Dansk version

In 1996 Magnum released a double live album entitled "The Last Dance" and they underlined the obvious message with the words "The last ever recordings from Magnum!"

Then you might well ask what the hell they were doing at the Amager Bio venue almost twenty years later. An Amager Bio populated so sparsely that you could have arranged a line dance tournament in the space between the few faithful in the hall that is.

I asked myself the same question. And I didn’t really get an answer either at a concert that mostly served as a reminder that Magnum have had their day. Rather sadly.

But those played-to-formula grandiose hymns with a little hard rock and some Tolkien romanticism added are too monotone and also anachronistic in the cold light of day in 2014.

Or to put it another way: Magnum’s musical manoeuvers ‘round the May pole with the elves of the forest singing back up these days only serve as a soundtrack to a gone by era.

The delivery is spotless and professional, but that is all it is: Professional delivery. However, the deliverance lack passion and any sign that the musicians actually enjoy what they’re doing.

Even in their heyday Magnum were not really contenders for the big time. And these days they’ve been pushed so far into the periphery that they risk falling over the edge.

That is sad and I feel sorry for a band who after all have delivered some great songs during their career – such as “How Far Jerusalem", "Les Morts Dansant", "Sacred Hour" and "Kingdom Of Madness".

But it’s their own fault it’s come this far.

They should have stuck to their pledge back in 1996 and called it quits with their honor intact. These days Magnum simply don’t seem interested anymore and then it doesn’t exactly take a phd in rocket science to see that the audience will keep dwindling.

Magnum get the third star solely as a token of respect for their past.