Gig Review: MAGNUM at the Holmfirth Picturedome 22nd April 2011

The early warm spell made it a pleasant journey to Holmfirth with some good friends. My brother volunteered to do the driving and it was a nice trip in the C4 Picasso (nice car… soon to be changed though). The venue is a cinema as well as a concert hall and so has a slightly sloping floor which is a great help to those of us that are vertically challenged. We have ventured there a few times in recent years and always had a good view, so it goes down as one of our more favoured venues.

On with the show:

Providing support was GWYN ASHTON, Aussie blues guitarist with Brit drummer, 'Killer' Kev Hickman. They did their best to get the crowd going, but never really had enough power in their performance to win over a dedicated Magnum crowd. Personally I liked the work of the drummer, Hickman, but I felt that Ashton’s guitar work was a little sloppy… He comes over better on his recordings (yes, I did a little research on these guys).

The main event:

For those that don’t already know, MAGNUM are: Bob Catley (Vocals) – Tony Clarkin (Guitar & Vocals) – Al Barrow (Bass & Vocals) – Harry James (Drums & Percussion) - Mark Stanway (Keyboards)

Tony Clarkin still writes some great songs and it’s hard to think that they won’t around forever. As my good friend Simon says, you have to go and see Magnum because you never know if they’ll be back again. I have followed the band since I first saw them at the Reading Festival back in 1983 (damn I feel old!). That was supposed to be their farewell gig, but nearly 30 years later, they’re still alive and kicking!

Tonight they did a show that was a mix of old and new. It’s nice to hear the new stuff, but most of the fans are now old enough to remember (and love) the classics, and this is just what we got. As usual they put on a magnificent show and, as ever, we left the venue very satisfied with what we saw. Classics like ‘On a Storyteller’s Night’, ‘Les Mort Dansant’, ‘All England’s Eyes, ‘Vigilante’, the show-stopping ‘How Far Jerusalem’ and the magnificent closer, ‘Kingdom of Madness’ all put in an appearance (amongst others). It was a most enjoyable show and as long as the guys still have the energy we will be going to their shows whenever we can.