MAGNUM – Live At KK’s Steel Mill (2025) *HQ*

British rock icons MAGNUM will release the band’s final live album with founder Tony Clarkin. Recorded December 10, 2022, ”Live at KK’s Steel Mill” was the memorable night when they played the final show of their European tour at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton and, as they had done on all previous nights, wowed their fans from the first to the last note.
The concert was recorded by state-of-the-art audio equipment, which later turned out to be a real blessing because it was – as we now know – the last official live recording starring Tony Clarkin. The guitarist and main songwriter died unexpectedly on January 7, 2024, just a few days before the release of MAGNUM’s studio album Here Comes The Rain.
The album presents MAGNUM as an enthusiastically celebrated act whose repertoire of hits, classics, and newer material could hardly be more varied.

“It was the perfect evening,” recalls singer Bob Catley. “We finished our The Monster Roars tour in Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill was packed out and the promoter was a passionate MAGNUM fan. I couldn’t imagine a more worthy farewell to Tony than those recordings.”

The show is split into two distinct eras: the opening half features material from the post-reformation in 2001. At the time of the recording The Monster Roars was their current record, and the title track finds Bob offering an alternative vocal delivery, but no less full of the Magnum spirit, with The Day After the Night Before being a typical progressive hard rocking anthem the band do so well.
A majestic Where Are You Eden? and the fantasy inspired The Archway of Tears takes us back to the mythical era of January 2020, before the dark, pandemic times. Both lifted from The Serpent Rings, we find Tony’s crisp guitar lines dancing with Rick Benton’s delicate keys, weaving warm, melancholic odes.

Lost on the Road to Eternity, from the 2018 album of the same name, is big and bombastic, encapsulating a beauty within each note; Tony’s chugging guitars and Dennis Ward’s rock-solid bass, in cahoots with ex-Paradise Lost drummer, Lee Morris, lay the foundations for what is a full-on rock show.
That meaty musicality is best demonstrated on Dance of the Black Tattoo, where Magnum become a dark, foreboding entity, aggressively stomping their mean side.

Of the two first half songs that pre-date the reformation, Sleepwalking’s The Flood seems tinged with the early Nineties; angular rhythms and flailing guitars that intensify the riff, feel as though they were forged in that era.
The Wings of Heaven record found Magnum having a dalliance with the singles chart and set opener Days of No Trust spearheaded that assault.
The second half of the show is given over to the old favorites: Wild Swan was not a single from Wings of Heaven but has a grooving riff and a singalong chorus that is sure to engage any Magnum crowd. Rocking Chair got some airplay on it’s release in 1990, co-authored Tony and the hit-machine that is Russ Ballard, it’s a simple good time rocker that speaks to all those people who refuse to go gentle into the good night.

Now, I personally believe Magnum should play the On a Storyteller’s Night album in its entirety at every gig, but that might be an unrealistic ask, so we take what we are given, and live at KK’s they give us the mournful, anti-war Les Morts Dansant, sweeping and emotive, this one never fails to pluck the strings of all but the most stone hearted. All England’s Eyes is a pounder and is played with the intent it deserves; and what can one say about the title tune? It’s as timeless as the album cover from which it is taken, never growing old, a fitting homage to Tony Clarkin’s skill as a songwriter and musician if ever there was one.

As the show winds to a close the back-to-back Vigilante and Kingdom of Madness drive us into Storyteller’s Night, neither of which would have been allowed to be omitted from this special night and are delivered with appropriate aplomb.
Rick extends the piano intro to Sacred Hour as the band bring the night to a conclusion. Band intros include Bob introducing Tony as “the man I’ve been working for for fifty years” and the crowd give a rapturous cheer and start to chant his name.
A fitting send-off in retrospect.

Magnum will embark on a short January tour, called ‘Tribute to Tony’, that will take in London, Manchester, Glasgow and end with another two nights at the Steel Mill, with Brendon Riley continuing to deputize on guitar.
Is ”Live at KK’s Steel Mill” a necessary addition to the Magnum live canon? I’d say it’s more than necessary – I’d say that it’s vital.

01 – Days of No Trust (Live)
02 – Lost on the Road to Eternity (Live)
03 – The Monster Roars (Live)
04 – The Archway of Tears (Live)
05 – Dance of the Black Tattoo (Live)
06 – Where Are You Eden? (Live)
07 – The Flood (Live)
08 – The Day After the Night Before (Live)
09 – Wild Swan (Live)
10 – Les Morts Dansant (Live)
11 – Rocking Chair (Live)
12 – All England’s Eyes (Live)
13 – Vigilante (Live)
14 – Kingdom of Madness (Live)
15 – On a Storyteller’s Night (Live)
16 – Sacred Hour (Live)

Tony Clarkin (R.I.P) / guitar
Bob Catley / vocals
Rick Benton / keyboards
Dennis Ward / bass
Lee Morris / drums

Pre order:
www.amazon.co.uk/LIVE-KKS-STEEL-MILL-2CD/dp/B0DK6LM2S1