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On this day, 22 November 1984, Synth legend Gary Numan played Cardiff St David’s Hall on The Berserker Tour. Support was provided by Hohokam and Larry Lieberman.
Released on 9 November 1984, Berserker iwas his first album to be released under Numan's own record label, Numa Records.
Gary Numan's recording contract with his previous record label Beggars Banquet had ended with the release of 1983's studio album, Warriors. Disillusioned with record companies, Numan decided to create his own record label, Numa Records, to give himself full control over his recordings, production and marketing. Numan was now free to take his music into a harder direction without interference.
Berserker presented a harder synth, hi-NRG-inspired rock sound than Numan's previous studio albums, with an abundant use of sampling and the distinctive sound of the PPG Wave synthesiser. It developed on the electro-funk sound of Warriors, marking a change from the prominent fretless bass on his previous three studio albums but retaining the female backing vocals and occasional saxophone.
Lyrically, the album has a haunting, dystopian theme.
The poignant track "A Child with the Ghost" was Numan's tribute to his friend and former bassist Paul Gardiner, who died in February 1984 from a heroin overdose. The track was also covered by the duo Tik and Tok on their studio album Intolerance (which featured Numan) the same year. The industrial undertones of the Berserker album would be more fully explored on Numan's next studio album, The Fury (1985).
Numan appeared on the cover (and throughout the subsequent tour) as a white-skinned, white-clad "Iceman" with blue makeup and hair. The album was named after a series of science-fiction novels by Fred Saberhagen, which Numan had read at school.
Setlist - The Berserker Tour Concert
01 - Berserker
02 - Metal
03 - Me! I Disconnect From You
04 - Remind Me To Smile
05 - The Secret
06 - Sister Surprise
07 - Music For Chameleons
08 - The Iceman Comes
09 - Cold Warning
10 - Down In The Park
11 - This Prison Moon
12 - I Die: You Die
13 - My Dying Machine
14 - Cars
15 - We Take Mystery (To Bed)
16 - We Are Glass
Encore 1.
17 - This Is New Love
18 - My Shadow In Vain
Encore 2.
19 - Are 'Friends' Electric ?
