Search - Gary Numan In Concert on DVD

[WEAK]

Erik Vermeulen | 08/12/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"...It claims to have 20 songs, it only has 10. Picture quality is poor, because it is taken from [another] tape.
Sound is not bad. There is no menu. A total [disappointment]. ...Wait for the official release from either Numan himself or IRS Records..."

Gary Sings ! And Moves !

Darren Robinson | Australia | 05/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly I can't believe this is US$20 ! Here in Australia, where DVD's are always more expensive, every DVD shop has it for under A$10, and I got mine for under A$8.

None of the descriptions I read anywhere said WHERE or WHEN this gig took place, but I had always loved Mr Numan's music and was curious to see how that translated to a live performance. I had never been to his concerts or seen him on TV live, except for "Down in the Park" live clip which gets played on "Rage" a fair bit.


Well I was in for a bit of a surpise, Gary was relaxed, happy, confident and prancing around the stage like a cross between Billy Idol and Elvis Presley. His voice sounded great, just like his studio albums, and the music quality was good, although the musical arrangements have been substantially tinkered with to make them more palatable for a live performance. I mean what is the singer supposed to do for 2 minutes when the vocals finish on "Cars" ?? Gary acknowledges the problem by sitting down , grinning and having a drink, waiting for his crew to finish up.

But despite all the general aerobics - and aren't they the SWEATIEST female backing singers you have ever seen in your LIFE ?? - Gary gives proper respect to "Down in the Park" by locking himself in an elevator and looking mysterious for 4 minutes.

I was annoyed by whoever designed the cover. Why no info about this gig? From the final credits, it appears the gig was at the famous Hammersmith Odeon, and if my roman numerals skills are any good, it appears to be about 1990. The DVD cover also states that this footage was previously released as part of some series called Bedrock, so the Amazon description of "2003" only refers to when this DVD was released, not the year of the gig. If I'm wrong about any of this, someone please correct me !

There are no extras or anything on the DVD, ten songs is indeed what you get. So on balance, I think US$20 is way too steep, for that price you are better off getting one of his studio albums, but if you can play multizone, get the region 4 disc from Australia or a used USA one.

And one final note, the venue was filled to capacity, the crowd were loud and enthusiastic, and they really added atmosphere to a good performance from our favourite android.

GARY - You know, I hate to ask ...
CROWD - BUT ARE FRIENDS ELECTRIC !!!!!

Darren Robinson
moviesearch.com.au"

Not so new Numan concert.

Sean Caszatt | Cleveland, OH USA | 01/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After passing on this DVD several times because of its "unauthorized" status, I decided to finally buy it and see what I was missing. I was expecting something much more inferior than what I received. In fact, this is a nice little gem of a DVD considering that no other NTSC Numan concert videos are currently in print (that I'm aware of, anyway.)

It may only be 50 minutes in length but it does capture the early 90s Numan's persona quite well. The performance here is, in Gary's own words, "brilliant". If you've got The Skin Mechanic live CD, this is basically the video portion. (Although this performance appears to be taken from the same tour, not the same show.)

Gary literally struts through 10 songs, from the obligatory "Cars", "Down in the Park" and "Are 'Friends' Electric?" to lesser known cuts like "Creatures", "Devious" and "I Can't Stop". This was the musical period when Gary was always flanked onstage by a female back-up singer (or two, in this case) so the arrangements rely heavily on the wailing they provide. I'm not a big fan of the songs that use the back-up vocals but at least the singers are easy on the eyes, if not the ears.

Gary's seemingly constant posing and preening looks a bit odd now, considering his current industrial sound, but it fits the songs as they're arranged and the time period, I suppose. I much prefer the harder edge he has now. If you're looking for THAT version of Gary Numan, this DVD is not a good place to look.

All-in-all, this DVD is not bad if you're not expecting it to be the current industrial-sounding Gary. This is the "New Anger" era sound and this is a damn fine document of that, albeit not the complete Skin Mechanic VHS version."

ONLY NUMAN AVAILABLE !!!!

JUAN MARTIN GABASTOU | Weston Hills, FL United States | 09/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On region 1 NTSC DVD.And it's a non-authorized (by Gary) release.This is a direct transfer of the ¨Skin Mechanic¨VHS tape from 1989 (the lowest point of his career according to himself ! ).The complete concert features 19 tracks,which are in the live record of the same name.This DVD is a selection of just 10 of those tracks (legal rights issues,sheer greed ? go figure ! ) and 6 of them are from the danciest part of Numan's career,so if you (like many people) don't enjoy that period of his output,you'll be better off getting one of the newer pal/region 2 DVDs.The transfer is OK taking into account no enhancing or remastering has been applied,and the sound is very good to excellent.The multiple camera angles and closeups on all of the musicians and the audience are superb.There are a couple of hilarious moments and even open laughter from Gary,who is very relaxed but doesn't play any instruments.Incredible musicianship and a guitarrist that sets the dance tracks on fire with his schorching,trebley,heavy (solos and all) playing.
The audience is THE most heterogeneous bunch I've ever seen: from the elderly couple at the front row (Gary's grandparents ? ) to the mostly straight,middle aged folks and just a dozen or so New Romantic/goth/punk looking types sitting or just standing still (some theaters have bouncers in charge of this kind of order).I would have moshed the s...t out the first rows if I'd been there,but hey,I'm a punk !!!!"