And so to Norwich
So why are these photos and reports so late Ashley? the tour will be over soon Garys been round Europe whilst youve been sitting on your whatever
Well I like to use the same excuse Gary makes on album delays. Its called family! My two little boys (with their two little toys, each had a wooden horse) take up so much of our time my wife and I and we love it. And of course theres work, and the small matter of me set-building for a play that is on later this year in good old Portsmouth where I am some sort of assistant stage manager or something (struggling to stop stuff falling apart come curtain up methinks). If you want to know more about that then go to my Doctor Who Devious website or evilofthedaleks.co.uk (I suspect the title of that gives the game away as to the nature of the play! Yes you guessed it its a romantic tale of love lost set on the windy moors. Hang on thats Kate Bush. No youre right it is Doctor Who. But it is officially-sanctioned by the BBC and is attracting worldwide attention so I am rather honoured to be part of itAnd whats more Dr Who is suddenly cool again maybe I will be too one day)
Meanwhile back to Norwich.
Yes this was the nostalgia trip. (Cue line about nostalgia not being what it used to be.) As casual observers of this site may recall (and I was reminded of this fact oddly enough by the person who sold me my tea on the train home who had recognised me but thats another story) I went to Norwich UEA as my university from 1979-82 (yes, that long ago) and as you can see from the dates I first got into Garys music there. My first vinyl purchase of the Complex 12 was played on my friends stereo (is that the right 1979 word?) at his sprawling farmhouse in deepest Suffolk. And my first actual purchase was the Pleasure Principle cassette I bought after hearing bits from my (Oscar-winning) sister during a term-break. That copy still plays well although I tend to use the CD version as it fits better in my walkman (yes hes still got a walkman when you lot all have i-pods).
(On an aside to i-pods I heard yesterday that the chief constable of some county or other is going to be creating downloads of useful police info on a regular basis on their website, and already some wag has denoted them as plodcasts which I thought was rather good perhaps we need a name for GN-casts get thinking)
Anyroadupnotwithstanding I got to Norwich this time by train after mislaying Liverpool Street station which seemed to have moved since I was last there, and spent a relaxing few hours wandering round the city taking loads of photos before getting them printed to cd and blanking the camera ready for the gig. Hopping on a bus to the university it all seemed new and different (I suppose they had to ditch the old Leyland Lodekkas they had in my day) so the bus ride didnt seem particularly new until I actually got to the university. And then it hit me the view of the ol place. Despite being doubled in size since I was there it still seemed oh so familiar. And hopping off the bus I immediately met fellow Numanoids and proceeded to check into my room.
And on collecting my key and all that palava I strolled off to my room, and in doing so found myself walking along a path with Gary walking towards it from one side and Gemma the other. Presumably they hadnt been at the uni that long and were going off to get a bit to eat or a stroll around. I naturally had to say hello and wish them well for the remainder of the tour.
And then on to my room and a tour of the campus myself I managed to see my old room from my first year it hadnt changed a bit! A great campus with great architecture the pyramid residences are famous and I believe have some sort of protection order on them stopping them being removed.
That chat with Gary and Gemma seemed like completing the journey in a way Full Circle if you will. When I first got into his music back in 1979 (missing the AFE on TOTP and the Touring Principle sadly) I never thought Id see him perform at the UEA. At the time he was doing giant venues with giant light-shows and wasnt the kind of thing you could easily cram into the hall off the common room so I never gave it another thought. Only when the venues were announced this year for Jagged I knew I had to make the pilgrimage again.
And the gig itself? Need you ask. I hope the pictures do it some justice. Although I did like the new lights. Those vertical strip light whatsit thingies very effective indeed.
And the aftermath? Well, seeing as I only had to walk for 2 minutes back to my room it seemed odd not to stay and chat with the fans who waited for Gary to appear afterwards from the venue. Any kind of chat with Gary would be a bonus. Hello to Mr Touring Principle Website by the way top chap. And so it was quite late and with the cold now giving us all the first signs of frostbite despite the season that Gary came out and sat in his tourbus for us to line up orderly and catch him for a few words.
Oh and hello to Ema and Kaz who I met and chatted to briefly in a newsagents back by Norwich bus station. Their Numan credentials being obvious by their choice of attire I was able to have a few words with fellow fans the day after the concert. Regards!
Great times... and now the photos...