Waving Goodbye

As Steve Miller once astutely noted, "Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking, ticking into the future," and once more I find almost a month has passed since my last entry.

One momentous event that is disappearing into the rear view mirror of my life is the final headlining performance in this country of one my alltime favourite bands, Nine Inch Nails. Almost twenty years have passed since I first discovered Trent Reznor and he has kept me entertained, sane, and alive in varying degrees ever since.

So it came to pass that we all went to the Wave Goodbye gig at the O2 (which grows on me more and more as a venue despite my dislike of big venues) to hear a varied and fan-pleasing set that was crowned by an appearance by one of Reznor's influences, and the man who I have to thank for a lifetime of music and inspiration, Gary Numan.

Numan was greeted by raptuous applause, much as he was twenty six years previously when he became the first gig I saw at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall on his 'comeback' tour in support of 1983's Warriors album.

Seeing two of musical heroes on the same stage was nothing short of breathtaking and with NIN retiring from the live arena I can think of no beter way to wave goodbye to them.

Numan was in fine form a week or so later, too, when we saw him in the much more intimate surroundings of Shepherd's Bush Empire. Come December we're returning, together, to the Indigo2 for a third time to see the classic Pleasure Principle album played from front to back, a gig we're already anticipating with some excitement.

On the immediate horizon, I'm having my first two week block off work for some four years kicking off on Friday, and I can't wait to spend some quality, relaxing time with the family, both at home and down in Cornwall, where my trigger finger is itching to shoot many, many pictures.