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Gary Numan
The Pleasure Principle 30th Anniversary Tour
Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, Michigan
25 October 2010
Monday night, Gary Numan (and his new army) hit the Crofoot stage to thrill the old-schoolers with a full performance of the genre-changing "The Pleasure Principle." I had spoken to at least four people for whom this was the very first album they ever bought, just like it was for me, but I still had a momentary concern that the crowd would be the type who were there for just one song. And yeah, they did come to life at the first keystroke for "Cars." But at 11 on the dot, the keyboards were whisked away, the band donned their guitars, we fast-forwarded 20 years, and the crowd went nuts.
As much as this was the show that the little girl me would have wanted to see, I'm glad I saw it now, when I could appreciate the progression in Numan's music. And really, just hearing him perform the original arrangement for "Metal" made me giddy like a kid, so that little girl was still there, too.
MCB was working to spend a few minutes with Numan on the tour, but that wasn't destined to be. As a consolation -- and a pretty awesome one -- he answered a handful of questions for me via email; questions that had been rattling around in my head for the longest time.
DC: Who is the audience for the 30th anniversary tour, compared to the first Pleasure Principle tour?
GN: It seems to be a fair number of people who were there the first time around, but surprisingly even more people that were too young to see it when it was first toured. People that weren't even born when the album was first released. That is the thing I find the most surprising about this tour, the album seems to have as much relevance to a new generation of people as it did to those that bought it in 1980. It's a very welcome surprise
How do U.S. audiences compare to your home countrymen or audiences worldwide?
I have always enjoyed the way American audiences react. To be perfectly honest, there is not a great deal of difference between the way U.S. and U.K. fans react, but if I had to choose, I would say that Americans are just that bit more outgoing and demonstrative. I'm more than happy to play in either country though as they are both great crowds to play to.
Who would you like to see coming out for this tour?
It's working out perfectly as it is. To be able to draw people across generations is quite a cool thing.
Has music always been the career you wanted, or did you have other career plans?
I either wanted to be an airline pilot, a rock star or a race car driver. The musical interest seemed the most logical to go for as funding a racing car career seemed very difficult and airline pilots didn't seem to have quite the excitement that rock stars have.
I know you're an avid pilot. Space tourism seems nearly on the horizon: Are you in? Would you go?
I would. Not too sure about the Virgin machine though. I just flew home in one of their 747s and it was a big bucket of rattling nuts and bolts. Seat was broken, TV didn't work. It was not a good advert for launching yourself into space.
The kids who grew up listening to your music are now running the ad agencies. I've heard A Flock of Seagulls, New Order, even Iggy Pop in television commercials, but not Gary Numan. Have you been approached? Would you be agreeable to your music being used in advertising?
Yes, definitely. I have actually been used quite a lot in commercials, though the most recent being the Die Hard battery commercial. I've been used in beer ads, car ads, film trailers, fashion ads, chocolate bars, pretty much everything at one time or another.
"Are 'Friends' Electric?" remains, to this day, a sort of personal theme song. From its origin as a personal tale of disappointment, as I understand, "Friends" became a phenomenon, having been covered now about a million times. Why do you think this song speaks so strongly to so many people and artists across genres and time?
In the U.K., it was the first ever #1 electronic single, so I think that has a lot to do with it as it introduced electronic music to the mass market. For a lot of musicians, it was the song that introduced them to electronic music, so I think for many of them it holds a fairly important place in the heart.
Much has been said about the "robotic" character of The Pleasure Principle, along with the themes of alienation and otherness. I have two close family members with Aspergers Syndrome, and from that perspective, I think I've always understood the confusion and sadness inherent in that type of isolation, which is a theme that lurks through many of your songs. Has your awareness of the condition affected your art in the intervening time?
Not the songwriting process. I don't think so anyway. Being aware of it is very helpful in finding little ways of dealing with it, being able to spot the signs and so back off. I think it's different for everyone that's got it though. In many respects, having Aspergers is actually quite useful when it comes to having a career in music. Many Aspergers traits are definitely advantageous, the high degree of focus for example and the ability to detach yourself emotionally.