Location: Munich / Cirkus Krone / Germany
Date: 22.05.2014
On German soil, specifically in the Bavarian capital Munich, Magnum and Saga rolled in on a joint tour, which made all fans of progressive melodic rock with various shades of experimental flavor especially happy. It’s a downright fantastic feeling to witness two such big bands in one night, with more parallels between them than many would think. Both released their first studio album in 1978, both enjoyed their greatest popularity in the eighties, and both had their share of drummer troubles, while pigeonholing their music into a genre is still a pretty tough job, even though both come out of the progressive rock movement. On top of that, both are still held in the highest regard in German-speaking countries, as we were able to see for ourselves at our previous gigs with both bands. The visit of these two legends, Magnum and Saga, to Circus Krone was without a doubt one of the biggest concert events of the year for fans of progressive and melodic rock.
The English band Magnum, who played first that evening, were presenting their latest studio effort, “Escape From the Shadow Garden” (2014), on this tour, which meant their set was mostly marked by songs from that album. The first half of the show was therefore dominated by some favorites from the 2009 to 2014 period, while the long-time classics only came around at the halfway point. Magnum opened with “Live ’til You Die”, the opening track of the new album, and immediately confirmed how splendidly tight the individual instrumentalists are, which didn’t surprise anyone who knows their stage approach in the slightest. The ever-serious, if not downright stern, guitarist and main songwriter Tony Clarkin kept a static stage pose throughout, while his colorful guitar phrasing was once again a real treat for the ears. Longtime keyboardist Mark Stanway, even though the bags under his eyes get a little heavier every year, diligently built mighty symphonic arrangements and was often the key factor behind that signature Magnum epic grandeur and pomp.
The dynamic rhythm section of bassist Al Barrow and drummer Harry James, the band’s youngest members, once again ran like a well-oiled machine and was especially delightful in the heavier moments of individual songs. Over the years, the weakest link in Magnum has become singer Bob Catley, who is, besides Clarkin, the only remaining founding member, because his voice no longer obeys him like it used to, and he had quite a bit of trouble during the show. The low point came during the epic “On A Storyteller’s Night” (1985) classic “Les Morts Dansant”, when he forgot the lyrics in one of the verses and understandably grabbed his head. Luckily, Barrow and James helped him out with backing vocal harmonies, especially in the choruses, because Catley, sadly, can no longer hide live that his vocal range has gotten badly worn down in the past few years. Some of the higher vocal parts he simply can’t sing anymore, and when he does try, his approach comes out rather throaty.
In the middle of the evergreen “How Far Jerusalem” he even had to take a longer break, during which the remaining four launched into an instrumental jam that went on a touch too long. Still, Catley impressed with his stage charisma and energy, and later in the set he even improved things a bit and covered up his limping vocal form. One of the bigger surprises of the night was the performance of “All England’s Eyes”, while the pompous classic “Vigilante” was the highlight of the regular set for many in the crowd. The cult standard “Kingdom of Madness” also came off pretty well, so much so that we almost forgot about Bob’s vocal problems. In the encore they surprised us with a longer, acoustically rearranged version of the “Chase The Dragon” (1982) classic “The Spirit”, which they then poured into standard, electrified waters. The peak of Magnum’s show came right at the end with the epic masterpiece “Sacred Hour”, which they don’t play on every occasion, even though it deserves it, since it’s one of the finest creations of their career.
Stanway especially shone during its performance, playing the symphonic arrangements just as they should be played and true to the original version, considering that in the past he often liked to improvise with various “shortcuts” when playing it, quickly getting through the more demanding textures that way. Catley held up pretty well this time too, although Magnum fans can justifiably be worried about the future of his singing. All in all, Magnum managed to live up to expectations and delivered a very good show, especially on the instrumental side, though they could have played a few more long-time evergreens and fewer newer pieces. On the other hand, you have to understand their need to represent new and old material evenly, especially after “Escape From the Shadow Garden” enjoyed unexpected commercial success with a high chart placement even on home British soil, something that hadn’t happened since the late eighties.
Before Saga came on, the stage techs entertained themselves during the teardown and setup by spinning one of the weakest Yes albums, “Union” (1991), which was the most bizarre moment of the evening, though maybe it was even a special musical request from the “quirky” Canadians. Right at the start, the Canadian prog rock legends Saga served up the three most beloved classics from their rich career, “Don’t Be Late”, “You’re Not Alone” and “On The Loose”, which sent all the fans into indescribable delirium in an instant. The level of tightness among all the members of this cult Canadian band is downright unbelievable, as we notice every time we see them again, and yet there are few bands with their mileage whose members so obviously enjoy playing their old material.
Ian Crichton, one of the most overlooked guitarists of our time, was in truly fantastic spirits that night and enjoyed every single solo. After some ugly looks at his tech over problems with the sound of his electric guitar, which were fixed quickly, he completely surrendered to his trademark solo improvisations and offered a heaping helping of multicolored guitar phrases that took the fans up to “seventh heaven”. His brother Jim Crichton, on bass and auxiliary keyboards, seemed totally “rejuvenated” that night, surprising us not only with unusual bounciness but also with a bizarre look that made him resemble some Texas trucker. Definitely an unusual move for a traditionally rather serious bassist and producer.
Keyboardist and backing vocalist Jim Gilmour came across as much more reserved. He put on a few extra pounds after a serious eye operation, but that didn’t stop him from impressing with his virtuoso layering of rainbow-colored synth textures. His star moment was the dreamy performance of “Scratching The Surface”, which he sang with exceptional fire, once again wowing with his distinctive voice. Legendary singer Michael Sadler was a chapter in himself. He returned to the band in 2011 and sings at the same enviable level as in his best days, when the band was still young and a big name in central Europe in the commercial sense too. On top of that, he’s still one of the most charismatic progressive rock vocalists, who with his polished gestures and stage mimicry always illustrates the key lines of each lyric.
Apart from “Anywhere You Wanna Go” from the album “20/20” (2012) and the instrumental “Corkentellis” from “10,000 Days” (2007), the night was ruled by long-time Saga classics, to the delight of most fans. After “Too Much To Lose”, drummer Mike Thorne, the band’s newest member, had his solo spot, with which he proved once again that he brought fresh, youthful energy into the band after the tired and ailing Brian Doerner, energy that was truly not in short supply that night, mostly thanks to Sadler and both Crichton brothers. With the performance of the instrumental “Corkentellis”, Saga demonstrated once more that, under Gilmour’s careful baton, they can easily play symphonic progressive rock too, if they feel like it.
That was followed by four songs in a row from Saga’s self-titled debut from 1978, which sounded that night as if they had been recorded yesterday, because they passed the test of time with flying colors and the band can still play them just like it used to. During “Humble Stance”, Sadler effectively replaced Jim Crichton on bass guitar, as is his habit, while Jim found himself behind the auxiliary synthesizer. With a brilliant version of “Careful Where You Step”, where they impressed mostly with the synth multi-harmonies, Saga crowned the end of the regular part of their set. In the encore they surprised us with “The Pitchman”, a standard from “Heads Or Tales” (1983) that rarely finds its way into their setlist these days. Some of us quietly hoped they’d bring back “The Flyer” too, the best-known track from the aforementioned album, but that didn’t happen this night. For the grand finale, they didn’t forget the unforgettable classic about a compulsive gambler, “Wind Him Up”, which rounded off the list of their most beloved songs. The crazy atmosphere in the hall hit its climax, and the crowd could hardly accept that the band members really did have to leave the stage.
In all honesty, Saga were the absolute winners if you compare the two bands’ sets. Besides a fascinating setlist, the whole band was in phenomenal form from start to finish, and they were rewarded accordingly with longer applause than Magnum. The latter were far from leaving us cold, but they’ll definitely have to do something about Bob’s tired voice, because turning a blind eye to such an obvious problem would be completely pointless. Two excellent bands whose biggest successes came in a much more romantic musical era wowed us once again with their exceptional professionalism and filled us up with the kind of positive energy that most modern rock acts chronically lack. Saga will definitely hit the road again in the second half of this year, presenting songs from the upcoming studio album “Sagacity” for the first time. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to predict even now that it’ll be one of their best efforts in the last ten, maybe even twenty years, since after Sadler’s return and Thorne’s arrival the band is still getting a veritable infusion of youthful energy, which can have a crucial effect on the creative process.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlists:
SAGA
1. Don’t Be Late (Chapter 2)
2. You’re Not Alone
3. On The Loose
4. Anywhere You Wanna Go
5. Too Much to Lose (Chapter 7)
6. Drum Solo
7. Corkentellis
8. Ice Nice
9. How Long
10. Humble Stance
11. Tired World (Chapter 6)
12. Scratching the Surface
13. Careful Where You Step
—encore—
14. Pitchman
15. Wind Him Up
MAGNUM:
1. Live ’til You Die
2. Black Skies
3. Freedom Day
4. Dance of the Black Tattoo
5. Blood Red Laughter
6. Unwritten Sacrifice
7. How Far Jerusalem
8. Les Morts Dansant
9. Falling for the Big Plan
10. All England’s Eyes
11. Vigilante
12. Kingdom of Madness
—encore—
13. The Spirit
14. Sacred Hour
