Over the years, Magnum have produced some of the most enduring Melodic Rock to come from the shores of the United Kingdom, creating music to rival the very best of their stateside peers. The likes of Chase The Dragon, On A Storytellers Night and Wings Of Heaven stand proudly alongside the work of their Transatlantic cousins.
Magnum, have built a reputation as a top class live act who tour hard to support their music. With a new album Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow in the stores, it was time for them to hit the road on a 9-date UK tour.
Currently riding the crest of a wave with rave reviews of their new opus, Magnum hit the stage with “When We Were Young,” clearly brimming with confidence concerning their new material. It’s not until “Back Street Kid” and “Out Of The Shadows” had raced by that lead singer Bob Catley welcomed the crowd to the show.
Over the course of 90 minutes, Magnum played a significant amount from their new album, and live it has a harder edge than on disc. The songs take on a new dimension in the live setting as Catley injects each with emotion and vibrancy. The melodramatic “Like Brothers We Stand” and the up-tempo “Dragons Are Real” were welcomed into the set with open arms by the large Newcastle crowd.
While Catley took center stage arms aloft, animating the lyrics with his facial expressions, songwriter extraordinaire Tony Clarkin, favored a more low key approach, being content to fire the melodies on which Magnum’s songs are built.
Alongside Catley and Clarkin were long-time keyboard player Mark Stanway, bass player Al Barrow, and that cheeky chap Harry James on loan from Thunder filling in for the incapacitated Jimmy Copley on drums, and each contributes to the essential Magnum sound.
While the new material was received enthusiastically by the crowd and played with vigor by the band, the classics were welcomed like long lost friends. “How Far Jerusalem” showed the pomp and majesty of Magnum in full flow and gave Clarkin his time to shine; “On A Storyteller’s Night” had the crowd singing and dancing, and “The Spirit,” with just Clarkin and Catley sharing the stage, showed Clarkin’s ability to pen a truly moving melody.
It was perhaps “Les Morts Dansant” that perfectly encapsulated the appeal of Magnum. Built around a gentle keyboard backing, Catley told the harrowing tale, both vocally and visually, of a soldier sentenced to death, and as the song builds up and up to a rousing climax, Catley wrung every ounce of emotion out of his body … so much so that he looked to be close to tears.
As the set closed with the original version of “Kingdom Of Madness,” the only survivor from the first couple of albums, the crowd was hungry for more. Magnum duly obliged with the lighter waving “Thank You For The Day” and the Pomptastic “Sacred Hour.”
Magnum may have been round the block once or twice, but they still have the ability to produce quality albums and put on a great show that perfectly mixes new material with their classics. Another successful Magnum show had come to an end, and by the looks of things, there’ll be plenty more to come from them in the future.
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