The Royal Concert Hall Glasgow.
Tuesday 20th November

They say good things come in threes, having caught Savage Part 1 at the ABC in Glasgow last Autumn, it was clear that Mr Numan had grown too big for smaller venues, it was crammed to the rafters, I wasnae in particularly fine fetal. Having just dashed from the cinema from seeing Bladerunner 2. It was so the wrong thing to do. I was in a relationship that was ending and Savage part 1, kinda finished it.

So when the Savage part 2 dates were released and The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh was one of them. I knew a review was in order. It was a very cold March night. I had managed to get a Review pass and without a troublesome relationship weighing me down, I got into the Savage flow. Had a brilliant boogie but didn’t think the venue did the performance justice.

So when The Orchestral Savage Dates were released I was non-fussed because I thought that he had said all he could do with Savage. I kinda decided that I was nae gonna do Savage Part 3. Then came into a bit of unexpected money, So when two surplus tickets went up on a Numan FB thing, I snapped them up, two for £40. Amisa Neonova had been telling me all year how much she wanted to see Numan. So this was the opportunity. Indeed it was fantastic.

We took our seats, Block C, was to the side, with a perfect view of the stage, In front of a curtain Christopher Payne who happens to have been part of Numans original band playing synths and violin. accompanied by his wife. Showed us why he is a band member and not a lead man, at times he looked bored and more than a little uncomfortable that his lap top was doing all the work and that he had very little to do. Even looking at his watch to see how much longer he had left. It was a reasonable support act though. His rendition of Fade To Grey by Visage, Chris was part of Visage too and along with Billy Currie was credited with its creation, Albeit without a male vocal, with wifey doing the French girl bits. When Chris engaged the audience in clapping, it got a bit cringesome. 3 Stars for the Support.

With Glasgow being the last night of the Orchestral Tour, I knew that this was going to be a good one. Having sold out The Royal Albert Hall the night before, The Orchestra and band were perfectly warmed up. Numan has always suited a bigger stage and he does like to put on a spectacular show, The Orchestral Savage are the largest venues he has done since his Wembley Performances in the 80’s.

Now Numan with an Orchestra, And yes it did work so very well, from the moment the curtain dropped, the packed Royal Concert Hall became fully engaged in the delight that was unfolding. The orchestra comprised of strings and a glockenspiel brilliantly conducted by Simon Robertshaw. The Skaparis Orchestra with Numans touring band of 25 years, together they recreated a fine selection of Numan classics both old and new.

I am pretty sure that everyone who experienced Savage Part 3 would agree that The Skaparis Orchestra brought a much needed musical depth to the songs I have heard performed many times, The most beautiful part was seeing just how much delight they were taking from their art. The light show and stage presentation was just brilliant From early classics. Metal, Films, AFE, Down In The Park. The middle period “My Breathing” A song about his disappointment at the BBC for refusing to play his songs on the radio. It took me back in time to the olden days and was delighted with the orchestral string treatment, His daughter Persia taking the girl vocal parts in her stride and of course her vocal parts in “My Name Is Ruin” were nothing less than fantastic. The perfect Proud Dad and Daughter moments ❤ It was the perfect concert and indeed it was third time lucky, Savage Part Three worked on so many different levels. It was nothing less than 5 Star Entertainment.

Last night Gary Numan shifted his game up a gear or two, something very special is brewing. Gary Numan And Skaparis Orchestra took his work to a whole new different level and as a long time fan, I am so so glad I experienced lasts nights performance, Really! It was that good.

Reviewer: Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert
Photography: David Anderson