Throughout my formative years Magnum gigs played an integral part of my life, from first catching the band at Donington in '85, to winning tickets to meet the band backstage at Newcastle City Hall on the Vigilante tour, to buying three tickets to see the Wings Of Heaven tour due to girl problems ( she wanted to go, I wanted to go, but we didn't want to go together, what else could I do!). Prior to this show, the last time I had seen Magnum was at Morecambe Dome back in, I think, 1994 and, although I had seen Bob Catley solo many times in the intervening years, it was with some excitement that we headed off down the A1.

It was obvious from the first bars of 'All England's Eyes' that the journey was worthwhile. Relative new boys, Thunder's Harry James on drums and the ever smiling Al Barrow on bass, provided a rock solid foundation for Tony Clarkin and Mark Stanway to weave their magic over. Without a doubt however. Bob Catley was the star of the show. Within the environment of Magnum he simply comes alive, living and breathing every last word, of every last song. Vocally nigh on note perfect, Mr Catley is the storyteller who interprets Clarkin's lyrics through a multitude of hand gesticulations and facial contortions drawing the audience into the performance in a way many of today's so called stars could never hope to emulate.

Using a simple, but very effective light show Magnum mixed and matched many of the old classics with material from their new album 'Brand New Morning'. The older material, including the  likes of 'Wild Swan', 'Back Street Kid', 'Days Of No Trust', 'Vigilante et al, were all greeted as long lost friends and with rapturous applause by the packed and partisan audience and it was  certainly  impressive to see that the band were not solely reliant on these tried and trusted favourites. Brand New Morning, The Last Goodbye and We All Run slotted into the set list with ease and to be honest most of the crowd seemed word perfect, even after less than a month on release. Of the new tracks on display though special mention must go to 'The Blue & The Grey' . If I thought this song was stunning on CD, then live it gets even better. The melody is so haunting and sticks in your head and with five hundred pairs of arms held aloft the sight is something to behold. Rounding off the main set with the evergreen 'Kingdom Of Madness' from the bands self titled debut album, Magnum departed the stage with cheers ringing round the venue and a steady chant for an encore. Duly obliging the band returned to perform the magnificent Sacred Hour, and this is truth sums up exactly what Magnum live shows are all about, an hour or so of pure entertainment.

Success, in chart and sales terms ,may be a fickle thing, but sheer class is timeless, and in Magnum, after thirty odd years of the rock and roll merry-go-round, class is something this band possesses in spades.

Steve Cummings