Gary Numan: Piece Hall, Halifax – Live Review

Gary Numan
The Piece Hall, Halifax
Friday, July 31st 2026

Gary Numan was one of the key pioneers of British synthpop, but this show also showcased his darker industrial work. Paul Clarke joined the Numanoids.

Everyone cites the Sheffield bands as the key players in the creation of the British synthpop sound, but Gary Numan working as Tubeway Army and then solo was ahead of them, scoring two number ones before the South Yorkshire crowd broke into the charts.

The late seventies was a time when all sorts of weird acts could get to number one, and none stranger than the other worldly looking Numan with his bleak dystopian synths fed through effects pedals. It wasn’t strictly synthpop, but it was always anchored in melody with that distinctive detached vocal style that was instantly recognisable. His work often offered the idea of a brave new world where machines played a central role in our lives, so once again in our AI obsessed world Numan was ahead of his time.

His solo work over the last few decades has tended towards a harder industrial sound with plenty of guitars working alongside – and often against – his always naggingly catchy synth riffs. Opener Halo with Numan on fine vocal form was a classic example of that, with plenty of angsty lyrics questioning both his own fallibility and the hypocrisy of organised religion as his lively band cavorted round the stage.

If you were expecting lots of dialogue from the stage, you were probably at the wrong show. Instead, Numan in his trademark all black nearing his seventieth birthday, literally threw himself into every song, throwing shapes as he lived out every word and note. Numan is the classic cult artist who has always marched to his own drumbeat – or synth riff – and his devoted followers known as Numanoids have kept the faith because he has always been true to himself and what they wanted.

Backed by a tight band in long black cloaks, and where being bald seems to be a prerequisite for membership, Numan, with his still jet-black hair, kept the energy dark with M.E. and I Am Dust before returning to his roots with Tubeway Army’s Me! I Disconnect With You. Remind Me To Smile addressed his meteoric rise to fame and the challenges of being a neurodiverse rock star in a bubble where being a serious artist wasn’t really encouraged.

Numan regularly retreated to the back of the stage to play the synth as if he was assaulting it, and Metal was a mid-set highlight as he once again explored the idea of alienation, but told from the first person perspective of an android. It was dialled back for Down In The Park, and it was a joy for all the Numanoids when that classic synth riff rang out across the four sides of this historic building, swiftly followed by his second number one, Cars, where you were reminded why millions of teenagers bought his singles. I Die: You Die was still one of the best responses to the UK’s music press tendency to build artists up before gleefully knocking them down, which Numan was a victim of as he had the temerity to explore more challenging landscapes.

Gary Numan was always an unlikely regular on Top Of The Pops, but the insanely catchy Are ‘Friends Electric?’ remains one of the all-time great number ones, and that was the first introduction into his singular vision for many of the Goths and pop fans here tonight. It says something about his ability to always stick to his artistic guns that nearly five decades later they were still proud to be Numanoids.

You can follow Gary Numan on FacebookandTwitter.

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Words by Paul Clarke; you can see his author profile here.

Photos by Andrew Twambley. You can find Andrew at hiswebsite