The Borderline, London

Magenta's Winter headlining gigs at London's Borderline are basically now an annual and very welcome event in the prog calendar.

Indeed it was a very good turnout tonight, and a very enthusiastic and vocal crowd. Good to see the regulars there, but like any Magenta gig it's equally as heartening to see new faces there too, people who have recently got into the band or maybe not had a chance to catch them live in the past. I even managed to finally get my brother along to this gig.

Quite an early start tonight, on stage at 7.45 due to the early curfew at the venue. And no support, so just full-on Magenta music for the next couple of hours.

Good to see King Of The Skies back in as the opening number, this rocker really kicks things off in grand style with it's heavy, chugging guitar riff and Tina's aggressive vocal performance.

An interesting set tonight, a little shorter than usual but with old faves such as Gluttony, White Witch, I'm Alive but also songs not usually part of the regular set such as Anger, Envy and Sloth. Great to hear the recent single Speechless played too, sounding much better live.

As is now the norm, a large and very satisfying chunk of tracks from latest album Home constituted the middle section of the set. Vocalist Tina, and also guitarists Chris Fry and Martin Rosser really get their moments to shine during this section.

Though the Borderline can get a little warm at times, it's is just the right size venue for bands like Magenta, not too big, not too small and easy to get up close and personal with the band, making for a more intimate and enjoyable gig. The crowd were extremely appreciative during their applause after each number, and I think the band were quite taken aback by this.

No airing for Pride tonight, one of my faves, but no matter - it was all good. Sets need to change and evolve so they don't become stale. Just wondering now when we may start to hear some new material worked into the live set. Some of use have had a few sneak previews of the new material, and it's very full-on, complex prog (at least the bits we have heard so far), which is going to be an interesting challenge to play live. But then I have always been impressed at how the band have adapted and reworked some of the longer, more complex tracks for a live setting so I am sure they will be fine.

My Gig Rating : 85%

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