Tin Machine (July 8, 1989) "Gary Numan, Fear Not" – Live Review at London Town & Country Club

A highly entertaining and sharply written live review from 1989 capturing Tin Machine’s raw, high-energy performance at the London Town & Country Club, with Steven Wells delivering a vivid, witty, and sometimes irreverent account of the band’s intense rock ‘n’ roll assault fronted by David Bowie during their early live outings.

Publication: Melody Maker (or similar music weekly)

Date: July 8, 1989

Section: Live Review / Concert Feature

THE STORY

WHAT THE CLIPPING SHOWS

Steven Wells provides a colourful, opinionated, and energetic review of Tin Machine’s gig at the London Town & Country Club, praising the band’s powerful, no-nonsense rock approach while drawing humorous parallels to Gary Numan and other artists. The piece captures the intensity of the performance, the band’s loud, riff-heavy sound, and Bowie’s commanding presence in this new hard-rock project, offering a snapshot of the group’s early live reputation.

Full-page review with the bold headline “GARY NUMAN, FEAR NOT” and a striking black-and-white photo of David Bowie performing intensely with the band. Dense columns of witty, descriptive text by Steven Wells detailing the gig atmosphere, songs, and overall impact. Classic late-1980s music weekly layout.

CONTEXT AND NOTES	FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Published on July 8, 1989, this review comes during the early phase of Tin Machine, David Bowie’s loud, collaborative hard-rock band with Reeves Gabrels, Tony and Hunt Sales. It reflects Bowie’s deliberate shift away from his more commercial solo work of the 1980s toward a raw, guitar-driven sound, generating strong reactions from both fans and critics at the time.	Event: Detailed live concert review Era: 1989 (Tin Machine early live period) Tone: Witty, energetic, irreverent Photography: Intense onstage shot of David Bowie with Tin Machine RELATED MATERIAL: For other related posts, see the tags at the foot of the page.

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