MAY 30th, 2015, Saturday:
BEIJING– YUGONG YISHAN
NO.3-2 Zhangzizhong Road, Dongcheng
Pm 9 // Rmb 300 (door) / 240 (presale | on a first-come-first-serve-basis / students | with student ID on the door)
BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE
Sunday, MAY 31st, 2015:
SHANGHAI – MAO LIVE HOUSE
NO.308 Chongqing Nan Road, 3rd Floor
Pm 9 // Rmb 300 (door) / 240 (presale | on a first-come-first-serve-basis / students | with student ID on the door)
BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE
LEGENDARY MAGMA – PILARS OF PSYCHEDELIC ROCK ARE COMING TO CHINA FOR THE FIRST TIME. AN UNIQUE EXPERIENCE STRAIGHT OUTTA THE 70’s
It was in 1970 that the explosive compound of cavernous bass and a hammering beat erupted from our record players, as an otherworldly voice chanted in a mysterious language, the sound swelling with incandescent guitar riffs and the full force of a brass section. Thus began a first, double album, quite simply entitled MAGMA. Musically unclassifiable, resolutely odd and psychedelic with a fondness for sci-fi imagery, the group is nevertheless a landmark in the history of music, not least because of its audience, drawn from local youth and arts centers as well as alternative venues. Magma’s music is very strange, beautiful, and ultimately rewarding, but it does require an open mind on the part of the listener. It is music that must be experienced fully with body, heart and soul: not simply a cerebral performance of some kind of space opera by clever musicians, but a full blown spiritual experience with the music acting as the connecting vehicle between performer and listener.
Hailing from diverse musical backgrounds such as free jazz, classical, blues, progressive rock and pop in combination with their own compound of experimental symphonic rock music, the eight founding musicians had all the talent required to bring this unique and visionary music to life under the leadership of virtuosic drummer, composer and singer Christian Vander. Together they succeeded in fusing together various music styles and forming an impressive as well as innovative collective – each of whom thrived and excelled within the group. So common was it for musicians to subsequently launch their careers as sidemen or soloists that people sometimes refer to the Magma school of music. All of Magma’s music tells various stories of the planet Kobaïa, which is settled by refugees from Earth in some distant future. And most of it is sung in a made-up language called “Kobaïan”, which fans of Magma have actually learned to decipher and speak to one another! Magma’s music and Vander’s Kobaïan language have even inspired their own sub-genre of music, called “Zeuhl,” which is Kobaïan for “celestial.”
During 1970 and 1971, Magma composed their first album entitled “Kobaïa” and “1001 Centigrades”, but it was in 1973 that the band gained international recognition with the album “Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh”. This was the first album to also feature Stella Vander’s incredible voice and is often called Magma’s musical peak. It’s definitely like no other record ever made… Magma experienced its most intense period of work from 1974 to 1978, when they produced 4 albums in 4 years (“WurdahÏtah”, “Köhntarkösz”, “ÜdüWüdü” and “Attahk”) and then returned in 1985, after a short break, with the album “Merci”. This album features tracks full of soul, disco and funk influences and is a typical eighties production. Magma then had a short break during the 80-90 period, as Christian Vander was working on other projects.
In the year 2001 Magma-fans from all over the world celebrated the return of the band and the live document “Theusz Hamtaahk” was released, covering the complete MAGMA trilogy (“Theusz Hamtaahk”, “WurdahÏtah” and “Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh”) played live in great shape. Quickly the band regained a top-notch reputation giving gigs of unbelievable precision and intensiveness for the avant-garde public. The new reincarnation would feature Christian Vander, seen as one of the best drummers in the world, Estelle Vander, guitar-player James Mac Gaw, bass-player Philippe Bussonet and a short list of male and female vocalists.
The highly acclaimed ‘K.A.’ (“Köhntarkösz Anteri”) followed in 2004. Then in the years 2006-2008 the band set out to play and record Magma pieces from throughout their career in a live setting, resulting in four of live-footage of all Magma-era’s with appearances of former band-members such as Jannick Top and Klaus Blasquiz. This ´Mythes et Légendes´ series was extremely well received by fans of the band and proved that they could still faithfully reproduce all its pieces, even the avant-prog /fusion pieces from the first two albums.
A series of classic Magma titles has been scheduled for release every month from September 2014 to November 2015. A legendary French group if there ever was one, Magma has therefore continued to influence the course of contemporary music since their debut in 1969.
From September 2014 to November 2015, the now almost 70 years old Christian Vander and Magma have planned a new – and maybe last – concert tour all over the world, called “The Endless Tour”.
