Artist:  Magnum & UXL

Venue: Carling Academy, Newcastle 

Date: 18 May 2007  

To catch one of your favourite classic rock bands in a year is a treat for most fans, but 2007 is turning out to be something rather special for the older rock fans out there with the likes of Toto, Journey, Deep Purple, Styx, Saxon and Thin Lizzy having already toured this year and with the likes of Foreigner, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Heaven And Hell (featuring Ronnie James Dio) and Motorhead scheduled to tour later this year. 

The old school rockers can once again brush off those leathers and squeeze into those tight blue jeans once more and venture out of the cocoon that has had them trapped over past years.   Tonight saw another one of British Rocks iconic bands treads the boards once more, as Magnum play a long overdue date in Newcastle.
First up tonight are Birmingham’s new young guns UXL, with the brothers Tierney, John on vocals and guitar, PJ on guitar, Paul on drums and completing the line-up Dan Clark on bass and keyboards.  The band delivered a short but impressive set with songs taken from their debut album.  Highlights included the new single and opener ‘Can I Dream Again’, which instantly made the crowd take notice, especially with the distinctive vocals of John who came across as a hard edged Chris Isaacs.

Another favourite of mine from the set was ‘New Dawn Waiting’, which went down a storm with the appreciative crowd and I’m sure they won over a few new fans tonight.  With several festivals lined up for later this year the buzz from this band will surely make 2007 their year to break into the big time.

So now for the main event and one that I must say was long overdue as a near capacity crowd pays homage to the mighty Magnum.

As the band came on stage the crowd gave each member a warm welcome and an extra cheer was given as Bob Catley entered the fray.  A big cheer for the wee man who's warmly known in our household as 'Oor Bob' and I expect in a few more houses of those devoted fans amongst the crowd.  In the crowd tonight I saw t-shirts that read like a beginners guide to tours past and present.

The band got things underway with something from the present in the form of ‘When We Were Young’, taken from the bands latest release ‘Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow’.  A track that was definitely meant to be played live, as are most of Magnums back catalogue.  I don’t know what it is, but the band seem to bring each track alive and give it more depth and vigour that sometimes is lacking on cd.

Things continue as the band dig into that vast back catalogue for a thumping rendition of ‘Back Street Kid’ before returning to the new album for ‘Out of the Shadows’, which was inadvertently introduced as ‘Like Brothers We Stand’ by Bob, who just got a little ahead of himself in the set list.  This is another one of those tracks that perhaps seemed to lack lustre a little on the cd, but live it was just simply supreme.

The band reached deep into the vaults for something rather special as they turned it up a notch or two with ‘On a Storytellers Night’, which gave the crowd a chance to stretch their vocal chords as they sang and waved their arms around along with Catley.

One dominant feature of tonight’s show was the sound quality, as it was probably the best I’ve heard at the venue, and with Clarkin making the guitar sing like it was part of his very being, this was Magnum at their finest.

It was now time for ‘Like Brothers We Stand’, another new track which like the previous new material, was very well received by the adoring crowd.

A big intro by Mark Stanway led the way for a another big track this time the superb ‘How Far Jerusalem’.  A song that still kicks ass after all these years and as Bob leaves the stage to let Tony and the rest of the band do what they do best on the mid section of the song, with Clarkin leaving a lasting impression on all of the guitar players in the crowd with his superb yet relaxed guitar style, he just seems to caress the fret board and it just oozes out those notes with such ease.

The crowd give out a roaring cheer for what had just gone before and as the cheers die down the chants of "MAGNUM! MAGNUM!" rang out in appreciation of a faultless rendition of a crowd favourite.

The band return once again for what could go down a modern classic the excellent ‘Dragons Are Real’, then is was time for a couple of real classics, firstly the stirring ‘Les Morts Dansant’ and then back to The Brand New Morning album for ‘We All Run’.

The phrase classic is used a lot on this review because that's just what this band have in their vast back catalogue, classics that will and do stand the test of time, and you don’t get any bigger and better than the next song, one of my all time favourites and I’m sure was probably the show stopper for many, the outstanding (and probably one of best rock songs ever written) ‘The Spirit’.

After the magnificence of 'The Spirit' is was time to bring the tempo up a notch or two with a run of what can only be described as all time greats starting off with ‘ All England’s Eyes’, then Clarkin played the first few chords of ‘Vigilante’ and the place erupted into a sea of waving arms to clap this trio.  The band simply excelled with the sublime version of ‘Kingdom of Madness’, which once again gave the crowd a chance to sing along.  This rounded off the main set with the audience giving their all in support of the band even before they had a chance to leave the stage.

It wasn’t long before the band were back on stage to finish off a superb night with the last of the new material ‘Thank You For The Day’, which Bob kindly dedicated to all present then the band finished off with what else but ‘Sacred Hour’, which ended with a flash bomb going off and was the icing on the cake of what was one of the best Magnum shows I’ve ever seen.  Let's hope we don’t have to wait so long next time for the band to return to Newcastle.

 

 

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.