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Concerts

2020

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Midge Ure doing the whole of Vienna and selections of Visage, what more could an 80s fan like me want?

The voice may not have quite the power of before but still holds up well and he can still play that guitar. The keyboard player also copied Billy Currie's solo's pretty well.

Seating could have been better.

A fairly drunken weekend was undertaken which included an argument with a guy sat in front of me because I was apparently talking too much during the support act but these things happen.

Set list.

01. Yellow Pearl
02. Visage
03. Blocks on Blocks
04. The Dancer
05. In the Year 2525
06. Mind of a Toy
07. Glorious
08. Fade to Grey
09. Astradyne
10. New Europeans
11. Private Lives
12. Passing Strangers
13. Sleepwalk
14. Mr. X
15. Western Promise
16. Vienna
17. All Stood Still

Encore:

18. Passionate Reply
19. Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
20. The Voice
21. Hymn

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2019

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Been a long time since I’ve seen OMD, over 30 years since they have played Portsmouth and they still sound good even if the later stuff has been of less interest to me.

An ill Paul Humphreys meant that Souvenir had to be sung by Andy McCluskey but his effort was fine.

A few songs from the later albums I didn’t know, maybe it’s time I caught up.

Set list.

01. Stanlow
02. Isotype
03. Messages
04. Tesla Girls
05. History of Modern (Part 1)
06. If You Leave
07. Souvenir
08. Joan of Arc
09. Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)
10. Statues
11. Almost
12. Don't Go
13. So in Love
14. Dreaming
15. The Punishment of Luxury
16. Locomotion
17. Sailing on the Seven Seas
18. Enola Gay

Encore:

19. Pandora's Box
20. Electricity

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Probably the most “rock” gig I’ve ever been to so wasn't sure what to expect but I really enjoyed it.

Very, very load but what a guitar player!.

Always a concern when you see older acts is that the singers voice may have gone but no worries here.

Set list.

01. Sun King
02. Wild Flower
03. Automatic Blues
04. American Horse
05. Sweet Soul Sister
06. New York City
07. Edie (Ciao Baby)
08. Soul Asylum
09. Rain
10. Spiritwalker
11. The Phoenix
12. Rise
13. American Gothic
14. Fire Woman
15. Love Removal Machine

Encore:

16. Lil’ Devil
17. She Sells Sanctuary

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Another trip to see Gary Numan, how many times now?

Celebrating 40+ years in music we got some old classics including That’s To Bad and My Shadow In Vain which I don’t think I’ve heard live since the 80s and Stories which I can’t recall him ever doing live.

He was even more chatty than normal and introduced a new song in Intruder which sounds great.

Support was by Kanga who was better than most.

Great gig

Set List

01. My Name Is Ruin
02. I Die: You Die
03. That's Too Bad
04. Stories
05. Metal
06. Absolution
07. Films
08. Down in the Park
09. The Promise
10. Cars
11. Here in the Black
12. Me! I Disconnect From You
13. The Fall
14. A Prayer for the Unborn
15. Are 'Friends' Electric?

Encore:

16. My Shadow in Vain
17. Remind Me to Smile
18. Intruder
19. Jo the Waiter

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My first sample of Chvrches live and a good experience.

Was worried about an overdose of politics but we got none and just a rather chatty and fun Lauren Mayberry in a nice dress.

Sound wasn't great with  bass that could give you concussion.

Set List

01. Get Out
02. Bury It
03. Gun
04. We Sink
05. Graffiti
06. Graves
07. God's Plan
08. Under the Tide
09. Miracle
10. Science/Visions
11. Really Gone
12. Deliverance
13. Forever
14. Recover
15. Leave a Trace
16. Clearest Blue

Encore:

17. The Mother We Share
18. Never Say Die

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2018

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Return leg of his 2017 tour and Gary Numan opens at the Pyramid Centre.

As per usual the legend will not let you down, nice to see This Wreckage get a play as well.

No appearance of his daughter this time on My Name Is Ruin as she did at Brighton, I guess she has to go to school occasionally.

A very good support act in the form of Nightmare Air, they will require some looking up.e

Set List

01. Ghost Nation
02. Halo
03. Me! I Disconnect From You
04. Bed of Thorns
05. Down in the Park
06. Pray for the Pain You Serve
07. Here in the Black
08. Haunted
09. The Fall
10. Mercy
11. Love Hurt Bleed
12. My Name Is Ruin
13. Cars
14. When the World Comes Apart
15. Are ‘Friends’ Electric?

Encore:

16. This Wreckage
17. Metal

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2017

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After a support act of Altered Images and to a lesser extent The Christians it was down to Midge Ure to headline.

This was the first time I had seen Midge Ure as a solo act having seen him many times as part of Ultravox and he did not disappoint going through some of the classic Ultravox songs and from his solo career.

The guy can sure play guitar and still has a great vocal range.

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Finally seen my teenage fantasy in Clare Grogan, only about 30+ years late!

Wasn't quite as cringe worthy as I was dreading and was well worth the money.

She was great fun, very chatty and also a good performance live.

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The return of Gary Numan to the south coast last night to promote his most successful album of recent years Savage

Great concert as per usual, including his daughter Persia taking the stage for backing vocals on My Name Is Ruin.

Didn’t see the support act this time

Set List

01. Ghost Nation
02. Metal
03. The Fall
04. Remind Me to Smile
05. Bed of Thorns
06. Dead Sun Rising
07. Down in the Park
08. Pray for the Pain You Serve
09. Here in the Black
10. Mercy
11. Love Hurt Bleed
12. My Name is Ruin
13. Cars
14. When the World Comes Apart
15. A Prayer for the Unborn

Encore:

16. I Die: You Die
17. Are ‘Friends’ Electric?

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Not seen Kraftwerk since the Computer World tour of 1982

Tickets sold out very quick but we managed to get in at Bristol on an absolutely glorious day. Plenty of drink before hand, a necessity as we were going dressed up in traditional red shirt and ties.

Kraftwerk were visually impressive, never sure how much they actually play live but that's not the point. It's the total experience of one of musics great pioneers that counts.

Set List

01. Numbers
02. Computer World
03. It's More Fun to Compute
04. Computer Love
05. The Man-Machine
06. Spacelab
07. The Model
08. Neon Lights
09. Autobahn
10. Airwaves
11. Intermission / News
12. Geiger Counter / Radioactivity
13. Electric Cafe
14. Tour De France / Prologue / Etape 1 / Chrono / Etape 2
15. Trans Europe Express / Metal on Metal / Abzug

Encore:

16. The Robots

Encore 2:

17. Aerodynamik
18. Planet of Visions
19. Boing Boom Tschak / Techno Pop / Music Non Stop

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2016

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Been a few years since I’ve seen the Levellers and don’t really listen to their music that much so not sure what to expect when I went last night.

As a live act they are awesome, apart from the leftie political intro I enjoyed every minute.

Almost worth missing Janet Devlin for….almost

Didn’t see any of the support acts and it was damn cold going home!

Set List

01. One Way
02. The Game
03. Fifteen Years
04. The Boatman / Boatman Jig
05. Liberty Song
06. Far From Home
07. Sell Out
08. Another Man's Cause
09. The Road
10. The Riverflow
11. Battle of the Beanfield
12. This Garden
13. The Shame
14. Truth Is
15. Carry Me
16. The Cholera Well

Encore:

17. Julie / The Flowers of the Forest / The Crags of Stirling
18. Beautiful Day

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Just seen my hero the almighty Mr Gary Numan

Certainly one of the best gigs I have seen, he is a legend,

An all round good day after Portsmouth had a good win followed by a few beers.

Terrible support act though called I Speak Machine !

Set List

01. Replicas
02. Metal
03. Remind Me to Smile
04. Me! I Disconnect From You
05. Films
06. The Joy Circuit
07. You Are in My Vision
08. M.E.
09. I Dream of Wires
10. The Machman
11. Observer
12. I'm an Agent
13. Down in the Park
14. Tracks
15. We Are Glass
16. Are 'Friends' Electric?
17. Cars
18. I Die: You Die

Encore:

19. We Are So Fragile
20. My Shadow in Vain

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Went to see a Dire Straits tribute act at The Brook in Southampton.

Dire Straits are far from one of my favourite bands but it was a good evening and they are a very good tribute band. Musically spot on but I think he could lose the very cheesy headband.

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Saw the rather good Adam Ant at the Portsmouth Guildhall.

Always a bit of a concern when you see the “old-timers” trying to relive their youth but he was good, only the poor sound system which made his vocals indistinct marred the performance.

Personally I only knew about 1 in 4 of the songs but still a good show

Set List

01. Dog Eat Dog
02. Antmusic
03. Feed Me to the Lions
04. Los Rancheros
05. Ants Invasion
06. Killer in the Home
07. The Magnificent Five
08. Don't Be Square (Be There)
09. Jolly Roger
10. The Human Beings
11. Beat My Guest
12. Christian D'or
13. Stand and Deliver
14. Press Darlings
15. Vive Le Rock
16. Cartrouble
17. Desperate But Not Serious
18. Never Trust a Man (With Egg on His Face)
19. Lady
20. Fall-In
21. Goody Two Shoes
22. Prince Charming

Encore:

23. Get It On
24. Red Scab
25. Physical (You're So)

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Another excellent concert from Tim Booth and the crew, have they ever done a bad gig?

Hadn’t listened to the new CD much prior to the concert so unfamiliar with some of the songs but the classics always enough to keep things kicking along although noticeably this time Laid was missed out along with Sit Down.

Also good to catch up with some of the old Autoliv crew in Paul Ryan, Lee Cornwell and Mark Stephen

Set List

01. She’s a Star
02. Dear John
03. Move Down South
04. Catapult
05. We’re Going to Miss You
06. Alvin
07. Surfer’s Song
08. Sometimes
09. Bitch
10. P.S.
11. Feet Of Clay
12. What For
13. Just Like Fred Astaire
14. Girl at the End of the World
15. Honest Joe
16. Sound
17. Attention

Encore:

18. Say Something
19. Moving On
20. Nothing But Love
21. Come Home

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Updated - 24/09/2020