HW: Magma review

[Keith Henderson]

Mike said...

>Yeah, Magma, along with Eloy and Nektar, are a band I've always wanted
>to see.

Well, here's my 'review' of the event (that I posted on the Porky Tree
mailing list yesterday)...for those interested.  Note that Magma will play
in NYC soon...is it the 8th??

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Got back yesterday from my trip out west for ProgFest (and a quickie trip to
the Tahoe region).

This was the best concert event I've ever seen...and my concert-going goes
back as far as 1980 (starting with Judas Priest/Whitesnake/Iron Maiden
triple-bill if you're curious).

There were really only three bands (out of the 8, or 11 - if you count the
loby entertainment) that were really key from my perspective.  And from most
others' perspectives from what I could tell.  Gong, PT, and Magma.

Whereas I've only listened to PT and Magma each for about 4 years now, I
first heard Gong somewhere around 1983.  And after I got past the
pretentious weirdness and pseudo-Buddhist mythology, I eventually recognized
the brilliance and innovative nature of their music.  So I'm a huge Gong-fan
these days, as I should be.  :)

So they were definitely the highlight of Saturday night.  Of course, the
audience certainly included a slew of purist progheads with no sense of
humor, but still their set was pretty well received.  Especially since they
haven't always been a band too concerned with technical playing.  They're
more loose and hippy-dippy than the average 'prog' band.  But just the fact
that Bloomdido was there (on multiple woodwinds) made it special...he's a
genius.  I'm sorry that Pierre Moerlen wasn't there on drums, but Chris
Taylor was not too shabby.  In fact, I thought he fit in better than Pip
Pyle on the previous tours.  Mark Hewins on guitar didn't add much, and in
fact, a couple of his solo parts seemed to ramble on without much purpose.
Steffe Sharpstrings was better, although lead guitar really has never been
the crucial aspect of Gong's music.  Steve Hillage played some really nice
things in the classic lineup, but really wasn't a dominant feature of the
music.  So Hewins' lapses weren't that much of a downer.  Daevid and Gilli
were their normal selves, and are always interesting visually as much as
aurally.  So their set made Day 1 worthwhile alone.  Although it ran quite
late (but not as late as Sunday!), and I heard they took way too long to do
a soundcheck.

The first half of Sunday was decent enough...the delays were there again,
but at least they had entertainment going in the lobby ahead of the main
show.  Mushroom, a band that I've grown quite fond of, played for 40 minutes
first, but to only a very small audience as most folks hadn't yet arrived.
I liked their stuff, but it was a little too subtle.  I'd like to see them
play a true set on their own in a club setting before I judge.  Daevid was
*supposed* to show up to do a short set with Mushroom members as the
"University of Errors" (whose CD was just released - I got one from the Gong
table - pretty good), but I guess he wasn't up to it.  :(  But Gilli did a
set with members of Azigza, a Eastern-style band that played later, and they
were called Gongmatrix.  The violinist (in both groups) played really
interesting stuff, and in fact at times sounded like Steve Hillage's
guitar/synth playing.  He should have played in place of 'lead guitar' in
Gong, I think. :)

The first two acts on Sunday were Lana Lane & Rocket Scientists, who were
better than I expected (but rather ordinary), and Buckethead, who (at least
this time) is a gimmick-artist (costumes, props, bizarre movies) who plays
solo guitar (and bass) atop piped-in industrial rock backing.  His acoustic
pieces were melodic and quite nice, but other times he just played Van
Halen-style 'hammer-on' (?) solos that went on endlessly.  Very talented
guy, but not very much of interest to me.

Porcupine Tree finally came on (probably about 90 minutes after scheduled),
and were very strong.  The audience were very much into the music, and they
were the first to be called back out for an encore (Radioactive Toy).  Even
Less (album version) opened the set, PL next.  Voyage 34 was in there
somewhere, and really took off towards the end...a highlight.  Signify was
monstrous, and blew the roof off the place...very impressive.  They played
this as an encore in Baltimore (in 1996), and I don't remember that version
as being as energetic as this one.  Chris Maitland is fabulous.  Again, his
presence is hardly noticeable on SD (a shame!), and Coma Divine is my
favourite PT album, simply because it shows CM as he really plays (and the
track selection is damn good as well).

But the true highlight of the event (for me) was Magma.  I really went out
there to see them first and foremost (having already seen Gong and PT
before, and will soon again, here in Cleveland in the next week).  Magma,
though, hasn't ever been here before (I don't think), and they only did
Chicago and LA (and NYC next week), so I had to travel a long distance
anyway if I wanted to see them.  It wasn't a waste of time and money, not in
the slightest.  Their performance was the finest thing I've ever witnessed.
And I don't think Magma will ever rise above Gong, or Hawkwind, or 10
various krautrock groups on my list of alltime favourites, which means I'm
more likely to enjoy 'less technical' playing than 'more technical' (i.e.,
wanky) groups, but they (Magma) are different.  Wanky, yes, but in a way
that seems poignant and moving to me....never aimless at all. And also, they
played stuff only from their 'classic' period (Kohntarkosz, MDK, and Hhai)
which while I like it, I don't like it nearly as much as their later, more
jazzy and or gospely material (Attahk and Udu Wudu).  But still, their
100-minute set was the best musical performance I've ever seen.

Most of the band members weren't original...in fact, I think only Christian
and Stella Vander performed on the 70s albums, so I wondered if they could
pull it off...but I needn't worry.  The bassist, guitarist, keyboardist,
everyone was brilliant.  Jannick Top (legendary Magma bassist) couldn't
himself have 'Topped' this guy on bass.  And the fact that they use basic
instrumentation...Gibson guitar, Hammond keyboard, Pearl drums - but yet
sound so completely different than anything I'd ever heard before - is
another amazing thing about Magma.  I don't understand a word of Kobaian,
but it really doesn't matter, you know?

I'm sorry to those who didn't bother to see them in Chicago/LA, as it might
have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  And even if you've heard them
and didn't much care for it, perhaps one day it'll grab you.  (Although I
must say, I loved them instantly.)

Anyway, PT and Magma together basically made the initial 3/4 of the festival
irrelevant.  And I thought it was going pretty damn well (delays aside) up
to that point.

As I said....best concert event I've ever seen.

Hope to see some of you in Cleveland Saturday...I'll be the guy in the white
Tangle Edge T-shirt, 6'0" 190#, lt. brown hair, probably handing out flyers.
Stop and say hello....

>No rumours of a British tour I suppose?

Don't think so, but it might be a good excuse to go to this year's Berg
Herzburg festival in Germany.

Keith H. (FAA)