Gary Numan celebrates 45 years of ‘Telekon’ with emotional Eventim Apollo performance

My favourite thing while going to gigs is spotting fellow punters as far away from the venue as possible. I once spotted one on my own train station in South East London – we shared the whole journey to Camden. On this frosty Friday evening my journey across London featured spotting many goths heading in the same direction – a sure giveaway that Gary Numan was in town.

Raven Numan

It was a family affair – similarly to Gary Numan’s 998 – 1000 gigs at London’s Electric Ballroom back in 2023, the opening act was his daughter Raven Numan, who has come in leaps and bounds in those 2.5 years. She performed a captivating set featuring the growing collection of original singles as well as a Nine Inch Nails cover ‘In This Twilight’, her latest release. It is the testament to the strength of the Numan fanbase how it extends to the whole family. By the time Raven was on stage, the Apollo was already bursting in the seams and the front row was shouting enthusiastic cheers of support throughout her whole set.

Gary Numan

Eventually the time has come to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Telekon, Gary Numan’s sophomore solo album that debuted at number one of the UK charts back in September 1980. Gary Numan and his band emerged onto the Apollo stage, transformed for the night into three platforms. Each step had rows of lights that would perfectly control the mood, and often form a dystopian grid framing the musicians between the beams. Numan took to the microphone in his trademark black outfit with arms bound with red ribbons, and with endless charisma began weaving through the Telekon tracks, just as relevant today as they were forty five years ago, proven by the frequent chants “NUUUUUMAAAAAN” from various pockets of the five thousand strong audience.

Gary Numan has long been known for fostering a very close connection to his fiercely loyal fanbase, and that night at the Apollo it became apparent that they give back to him just as much as he gives to them. ‘Photograph’ introduced poignant piano solos, but it was ‘Please Push No More’ that became the emotionally pivotal moment on stage.

Now it’s all over for sure
I’ll walk back home
We must all come down
We all grow old
We are close, we are hurt
So that was love
And love she kills me
It needs to, so

Please push no more
Please push no more

At the end of the song, Gary Numan took a moment to sit down, visibly emotional. The band carried on, and the audience showered him with support until he was ready to move to the next song on the setlist, the equally moving ‘Like A B-Film’, a never before released song which was included in the expanded 45th reissue of Telekon. I realised that the London date was just a week after the untimely passing of his younger brother John, who this tour was subsequently dedicated to. Numan decided to carry on with the tour, “continue doing the only thing I know how to do, the thing John was always so proud of”. From the stage, holding back tears, he remarked to the crowd “It’s a bit weird, I’m sorry”, to which the audience responded with a loud “WE LOVE YOU!”, giving him the support to carry on.

When he came back for the encores, he made a longer speech: “I think most of you know that I’ve had some terrible, terrible news this week. I’d like to dedicate this show to my brother. My dad said tonight this is the first time we’ve been together since it happened. I know this is probably a weird thing and I don’t mean it to be weird, but it just fucking is. I just want to thank you for putting up with my emotions. I was born here, this is where I come from and this is special for many reasons, and I just wanna say thank you for coming and I’m very grateful”. It felt like the whole venue held him through it, and the outpouring of love was palpable. There were people in the audience that have followed his career from the beginning, as well as their kids and new fans, proving how Gary Numan’s appeal transcends time. I was apparently sitting next to one of his old drummers!

Closing the show with 4 encores from his Tubeway Army days, Numan’s first pioneering punk outfit that ended up transitioning into synth wave with the use of a Minimoog and lyrics inspired by Phillip K. Dick’s dystopian classic “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?”. The night was a triumphant celebration of a five decade spanning career of a musician who is just as electric on stage today as he was when he started.