London
4 October 2019
The last time I saw Magma live was at an incredible performance in Paris in February 2017, when they played backed by an orchestra. This added an extra stirring and unearthly quality to Magma’s already off-world sound. It was also the finest performance I had seen the band play in the many times I have seen them.
Islington Assembly Hall is a perfect kind of venue for Magma, and even though I enjoyed the intimate space of their last London appearances at Café OTO, for some reason slightly bigger venues just suit their sound better. The hall is both old and modern at the same time, and acoustically it’s wonderful.
There are no support acts tonight, and we are treated to over two hours of the prog rock wonders of Magma and transported to their alternate universe during the course of the evening. “Theusz Hamtaahk” is the opening piece and already you are drifting out into a cosmic void that could be illustrated by Philippe Druilett. Jérémie Ternoy’s piano dominates certain sections of the piece, whilst Philippe Bussonnet’s bass is in full mercurial flow, and I have to say that I still think he is the finest bassist that the band has had since Jannick Top.
But the evening really belongs to the three vocalists; Isabelle Feuillebois, Hervé Aknin and the usual mesmerising performance from Stella Vander. The vocal gymnastics between the three of them chanting out the words in Kobaïan is mesmerising. It’s this haunting sound that makes Magma unique in so many ways. Guitarist James Mac Gaw plays subtly, but can let rip a massive solo when called for, and his playing at times reminds me of Steve Hackett in the early days of Genesis. You’re not sure what he is doing sometimes and then suddenly he bursts through the other instruments as if he is on fire. With Christian Vander’s precise drumming (as well as being the whole reason the band exists), it makes Magma a force to be reckoned with. This is music they played in the cities on Mars or as the ancient Egyptians floated down the Nile; it has an element of the ancient as well as the cosmic consciousness of the galaxy about it.
Time signatures fall over each other and the vocalists are stretched to most people’s limits as they sing the songs of Kobaïa that sound so mystifying and at the same time beautiful. To end the evening, the band come back for an encore of “De Futura”, a track written by Top that has now become an almost greatest hit for the band in some surreal way. Its powerfully fluid rhythm urges the track onwards, so the audience are almost at bursting point to give it rapturous applause by the time the piece finishes.
Yet again Magma delivered another perfect performance. They are an incredible band and one that works incredibly well live. For those two hours your brain goes elsewhere and you leave the confines of planet Earth for a while. It is the music of the celestial spheres beamed into whatever venue the band play. It is a work of genius that we should value all the while the band can still perform live. Let’s hope they return to the UK again soon, as we are definitely going to need a trip out there once Brexit begins to kick in and more of us wish we were on our way to Kobaïa.-Gary Parsons-
