So I went to see Gary in concert for the first time ever. How do I begin... it was just utterly beyond description. But dammit, I gotta try. :-) After a 45-minute trip to San Francisco from my home in the South Bay, we (that being me, my mother, my friend NuRuss, my friend Serge, and my friend Dan) spent at least an hour finding the Fillmore! Finally we arrived. The ever-classy Lisa Yimm was there, and she and Serge knew each other from *ahem* elsewhere, as it turned out. A few people were already milling around, this being at around four o'clock. The next thing I remember, Beryl was poking her head out of the sleek white tour bus dominating the sidewalk. She talked with Lisa and Russ and I swear he showed pictures of his kids to her!
After that first adventure, it eventually came time to head over to the Peace Pagoda. Slowly, Numanoids trickled in: my friend Bianca and her friend Sandy, Derek Langsford, John Marques Carramao, Kathryn Silures, Ian Golder, and many more (sorry if I forgot your names!) showed up. We all went for noodles at Mifune (this being in Japantown). Soon, George Ellis arrived with the famed Joey Lindstrom in tow. I made them come inside, though they'd already eaten, and Joey got a round of applause from the table. Everyone chatted and slurped their soba or udon and I wound up the only member of the party resorting to a fork. It's one of my few redneck traits and I'm damn proud of it, even if that fork cost extra! Castigate me for being uncultured then! Que votre mère soit mangée par une grenouille!*
Anyway, enough of that. Everyone wandered back to the Fillmore and we basically stood in line in the California sun (I had quite a cherry spot up front) until around 7. I went inside and entered the main hall with a thrill running through me. I checked the place out - black. - and went quickly up front. Near me were George, Joey, Mom, Serge, and Dan, and Bianca dragged over to meet me Kira, whom I've known through the 'net for over two years now but whom I never met before, though she lives in the Bay Area! Lame-ass that I am.
Shortly before 8, we were relieved of the awful DJ by Switchblade Symphony. I was very excited and stared at Tina and occasionally Susan - I love Switchblade and this was my first time seeing them, too. Tina's red rubber dress was so tight I could see the outline of her belly button ring, and as I was right at the front of the stage, I could also check out the dragon tattoo on her right shin. Rowr! say I. ;-) They played I think 10 songs, including "Drool (Mother)" from the EP of the same name, and "Witches," "Dirty Dog," and "Soldiers," if memory serves, off their latest album, Bread and Jam for Frances. From their fantastic debut album, Serpentine Gallery, they played "Clown," "Gutter Glitter," and "Dissolve." We also heard "a brand new song," very cool (it turned out to be "Naked Birthday" from The Three Calamities album), and a couple I didn't recognize (one was "Drool," the other may have been "Wicked" or some song from The Three Calamities). (As you can tell, I've expanded my Switchblade collection since the show - it's been cool to buy new CDs and hear songs I first heard live!) They absolutely loved being there, Tina at least, as S.F. is their hometown; and I thought you could tell by the crowd. Hurrah!
It's harder for me to tell of Gary's show. It was an emotional experience for me, though I didn't cry. :-P I spent the whole set in a state of bliss which occasionally turned sober for numbers like "Dark" and was usually exuberant. During "A Question of Faith," around five songs into the set, the Gestapo raided the area. By this I mean a group of around a half-dozen bootleg white-shirted goons who systematically formed a wedge and forced their way up front, much to the pain and extreme anger of me, among many others! If anyone has any pictures of these NumaNazis, please send them to me. Bastards!
Despite the Reich, I was determined to have the greatest night of my life, and I did! Gary played 18 songs, I think, all of which just blew me away with their power and passion. He did two encores but had to leave out "We Are So Fragile" due to a few too many people rushing the stage. Gary Layton, aka "Big G," Gary's bodyguard, was very efficient for a man his size, tossing offenders back into the crowd (though one girl did manage to hug Gary while Big G was attending to another thug).
Gary was in top form - smiling that great smile at times, posturing and scowling darkly at others. The rest of the band also did great, though Ade later said he messed up during "We Are Glass," the last song, because he was distracted by the stage-rushers. The crowd responded terrifically, and I was thoroughly pumped by the time the show was over.
Laboriously, we exited the Fillmore, a task made super slow by the handing out of Fillmore concert posters at the exit. Joey remarked that if a fire broke out, hundreds would have been killed. Luckily, none did. In the temperate night, we all talked with each other, discussing the show, the NumaNazis (a favorite topic of conversation), et al. The band and Gemma came out and I got everyone's signature but Richard Beasley's, talked a bit with Ade and Gemma (a lovely woman whom I liked a lot), who showed us her wedding ring. (Also beautiful, though she had to search a moment mentally to remember the inscription!)
Eventually, the crowd surrounding Gary thinned, and we NuNetworkers went over to schmooze. I took pics for other people and got photos taken and, while carefully signing my prized "Berserker" extended cassette, Gary told me the next tour could be either another Exile one or in support of the upcoming ('99) album. He was very nice and down-to-earth. I was introduced as Scary Numan's author and he said "'ullo." What a thrill, to meet the Man at last!
Happy, I trooped over to a nearby Denny's with about a dozen others, arriving a moment before them as I got a ride in Russ's minivan (which, by the way, has a better sound system, bass-wise, than mine at home!). We ate, talked, and noted John's disappearance. The waiter said, "Don't tell me - you just came from the Gary Numan concert? We've had black-clad, gothic people in all night." Woohoo! Sometime after two a.m., my party of five left, but apparently others were there until at least four. The best damn night of my life!!
* "May your mother be eaten by a frog!" [back]