hitting hard like Gary did at last night's show, there would have been a lot more converts in the U.S. and history would have been different.

Or maybe I'm just being sentimental.

And yeah, he played "Cars." First song of his encore set. He rocked it. Hard. I thought his expression after that song ended was really telling. Somehow it said to me "Yeah, I know." Like he knew that's what brought us to the show. Like he knew that he still had it. Honestly I would have been disappointed if he had played it any earlier.

What else surprised me? He had no visible piercings nor any ink. That's right, no tattoos to speak of. The only jewely appeared to be a wedding ring.

But I have to say this, if I was to film a remake of the movie The Hunger, I would pick Gary and his band for the opening scene. All I'm saying the show was goth-friendly enough that it would work.

And lastly, even though I only knew three songs out of the set, and not necessarily the best ones of the night, not by a long shot, there were several times when the relentless voice in my head was overcome. The sound and the light just washed over me. Just washed. I closed my eyes and moved in a trance.

It's been a long time and it felt wonderful.

And the Fine Line was small enough that it felt intimate. I felt like I made eye-contact with several band-mambers and Gary. Felt connected in those moments.

I'm at home in my living room as I write this. I just got a text message from my good friend that he got a picture with Gary and an autograph.

"Yeah, you rule!" I said. "But I'm blogging it first."

Diablo, were you there?

When she likes sexy lingerie.

And she's excited about getting more.

And I get to shop with her.

I don't mean to wig people out.

And I know you know about my low self-esteem issues, poor self-observation and etc.

But apparently when a 6' 2", 250 lb guy starts acting angry, people begin to worry.

I just really have no clue how much I affect people.

I'm sorry.