DIME - Magma - Paris - December 6, 2009

Here is the last show of a 4-night stand that Magma has at The Alhambra in Paris. Thanks to the taper and sharer, metro_cubo.


LDB Master Series #220

Hello, this is a collection of masters I would like to seed here. I've been taping shows for more than 20 years and have an awful lot of masters. Most of them are in the old cassette format, some others are on MiniDisc and others are on CD. I've taped many shows of many artists over the years, so don't be surprised if you will find many different artists taped! Some shows are already circulating, some others have not circulated through collectors yet. But most of all, enjoy! They all come from my master tapes!

MAGMA
Paris, Alhambra
December 6, 2009

01.Slag Tanz
02.Felicité Thosz
03.Ëmëhntëht-Rê
04.Intro Stella Vander / Gospel (with choir)

TT 124:51

Lineage: Aiwa CM-DS6 > Edirol R-09 > HD via USB > SoundForge 7.0 > CD Wave > FLAC Frontend (level 6)

Christian Vander — Drums, Vocals, Percussion
Stella Vander — Vocals, Percussion
Isabelle Feuillebois — Vocals
Hervé Aknin — Vocals
Benoît Alziary — Vibraphone, Keyboards
James MacGraw — Guitar
Bruno Ruder — Fender Rhodes
Philippe Bussonnet — Bass

Since 1990 (when I saw the band for the first time at La Cigale in Paris) I must have seen the band
no less than ten times. Some shows I liked, some other did not at all. But this one, which closed
Magma's 4-days residency at Alhambra was probably among the best, that's why I decided to seed this
show. Part of this was the excellent little tiny venue called Alhambra which is rapidly becoming my
favourite venue in town: great sound, great seats, great look from every part of it, all in an
extremely intimate atmosphere. In that way, I was able to appreciate the full potential of the band.

And the band itself is reaching one of their peaks of their career, which is quite reassuring if you
think that they are celebrating their 40 years. The new pieces - yet unfinished and unreleased - Slag
Tanz and Felicité Thosz do show that this band is still able to produce masterpieces. Of course you
need to like Magma's music. I was once again impressed by Stella's powerful and gentle singing, much
more than Vander's drumming. But the whole band was in a state of grace: the set-list seems now well
rehearsed and at its peak. Not to mention the (now complete) Ëmëhntëht-Rê suite for which we've been
listening to extracts here and there for the last 30 years. The last encore was a complete surprise:
Stella introduced a choir formed by their friends and collaborators (included Stella and Christian's
daughter) that has accompanied the band in a nice and simple gospel ("to demonstrate that Magma music
is nothing but difficult").

So enjoy this nice show. I did enjoy it very very much.

ldb