Chapter 1
PHILADEPHIA
I could hardly
believe it! After being a Numanoid since the tender age of 13 in 1982, and after
running Gary's only International Fan Club for 6 years, I was finally going to
see a Gary Numan concert. Michael Ward, former NAGNFC member and present Numan
Digest member and myself were making plans to see Gary in England. It turns out
we wouldn't have to travel so far.
Visions ran
through my night subconscious of Gary playing to 20 or 30 people at the shows.
Luckily, dreams don't always come true.
I was lucky
enough to happen upon Joey Lindstrom's excellent tour page on his WorldWide
Webb site. After looking at all the venue listings, I thought to myself,
"I would be remiss if I didn't purchase a ticket for several shows."
Actually there was more sweat and giddiness involved in buying my first Gary
Numan ticket, Are You Real?
I noticed Joey
was giving a shout out to potential organizers for pre-show parties. Much to my
delight, no one had yet volunteered their energies for a party in Philly, Do
You Need The Service?
I couldn't pass
up the chance to host the first major Numan party this country had seen since
the US NAGNFC held the yearly Numan Convention/Discos. I remembered a place
across from the Philly venue when I drove down to see Jane Siberry there last
year. It was a Starbucks, and though it is a busy section of town, the upstairs
section of Starbucks was always empty and provided solace and quiet refuge from
the bustle of the City. "BINGO," I muttered aloud, much to the
surprise of my dog who then slapped me five for a Milk Bone. I thusly and
happily submitted my name to Joey to hold the soiree in Philly, and then fed my
dog.
DRAW CURTAIN.
ENTER NEXT DAY.
There I was
happily enjoying the rushing stream of info the Internet provides, when all of
a sudden the familiar sound of an AOL Instant Message tickled my trachea. It
was from someone named Friday3rd, better known to many of you as Kat.
"I heard
you were going to 9 shows," the stranger said. I paused my game of the
Bill Gates edition of Pie in The Face and replied, "Yeah".
"Would you
like a female travelling companion?" the message replied. After giving
this a fair amount of thought, say, about 2 seconds, I answered back,
"There's room in the car."
DRAW CURTAIN.
APPLAUSE. ENTER EVENING BEFORE FIRST NUMAN SHOW….
'Twas the night
before Numan, and deep in the house, I logged on the net, using only my mouse.
I found e-mails from oodles of giddy Numanoids eager to attend the pre-show
party and see the big show.
The next
morning was filled with nothing but anticipation. I started off to Gary's first
show in this hemisphere in 16 years! I picked up NAGNFC member Mark Darmofal in
Scranton, PA on the way down and we blasted Numan through the coalmines of the
Appalachians.
Traffic was
unusually heavy approaching Philly and I started to worry about the prospect of
being late, and not fashionably, to my own party! Traffic cleared near downtown
and we took advantage of traffic lights to change into our Numan gear, much to
the interest of senior citizens waiting at metro bus stops.
Turns out we
were a tad early, so we walked around Tower Books nearby scoping out Gary's new
autobiography, which they hadn't heard of. Ah well, at least, Mark got some
Doctor Who books out of the trip (which are still in my car)!
The pre-show
party was nothing short of amazing! There were about 25 Numanoids in all. Most
of us were about to see Gary for the first time and we laughed, shook hands,
and took part in the party raffle. Terrence Thoman of PA brought a kick-butt
Numan T-shirt to me to raffle. NAGNFC member Vince Attard won it, but alas it
was small for him, so we redrew. Would the winner please e-mail me with your
name so I can remember it? How embarrassing! I brought along a video of Gary's
Dark Light concert which NAGNFC member John Stubblefield was more than happy to
win.
Kat, the
Internet stranger showed up with her luggage ready for the 3000 mile trip to 9
shows with me. She hugged with the fervor of someone who'd just come from a big
and strange airport and finally saw someone she recognized.
The party was
going so well, I only wanted to leave long enough to help stuff Kat's luggage
into my car so I could rush back and meet Numanoids who were still showing up.
We wheeled the
luggage out to the……..WHAT?? No car! It was gone! I was about to experience yet
another adventure within an existing adventure, MY FIRST TOW.
Kat went back
to explain the situation. I hailed a cab and took care of things. I made it
back in plenty of time, much to my surprise! By then, all the partygoers had
made it to the front by the stage and sympathetically gave me a front spot they
had kindly saved for me. We laughed about getting towed in the City Of
Brotherly Love and turned toward a darkening stage to watch Switchblade
Symphony.
I find it hard
to dis Switchblade as they grew on me by the 5th show. Most songs
were pretty basic, and a couple made me move, albeit slightly. An informal
consensus of Numanoids revealed they thought Switchblade was OK, but they
wouldn't buy the CD. I couldn't decide if it was valiant or sad they had to
haul their own gear into the rented U-Haul, probably valiant come to think of
it.
Did anyone else
notice that when the guitarist was thrashing around, the keyboardist was rigid,
and vice versa? I notice these little things, maybe I should get out more.
Anyway…
The lights came
back on. We all agreed to give Gary the warmest welcome we possibly could.
Surely he would be a little nervous. Also, we made a pact to shout
"CRASH" in unison on the count of 3, possibly inspiring Gary to take
a request.
The lights came
back down, the intro music played, fog enshrouded the stage. Band members came
pouring out, and finally GARY NUMAN! The 2D image I was used to on TV was, in
an instant, replaced with the 3D image before me. My Numanoid life flashed
before my eyes as I mentally remembered Gary walking on stage in countless tour
videos, and there he was, sharing the same oxygen, under the same roof, and
tearing up the silence with his first song "Friends".
It was a
spiritual experience for all of us. We hooted and screamed as song after
familiar song was sung for only us. Bob Garr, his wife Darlene, Rick Stott,
Numanboy and many others sang along to every song and became doubly glad they
had purchased tickets for other shows.
After the show,
we fished Kat's luggage from the closing Starbuck's and at 12:30 discussed
plans for the rest of the evening. Kat and I was originally going back with
Mark to Scranton and crash there, but Mark opted to stay in Philly. After
learning Vince was going to wait for untold hours in a train station back to
Manhattan, I offered him a ride home. After all, that was the site of the next
Numan show at Irving Plaza.
Mark learned of
the hotel Gary and the entourage were staying in, so the four of us drove my
car from the pricey, but legal, parking garage and headed there. We arrived at
a small Best Western just southwest of downtown. Could Gary really be staying
HERE tonight? My hopes weren't too high. We sat down at the bar and awaited
Gary's presence. There were about 6 of us left in total when the bar finally
closed. I suggested to our group that we leave. No way would Gary be staying in
this pipsqueak Best Western. I was making my way out when their tour bus pulled
up.
The band
members came out followed by Gary and his wife Gemma. I couldn't believe I was
going to say "hi" to Gary Numan. He seemed nervous at first but
became very comfortable speaking to the 6 of us. Gary spoke with us for 1 and a
half hour that night. We talked about everything, and took pictures. Meanwhile,
Kat and Gemma were sitting down next to us there in the lobby exchanging hair
tips. No way could I believe what was happening. By 3:30 I suggested we let
Gary rest us for the NY show and thanked him profusely for sharing his time
with us. I was most surprised how amiable and approachable Gary and Gemma are.
We dropped off Mark
with his friend in Philly and watched night turn to day as we started off for
New York City…………