Magma @ Le Poisson Rouge (pics)

photos by Greg Cristman

“Don’t even try to understand the lyrics,” Mr. Vander told the audience on Monday night at Le Poisson Rouge, where Magma finished the United States part of an international tour. “It comes from the heart and the beat.”

True to prog-rock custom, Magma’s set featured suites, not songs. It played long excerpts from three of its albums: “Köhntarkösz” from 1974, “Mëkanïk Dëstruktïw Kömmandöh (M.D.K.)” from 1973 and “Slag Tanz” from 2015; its encore was “Zombies (Ghost Dance),” a song from its 1976 album “Udu Wudu.” The pieces were more consistent than their chronological spread might suggest, partly because Magma was never exactly trendy and partly because Mr. Vander’s initial template for the band was so broad. That template was certainly of its time. Magma’s music glances toward the jazz-rock of Weather Report and Return to Forever and toward the 20th-century classical repertory that informed Yes, Frank Zappa and Genesis. [NY Times]

French prog legends Magma recently wrapped up a North American tour at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge on 4/13. As the review above points out, they only played four songs (or suites, technically), but the very intense show lasted two full hours. Pictures are in this and post and continue below…

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