Gary Numan + Raven Numan @ Brighton Centre – 22nd November 2025
I can’t quite believe that it is 45 years since Gary Numan released his second album, Telekon, but here we are at the Brighton Centre as part of the album’s anniversary tour.
Having seen Gary back in June at the Concorde 2 club, it was always going to be interesting to see him and the band back on a full-size stage with lighting effects, rather than the stripped-back version that played a series of low-key warm-up dates before Glastonbury this year.
Quite simply, it is impossible to compare the two shows. With there being only one song played in both sets, tonight was a completely different environment and one which saw the clock – and the years – rolled back.
With Numan having come so far as an artist from his early pseudo-new romantic roots, this is probably the closest we are ever going to get to returning to those halcyon days. As an artist, he has previously made his disdain clear regarding tribute tours, yet here we are – the one which he could not ignore.
With this show centring around the Telekon albu,m it was, to a certain extent, always going to be old skool Gary, and one in which the adoring masses were quite clearly sold. It was great to hear the entire album again, albeit unlike many artists who play an album in its entirety, the songs were interspersed throughout the set so as to break it up and keep us wondering and waiting for what was coming next. The whole show encompassed the entire Telekon era, with album tracks, B-sides of singles, and stand-alone singles from that era played.
With a stage that was minimally sparse and a lighting rig that was predominantly drawn from stage up and sideways, it appeared that Gary was performing within a cube as the light rays spread both vertically and horizontally, creating a cuboid effect behind which he and the band performed.
Opening the show with This Wreckage, the track that also opens the Telekon album, made it very clear that we were going to receive that which we prayed for. The band, consisting of Steve Harris on guitar, Tim Slade on bass, David Brooks on keyboards and Jimmy Lucido on drums, are as sharp as ever, and the whole band and stage imagery remain as austere and striking as ever, with Gary back in make-up and sub sci-fi-clothed theatrics.
There is little communication with the audience throughout the show. Perhaps he doesn’t trust himself to speak – it’s been a terrible and difficult few days. Yet the silence only builds the intensity and atmosphere in the Centre. This is Numan playing the stage, his persona strong, moody, majestic and magnificent.
The instrumental Photograph is an interesting addition to the set, yet Please Push No More unintentionally creates an emotional interlude as it clearly fires the memories following the loss of his brother, John, earlier in the tour. It is clear that emotions are still raw, and the band, and from a distance, the audience, gather around as one to show their love and concern. But the show must go on, and so it does.
From now on we are all emotionally charged. The music may be old, but it is still innovative, and the newer interpretations provide enough to keep the audience entranced.
Interestingly, and perhaps much to the disappointment of some but clearly not all, there was no Cars in the set tonight. However, with the quality of the material written during 1980, there was really no loss, as this was one of those special shows.
The original singles I Die: You Die and We Are Glass conclude the main set, yet the band are back quickly for a four-song encore, which rolled back further to Tubeway Army material.
My Shadow in Vain, Friends and Listen to the Sirens roll together, and that simply leaves the band to close out with Down in the Park (the only song that he played at Concorde and replicated tonight). As a replacement for Cars, this is just as good, and the audience will hang onto this moment. We won’t get to recapture this era in a snapshot as we did tonight again.
Set list – Gary Numan
This Wreckage
Remind Me to Smile
Remember I Was Vapour
I Dream of Wires
Telekon
Sleep by Windows
A Game Called ‘Echo’
Photograph [Instrumental]
Please Push No More
Like a B-Film
The Aircrash Bureau
I’m an Agent
The Joy Circuit
I Die: You Die
We Are Glass
Encore:
My Shadow in Vain (Tubeway Army song)
Friends (Tubeway Army song)
Listen to the Sirens (Tubeway Army song)
Down in the Park (Tubeway Army song)
Raven Numan
There is clearly great interest in support act Raven Numan, Gary’s eldest daughter. Recently, she has released a plethora of singles, although they may not be particularly well known by many here tonight. But the family connection automatically ensures that Raven is a support act to be seen. Interest is running high, and the standing area is full.
In many ways, her stage form is similar to her father’s. Probably no surprise there – she has a master to learn from. Interestingly, rather than relying on her singles, she also played a number of (I believe) new songs which have yet to be released.
Certainly, they sound promising and bode well for the future.
Sound-wise, Raven is closer to her father’s more modernist material, with the metal influence shining through. This is harsh alt-rock with a deeper gothic feel. It is dark and moody, but interesting and interpretive. The one song that is known is a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ In This Twilight, which is powerful and intense.
Were there a few nerves at the start? Perhaps, yet it was clear that as the forty-minute set developed, Raven came into her own, owning the stage and the band around her.
She has a strong and powerful voice which held the audience in thrall and fits the music well. She can switch from harsh, intense moments to powerhouse delivery in the flick of an eye.
There is as much love in the room for Raven as there is for her father, and it becomes clear that both mother and father are not far away and supporting from the sidelines as the performance develops. Clearly, there was also some mischief going on as the final song Here for Me deteriorated into giggles. (Perhaps that may have something to do with mum, Gemma, and her Tigger onesie. Perhaps we’d better not mention that… oops.)
Set list – Raven Numan
Children of the Bad Revolution
Magnolia
Killing Me Slowly
Inside of You
My Reflection
Going Down
Pretty When I’m Hurt
In This Twilight (Nine Inch Nails cover)
Here for Me
