Thanks to a three day Eurodomino rail pass, the Trans-France trek was well planned in advance and I arrived in Lons at two in the afternoon. Seven hours later, LES VOIX DE MAGMA took the stage. The impressive Théâtre Municipal reminded me of London's Rainbow theatre but with a Michelangelo ceiling. The audience was literally hanging from the balconies in readiness for a surprisingly rare event - a "Magma" concert. The lighting was predominantly lilac and cyan with green and orange elements, punctuated by frequent scarlet bursts which silhouetted the choir against a black backdrop and swirling dry ice. As usual the set commenced with the intriguing choral introduction of 'Ëmëhntëht-Rê', then 'To Love', 'I must return', 'C'est pour nous', 'Zëss' and 'Ronde de Nuit'. Each piece flowed effortlessly into the next as the group demonstrated their well-rehearsed professionalism. It had been a hot dry day and all but Alex Ferrand had discarded their jackets for this show, Jean-Christophe Gamet was the only band member in a Magma T-shirt, but Philippe Dardelle wore a Mekanïk Kommandöh shirt and sunglasses. After the only unreleased song, 'Tous Ensemble' (which featured Simon Goubert on Glockenspiel) even Alex shed his grey jacket.
Goubert then crossed the stage to take up the grand piano for the next three songs, leaving the electronic keyboards under Patrick Gauthier's control. If you have ever seen Les Voix de Magma (or read Ork Alarm! recently) you will know what those next three songs were of course: 'Theusz Hamtaahk', 'Wurdah Ïtah' and 'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh'. I doubt if there is any Magma fan who would not give their eyeteeth to hear this sequence of classics performed by the '73 - '74 line-up. But since that is extremely unlikely to happen (unless the rumoured special concerts with Michel Graillier, Jannick Top, Stündëhr and Klaus Blasquiz allow for plenty of rehearsals) one has to accept that Vander's current choral ensemble interpretation is the closest you will get to excellence - normally.Tonight, however, I felt that something crucial was missing from the first two parts of this trilogy. Maybe it was travel or heat fatigue, but Christian did not throw himself completely into these numbers. He held back as if he was saving all his energy for the culmination. When it came, it was shattering - the full force of 'Mekanïk' came like crazed ball lightning, electrifying and orgasmic.
Before I tell you what I can recall of 'MDK' I guess I ought to mention something about the preceding works. Midway through 'Theusz Hamtaahk' the choir filed off to the left and right, while Stella Vander went to the bank of keyboards beside Gauthier where she played her "plink plink plink" bit for a few minutes. Then she used the main vocal mike to herald the choir's return with the cry: "loss". A slightly mediocre rendition melted into 'Wurdah Ïtah', which also did not have the power of the performances we saw in Paris last autumn. I know that for many of the newcomers to live Magma, these were incredible performances - I just know that they can do better when everything is going well.
For most of 'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh' Christian was bathed in amber, sometimes a dark menacing figure trying to break free from its grasp, often clearly revelling in his mastery of percussive melody. The choir fluidly enhancing every stroke and the twin keyboards embellishing his most magnificent creation. Dardelle's double bass throbbed away almost imperceptibly, but the lack of electric bass in Offering and Les Voix de Magma is always the strongest recollection when one reflects on the overall performance. Personally I don't miss the guitar parts, only having seen Claude Olmos play them once. The sound of the old Elka keyboards can't be matched with modem synths either. But generally apart from the lack of real bass, I prefer the current version of 'MDK' to the late seventies performances. And I can assure you that the rest of the trilogy is usually up to that tremendous high standard.
'Chorus Zebëhn Straïn de Geustaah' brought that lightning out into the hail again, mesmerising all present. Yet another riveting display of technique and supreme artistry - yeah, probably our hero was saving his energy earlier for this one, and who can blame him when he still holds the power to uplift the souls of his legion of admirers with such subtlety and controlled aggression.
At the end of the main section, Vander, Gauthier, Goubert and Dardelle played a "jazz quartet" variation on the 'MDK' theme. This was obviously deliberate and rehearsed, unlike Goubert's improvisations in earlier shows. Then the choir returned for the "Zïss ünt ëtnah" interlude before another brief drum solo. After that Christian left the stage coughing and soothing his throat from a bottle of neat Evian. Unfortunately his drums were still vibrating after he had almost shook them off the dias with his incessant pounding. As the keyboards (somewhat clumsily) thumped out the next sequence, a roadie rushed up to switch off the microphone, which was rattling against the kit.The choir sung a glorious closing passage with just Goubert's piano and Gauthier's synth as backing - "Sün ïwéhn do wéhrï sün" - simply marvellous. Stephan said later that his eight-hour drive from the fatherland to see this was worth every millimetre. And I think Yves would have crawled the 55km from Dole from the look on his face! The eight vocalists (four of the ladies on the left with Benedicte Ragu and the three guys on the right) were all framed in a red glow. The moment passed all too soon and they walked off, but were quickly brought back for an encore of 'La Marche Celeste' (again without the peculiar electronic ending that was not so popular in Paris). The first half of this is used to back the presentations of the group: Goubert, Gauthier, Dardelle, Zebëhn, his daughter Aïna Kobaïa (Julie), Isabelle Feuillebois, Tauhd Zaïa, Addie Deat, Benedicte, Alex, Jean-Christophe Garnet (the principal male vocalist on 'MDK'), and Jean-François Deat.
After 'La Marche Celeste' (a traditional french song with a typically Vanderienne variation) the ensemble filtered away again but the audience just would not give up. Yells for 'Köhntarkösz' abounded and the stomping / wild applause successfully brought Zebëhn back to the piano where he started the show. Gauthier then joined him and Goubert and he began 'Ehn Deïss', I immediately sensed that this would be a very interesting interpretation of one of my all-time favourites. Christian sang a large part of the song solo. Memories flooded back of that time in London in 1988 when this song was just so beautiful - I was not alone in leaving the theatre in tears that night. Then no sooner had I begun to think this would be a unique solo rendition than the entire choir all lined up to sing their collective hearts out, accompanied by Patrick Gauthier playing the flute parts that Guy Khalifa had originally performed - but on one of the keyboards naturally. Tonight 'Ehn Deïss' was one of the most awesome choral pieces they have played in their first year together. But more than that, I think it was the absolute best version of the song I can recall. Simply Stunning!
Finally Stella announced that since the band had a long journey to Prades the next day, they could not sing anything more tonight. But just before she left the stage she did announce the "Grand Fête" in Paris in November, which would include Zukunft on the bill. I am guessing now, but that would mean that it would be possible to hear 'Köhntarkösz', 'De Futura' and 'Om Zanka' in the same show as the classic trilogy that tonight's line-up performed. I certainly won't want to miss that show - even if the song list is not as glorious as I predict above. Another wild, unconfirmed guess is that this could be one of the special concerts.