Down In The Park W/ A Friend Called Five

''If you are my shepherd then I'm lost and no one can find me.

If you are my saviour then I'm dead and no one can help me.

If you are my glory then I'm sick and no one can cure me.

If you light my darkness then I'm blind and no one can see me.

If you are my father then love lies abandoned and bleeding.

If you are my comfort then nightmares are real and deceiving.

If you are my answer then I must have asked the wrong question.

I'd spit on your heaven if I could find one to believe in."

A Prayer For The Unborn-Gary Numan

Seeing Gary Numan at The Troc on Thursday nite was a trip down memory lane,like several artists these days performing old cds....or albums as they were called back then in their entirety is not only a chance to revist those songs but also remind the old fans like me what we loved about them back in the day{1979 in this case}but also to show the new fans you've picked up along the way where you came from.

I fell in love w/ Gary Numan in 79 when he arrived on the music scene,punk was still hanging around,disco was almost dead{yea!!}and the likes of grunge,hip hop,house and electronica were just about to emerge,Gary Numan was at the forefront of the latter.

If I had a dollar for every Saturday nite I sat alone in the dark in my old living room playing Gary Numan records between 79-87 I'm confident I'd have enough money now to update all my Gary Numan vinyl to cd.

His image as the lonely Android struck a cord w/ me,his dark lyrics and often somber keyboard laden music about alienation were something I could relate to,while I should've been out on those Saturdays as a teenager/twenty something doing what teenagers/twenty somethings did I secluded myself at home in the dark,"Remind Me To Smile" could well've been my theme tune,"I Die You Die" Gary's dig at the music press who so despised him for having the audacity to reach the top w/out their help became my dig at those who slagged me off behind my back.

I never managed to get my act together to see him live, his 79 and 80 tours were the stuff legends were made of,at least thanks to wonder of modern technology these days there are dvds of those shows as well as cds,I still tear up listening to "Living Ornaments 81"cds,his at the time swan song to performing live, a rash decision that Gary quickly reversed come 83 and afforded me the chance to catch him live on the "Warriors" tour.

Fast forwarding several years Gary's star shone not so brightly,granted the loyal and rabid "Numanoids"still bought his records/cds but chart success had become a thing of the past.

Thanks to a new generation of music fans as happens w/ all genres of music and the timely endorsements of such luminaries as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters,Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor Gary Numan returned to the fore,a new less keyboard more guitar industrial sound once again put our favourite Android back in the spotlite.

A lot has changed since "Are Friends Electric" back in 79,Gary smiles alot more and talks to the audience something he seemed adverse to back then,I don't spend every Saturday night alone in my darkened room listening to his albums but I do still listen to him,his old songs that remind me of all those years ago and the new songs he's given us in recent years.

Do I still get misty eyed when I hear "Joy Circuit" from the 81 farewell concert?hell yeah, I can still picture the white tuxedoed and bandaged Nash The Slash playing the violin while Gary riffs on guitar dressed in his orange leather jumpsuit,there they stand back to back center stage transforming an ok album track off of "Telekon" his 81 album into a classic,like an old Gary Numan song says"It Must Have Been Years"

As I stood there Thursday nite at The Troc and relived those old days as Gary performed his 79 classic "The Pleasure Principle" and some other old classics"Down In The Park"''Are Friends Electric" along w/ newer gems "Pure"and"A Prayer For The Unborn" I remembered what it was about Gary and his music back then thirty one years ago and what he creates theses days and knew why I am still a fan,artists come and go,genres change but I'm still looking out for a man w/"a long coat, grey hat smoking a cigarette"