Gary Numan, O2 Academy, Sheffield

The artist, who established a new genre of musical style with his two iconic hits in the late seventies, has reinvented himself. His new album Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) showcased here, is a darker, less commercial effort but received to widespread critical acclaim. It has also made the top 20, his first such feat in three decades.

Tonight began with a support band called The Losers whose unfortunate choice of name did nothing to enhance their reputation, even if they were being ironic. They were also incredibly loud, too loud.

Numan in contrast had clearly been working hard to support his return to creative form. The stage backdrop looked like the windows of a high rise office block, the illusion enhanced by a constant stream of clever graphics. And the two keyboard players, either side of the drummer, were subtly silhouetted to give the impression they were in another room. The remaining members of the band, the guitarist, bass player and Numan centre stage, made up the six piece who played incredibly tight as a unit and almost non-stop for 90 minutes. He said very little but worked extremely hard giving even more credence to the performance.

Visually it was often theatrical, musically sometimes electronically operatic and the audience, a majority of over-40s, appreciated the commitment. Their hero also looked slimmer than his previous image suggested, giving the idea that he had got himself in shape for the tour, another plus point.

This performance was not about the track listing but the overall sound and the three song encore included the two tunes that could not be left out. Both Cars and Are Friends Electric? sounded as fresh as the original recordings and in harmony with the evening were sung with a new passion. The latter being an anthem gave the concert a rousing finish. The evening was a triumph for live music, loyal fans and an inspiration for anyone in their 50s on a creative comeback mission.