![\"Gary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gary-Numan-Tracy-Daniel_shutterstock_1070739089.jpg\")
Gary Numan plays Middlesbrough Empire in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom on March 17, 2018. Credit: Tracy Daniel \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\nGary Numan plays Middlesbrough Empire in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom on March 17, 2018. Credit: Tracy Daniel \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Known early for his mostly synthesizer-centered albums and songs, Gary Numan\u2019<\/a>s later career has rocked into harder territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n Numan scored a synthesizer-heavy No. 1 U.K. hit \u201cAre \u2018Friends\u2019 Electric?\u201d with his band Tubeway Army in 1979 and in 1980 reached No. 9 in the U.S. with his synth single \u201cCars.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But following the mid-1990s and a series of slow-selling, R&B-inspired LPs, Numan bounced back in popularity with a guitar-heavy Exile album in 1998. Since then, he\u2019s come back with a vengeance, releasing six Gothic-rocked tinged albums including 2021\u2019s Intruder.\u00a0<\/p>\n This weekend in St. Petersburg, Numan brings his newer synth-guitar hybrid hard rock sound and spring tour to Jannus Live.\u00a0<\/p>\n On a break after Caribbean cruise ship shows for \u201880s music fans, Numan told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the setlist in St. Petersburg will be mostly newer album tracks rather than \u201chit\u201d singles.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI try to find things that I really enjoy doing. It\u2019s important for me that when I look at the setlist that I\u2019m excited about each song that comes along,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want it to become a \u2018job\u2019 because it\u2019s what the crowd expects me to do. Once I\u2019m doing that, I\u2019ll fucking give up.\u201d<\/p>\n Numan added that he and his five-piece band will play a mix of songs from his synth-heavy albums Replicas, The Pleasure Principal and Telekon, with the rest being mostly from albums Splinter, Savage (Songs from a Broken World) (2017), and Intruder .\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition, Numan said he may perform a new song with his 23-year-old daughter Raven, who\u2019s released a series of her own singles. He says being on stage in front of legions of fans\u2014longtime and new\u2014isn\u2019t just work, it\u2019s a \u201cneed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to do this since I was a little kid. It\u2019s been my whole life; it\u2019s kind of what I wake up for\u2014what I\u2019m breathing for,\u201d he added. \u201cAll I\u2019m doing really is sort of living the life I\u2019ve dreamt of and chosen, and I just want to share that.\u201d<\/p>\n Tickets to see Gary Numan play Jannus Live in St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 8 are still available for $50.69.<\/a><\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Mar. 05 \u2013 11, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772792389_228_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n