Magnum: O2 Academy, Newcastle

AFTER a recording career stretching back almost four decades, Magnum have become one of the UK`s most revered hard rock bands. The collapse of their label and a health scare for lead guitarist Tony Clarkin all but finished the band in 1983, but they bounced back with their stand out On A Storyteller`s Night opus, an album that still yields a fair few songs in their set today. Wings of Heaven, in 1988, cracked the UK Top Five, spawning a bunch of hit singles and a sold-out tour. From a 1995 break-up the rejuvenated Magnum returned and released Sacred Blood 'Divine' Lies.

With a setlist constantly evolving from tour to tour there was room for vintage cuts such as Soldier of the Line and On A Story Teller`s Night. Half of the new album featured alongside the truly regal How Far Jerusalem, for so long a staple of the set.

Clarkin has always penned songs with a strong anti-war sentiment, but Les Morts Dansant took on an even more poignant feel with this currently being the centenary of the Great War. The tale of a soldier facing the firing squad and Bob Catley`s impassioned vocals were sublime and you`d swear there was a tear in the corner of Catley`s eye at the end of the song.

With old favourites Vigilante and Kingdom of Madness either side of a spine-tingling The Spirit bringing the show to an end, Magnum yet again proved why they have remained such a popular draw on the live circuit.

Mick Burgess