Magma - Marquee Londres 17 Mars 1974 [2CD Set] (2018)

There are certain bands and certain tours in music that assume rightly legendary status.
The European tour of April 1964 by Charle Mingus comes to mind as one for me, as does – in an entirely different way – the European tour in the early spring of 1974 by this edition of Magma.
There are several live recorded sets available by this band and, as far as I am concerned, all are welcome in my home!
No surprises here in terms of the repertoire: Kohntarkhosz, Sowiloi, Ptah, Theusz Hamtaahk, MDK, etc. but the performances are simply utterly fabulous and there are always different little details for the hard core Magmoid to enjoy with these different recordings from the tour.
Charles Hayward was at this show and he remembers, “it was very, very, very intense”. That’s three ‘verys’ out of someone who is pretty intense himself!
So, of course, one of the biggest questions on a release like this that comes out 45 years later is how is the sound?
I’m listening to it now. When it’s at its loudest, it kinda turns a bit soupy and indistinct.
But mostly it is shockingly well balanced and VERY clear; the sound in the venue must’ve been extremely good.
For what it is - a 1974 audience tape - this is a really good recording with excellent balance between the instruments, a SMOKING performance, and is even modestly mid to hi-fi-ish, except for the loud sections, which are ok, but definitely weaker sonically.
Fans are very unlikely to be unhappy with this release!