Steve Davis and interesting promotions present Magma. Surely not? Yes, that Steve Davis who saw them play 14 years ago at the Roundhouse and has bought their records ever since. Magma aren't just interesting, they defy belief. Their major influence is Carl Orff, composer of 'Carmina Burana' (the surfing aftershave ad music). They used to walk around wearing their sinister spider-claw logo on whacking great medallions round their necks and exude a Teutonic intensity that made Laibach look laidback. They sing in an invented language, and have made several thousand albums recounting a vast intergalactic saga beside which the "Epic of Gilgamesh" is like the "Beano Annual".
Magma come on to a warm-up tape featuring a howling wind, sinister tolling bells and ... can that be Bugs Bunny gibbering in the background? By the time they've reached full force, they're 12-strong, and the extraordinary soprano of Stella Vander launches into a soaring operatic scat. But nothing prepares you for Christian Vander. Resembling Fish's shorter, dumpier big brother, squeezed into a glitter-spangled jumpsuit with a shortie Batman cape, Vander glares and gestures as if trying to extract a dagger implanted in his kidney. His vocals are extraordinary - high-speed jabbering, bursts of scrotum-tightening falsetto, and an effect like an adenoidal Finn gargling mouthwash while impersonating Van Morrison.
No less interesting were the backdrop of a giant intergalactic cake stand, the fat bald man in a Dracula cape who walked on, screamed and walked off again, and the cloaked figure with a headdress like a golden sprouting potato who delivered a sermon in French about being Master of Truth and Light and something about flowers that I couldn't make out.
Musically they were more interesting still. There were touches of mid-70s time warping, like the everlasting drum solo, the ear-piercing flute, the obligatory bit That Sounds Like Weather Report, and a jolly nice bass solo. There were some mighty impressive Orffian fanfares, an unexpected burst of 'A Love Supreme', and some dire gospelly bits. Some of it was boring, some of it cosmically awful, and some quite inspired. I wouldn't have missed it for galaxies. What effect it will all have on the promoter though, is anyone's guess.