Magnum live in London 30/03/2022

The monster still roars after 50 years as Magnum return to London

Colour Photos by Dawn Osborne

First support band up are Theia, a two piece vocalist with guitar and drummer with blue glo-stick drum sticks. They are not afraid to resort to comedy for entertainment purposes well aware of the predicament of being a band that is likely new to most of the crowd here for Magnum. The singer who looks like Ed Sheeran from the neck upwards is wearing all white with trousers covered in bright neon graffiti with a Nirvana style large smiley face. He even comments ‘if you don’t remember anything else you will remember the trousers’. They come on with large white boards with instructions to the crowd. Musically they are loud guitar based hard rock which is marred a little by massive bone shaking bass feedback of gargantuan proportions which happened unintentionally at least twice in their short set. They are not on stage long enough to become annoying and the audience tolerates the high jinx well. They are more memorable than when they appeared at Call of The Wild, but not sure it’s for the right reasons and maybe the music will be forgotten for all the wrong reasons….

Main support is provided by melodic British rockers Vega. After over a decade together the band sound tighter than ever and do a fine job of warming up this bitterly cold March evening. Vega have a strong rapport with the classic rock crowd and their own original material is catchy and polished hard rock by the numbers. Vega end their set with a very brave and slightly foolhardy cover of Def Leppard’s classic `Animal`. While frontman Nick Workman and indeed the entire band nail the song, it just exposes the gap between Vega’s own original material and that of their idols. After 7 albums one would hope that they had built up a few more attention grabbing numbers of their own.

After almost two years of covid related rescheduling, melodic rockers Magnum have finally arrived at the Islington Assembly Hall. Fresh off the recent release of their brand new album (their 22nd!) `The Monster Roars`, Magnum are enjoying something of a purple patch in their long career. Frontman Bob Catley and guitarist Tony Clarkin are still guiding the good ship Magnum steady after almost 50 years together and tonight’s setlist does a brilliant job of covering their extensive discography, picking from different 11 albums from their latest to classics like `Chase The Dragon`& `Vigilante`.

Opening with `Days Of No Trust` into `Lost On The Road To Eternity`, the simplest way to describe Magnum’s music is rich. Nearly every bar of every song has a richness, whether its vocal melodies or piano and guitars. One wonders that they haven’t been sampled to death by modern pop music in search of actual hooks. `Wild Swan` flies in on that monster riff while `Les Mortes Dansant` is simply brilliant. With its gorgeous synth and vocal build-up to the guitar creeping into the climax, its the highlight of the set and possibly their definitive song.

Frontman Bob Catley still manages to do a very respectable run for even the higher notes and he’s looking and sounding very good for age 74. With no tapes or tricks here, the only extra help that Magnum get to fill out their lush songs is from the fine backing vocals of bassist Dennis Ward. `All England’s Eyes` is that mid 80s, mid tempo rocker that could fit into any playlist while `Vigilante` is a fantastic, catchy as all hell sing along of a song that sounds particularly excellent tonight.

Their encore begins with the perennial classic `On A Storyteller’s Night` before a triumphant `Sacred Hour` ends their excellent set. Frontman Bob Catley seems touched by the warmth of the applause and thanks the crowd again before leading them in singing a short reprise of `Days Of No Trust`. With nothing in the way of flashy light shows or impressive backdrops, tonight’s gig is purely about the strength of a timeless songbook and great songs are something that Magnum has in abundance. A class act and perhaps a lesson to many younger bands about the strength of a real songbook for a long career.