I first saw Magma about December 1973. I was at college in Reading and I saw an advert for their gig somewhere. I quite fancied a foreign band (I was already into Tangerine Dream, Can, Anon Düül II etc.). No other bugger wanted to go, so I went on my own. It was about a one-mile walk to the University Union. There were no seats in the hall of course and I can remember that there were microphones set up about ten metres in front of the stage, forming a rectangle with the wiring taped to the floor. It was like a "no-mans land" that no one entered throughout the gig. I can't recall much about the actual show except to say that I couldn't stop talking about it in the weeks that followed and quickly bought 'Mekanïk' and played it to everyone. The following summer I saw them again at the Colston Hall in Bristol, the venue was only about one-third full and it was a disappointing show. The power of the 1973 show was not there.