I must say I thought M.ILL.ION would kick ass this night. Last time, at Militarpalatset in Boras they worked so extremely hard to get the little crowd going so perhaps my expectations were set way too high this time. But then, they put so much effort in the gig with just an ounce to gain for it. Here, when they had every opportunity to win new fans since this seemed like just the right place for them to be, they actually felt lazy and a bit tired. Sure, the music is good enough to win people over on its own but it would absolutely have been more fun to watch if they'd brought more energy to the stage. Still, I think it's a bit strange that M.ILL.ION isn't more known than they are such high class classic Melodic Metal and haven't gotten a percent of the recognition they deserve. That makes it even stranger that they didn't bother to rock as hard here as they can do.

M.ILL.ION setlist:

01. "Thrill Of The Chase"
02. "Prison Of Power"
03. "Menace To Society"
04. "Slave To You"
05. "I'm Your Blood"
06. "Backdoor Queen"
07. "Judgment Day"
08. "Rock'n'Roll Nation"
09. "Candyman "

Concerts tend to be quite similar and predictable, who's going to show up, with the die-hard fans in the front, the music police in the back, party animals in the bar and all in all, quite the same people all the time. But then, on occasions everything is turned upside down and nothing is as it uses to be. This evening was one of those moments, a completely hysteric atmosphere like it was the event of the century and just complete joy. The frontline was a mixture of ladies and gents who probably have listened to MAGNUM since dawn of time, their kids, new fans, metalheads and all in between. Some way too drunk to remember of the event, some completely sober paying 100% attention to the stage but everyone was determined to rock out.

It's very easy to list the negative things about MAGNUM rather than look to what was really good for more than one reason. The fact is most of the time all apart from Bob Catley could have been replaced with manikins without anyone noticing. Nope, there was not much action on stage, barely movement actually. Instead of showing off his extraordinaire guitar playing Tony Clarkin was really hiding in his corner, way out of all the lights and focus and the rest of the band was hardly noticeable behind Bob.

This tour featured latest release "Into The Valley Of The Moonking". A huge part of the setlist was picked from that album. I shouldn't really complain about that since I love when bands change their sets from tour to tour. I guess, for this, I'm just like the ones I normally slam for only wanting to hear the hits at the concerts but I do think they could have added a few more oldies to the set. I mean, 60% of the setlist was from 2004 and forward and even if it was really good the concert would have done more for me with a little more mixed set of songs. But this I can only blame myself for, since I didn't take time to listen to the new album. Still, as MAGNUM isn't the most frequent played band in my stereo I would have liked a few more of the hits (read; the songs I know) in the setlist.

No matter what, musically it was perfection. The rest of the crowd loved it and the temperature in the venue rose to sauna level. The sound was dynamic and the balance between all instruments was perfect. Of course, with +35 years in the business it should be perfect but with MAGNUM it was more than that. Not all bands from the same genre can deliver music with such passion and perfection. If the band has been just half alive from what the music sounded this would have been a candidate for concert of the year. But since the show was only Bob Cately it only qualifies as great. On the other hand, the sparkle in his eyes and his contagious smile were more than enough and I really hope I get more chances to see that again. And next time I'll be prepared for whatever they serve.

MAGNUM setlist:

01. "Cry to yourself"
02. "Take Me To The Edge"
03. "Brand New Morning"
04. "The Moonking"
05. "When We Were Younger"
06. "No One Knows His Name"
07. "Dragons Are Real"
08. "Face In The Crowd"
09. "We All Run"
10. "Les Morts Dansant"
11. "All My Bridges"
12. "Shame For The Bad Boy"
13. "All England΄s Eyes"
14. "Vigilante"

Encore:
15. "Kingdom Of Madness"

(photos by into the valley Erika)