Gary Numan at The Masquerade

I love Gary Numan...I have since 1979 when I was given "The Pleasure Principle" album by my friend Susan.  Now most people will say "who?" and when I say he sings "Cars" - many people then know who I am talking about...but only my friend Susan and I know all his other songs.  His music is so electric and different than most artists.  While I like "Cars" - it is not my favorite song of his. 

My favorite is "I Die, You Die" followed by "Down in the Park"

Anyway...I never had a chance to see him back in the day.  I was thrilled when his new album "Savage" was released several months ago (it is fantastic!) and was even more excited when he announced he was coming to Atlanta!!  Finally, I would get to see him - LIVE!!

So, the day gets here and it is at The Masqerade which relocated to Underground Atlanta less than a month ago.  The Masquerade use to be 3 levels ... Hell (which was a dance floor), Purgatory (which was mostly a bar and sitting area and Heaven (which was where the musical acts performed).

Since the move, they are not 3 levels anymore but they still have 3 room with the same name and of course Gary Numan was performing in Heaven (I didn't get to see the other rooms since they are close to each other but all have separate entrances).

The new Heaven location is much bigger than the old one and they state it holds 1,000 people but I swear to you there were a lot more than 1,000 people at the show.

We arrived at 6:00 because the tickets said the show started at 7:30.  There was no mention of an opening act.  I thought that was early but I did what I was told.  Well..the doors opened at 7:30, and luckily Susan and I got right up at the stage (it is a Standing Room only venue - there are no seats anywhere, even at the bars).

After standing up for 3 hours, the opening act, "Me Not You" finally came on at 9:00 (trust me it is hard to stand in the same spot without moving for that long in a PACKED shoulder-to-shoulder venue...so we were more than ready for the show to get started.

We did not care for the opening act at all.  They were not what I would say "bad" but they were not "good' either.  Plus, at this point, no one cared anything about them, we were all getting tired, frustrated and hot and just wanted Gary to come on. 

Finally, he hits the stage at 10:00 pm (we have been there 4 hours by now and it was a Monday night) but it was worth the wait because as expected, he was incredible. 

I have no photos to show because there were just too many people and plus you were packed so tightly (when he came on, people pushed us even closer up and pushed in more on the sides) - that there was no way you could even get your camera/phone out of your pocket if you wanted to.  That is okay though - I didn't need photos - I just wanted to hear and see him.

I am so glad I finally got to see him!!

Here is what he sang......

Ghost Nation
Metal (loved, loved, loved hearing this live)
The Fall
Everything Comes Down to This
Bed of Thorns
Down in the Park (a favorite of mine)
Pray for the Pain You Serve
Here in the Black
Films
Mercy
Love Hurt Bleed
My Name Is Ruin
Cars
When the World Comes Apart
A Prayer for the Unborn

ENCORE 1
M.E.
Are Friends' Electric?

ENCORE 2
I Die: You Die

The two encores were my FAVORITES

I think Gary really enjoyed himself and the next day, he put this on Facebook..it is the first time I have seen him post something like this so I truly believe he was sincere.

Thank you Gary for coming to Atlanta !!!  I didn't like the venue but I loved you!