Mancunian legends Magazine were one of the first true post-punk acts of the late 1970’s, as bands began to deviate from the seemingly strict Year Zero three-chord ‘destroy’ template towards a broader musical and spiritual palette, with Dave Formula’s subtle and inventive work a key element in their unique aesthetic. Reforming briefly after a near thirty year absence in the late noughties, guitarist Noko (who had previously collaborated with singer Howard Devoto on the Luxuria project in the mid 1980’s) took on the McGeoch role which he reprises with aplomb on Formula’s current tour, Songs From Under The Floorboards, essentially playing a ‘fan favourite’ set culled from the band’s first three albums. With Devoto and other original band members not interested in a further reformation project, Formula turned to his own son Max to play drums, with another father and son pairing, bassist Tim and vocalist Peter Petersen of French post-punk act Affection Place (who had supported Magazine back in 1980 and collaborated with Formula on their own recent comeback album) completing the line-up.
Before the band took to the stage at Edinburgh’ La Belle Angèle club for the second night of their UK tour, the growing audience was treated to support act Scant Regard, a solo project by ‘guitar for hire’ Will Crewdson, regular touring member of acts as diverse as Bow Wow Wow, Gaye Bykers on Acid, The Selecter and Adam Ant, but best-known amongst goth audiences for his time touring with Flesh For Lulu when the late Nick Marsh briefly resurrected the project a decade ago. Scant Regard therefore gives Crewdson the rare opportunity to play his own songs, which are primarily high tempo rock’n’roll with a strong twang element over a drum machined backing, with the end result a curious mix of Carter USM and Duane Eddy, delivered with an energetic Billy Idol pop punk swagger. Recent single Unrequited Hate got proceedings off to a suitably high octane start, with the repetitive Paranormal Paranoia and the funkier Fistbumps amongst others eliciting applause from the early arrivals.
Formula and Co took to the stage for their ninety minute set with a brave attempt at The Thin Air, the instrumental track which begins the second side of Magazine’s seminal prog-influenced 1979 album Secondhand Daylight, the LP on which the genial keyboardist’s talent is most perfectly showcased. Tracks from this album were largely absent from the reunion tour of nearly two decades ago, and indeed The Thin Air is being played for the first time on this tour, with other tracks such as Back To Nature which (succeeded it at this gig as it does on the album) being played for the first time in forty-five years. The rapturous applause which greeted it set the tone for the evening, with an appreciative and knowledgeable audience showing a real gratitude for songs which had accompanied their lives for nearly half a century.
By the fourth song in, a very tight rendition of Sweetheart Contract from third album The Correct Use of Soap, any lingering sound mix problems had been fully rectified, leading on to the first of many highlights of the evening, a wondrous version of Motorcade (music ironically written by Formula’s predecessor Bob Dickenson), with Peter Petersen fully owning both the stage and the song and removing any lingering doubts as to whether he was worthy of performing songs so synonymous with the dramatic and over-enunciated delivery of original singer Howard Devoto.
As Formula would correctly later state when doing band introductions during the encore, Petersen’s performance is true to the spirit of Magazine whilst injecting some of his own magnetic personality into proceedings. Dressed in a brim hat and a lounge suit with his tie undone, Petersen prowls around the stage using his rubbery and expressive features to convey a song’s meaning like a Gallic post-punk George Melly, never more effectively than on the Weill-esque tracks Parade and The Great Beautician in the Sky, where the jazz be-hatted and pink-jacketed Formula’s own deftness of touch and originality are also at their peak (Parade being the only track on début album which Formula co-wrote with Devoto).
As the gig progresses, Noko effortlessly switches guitars and genres to fully replicate the power and skill of McGeoch’s style on crowd-pleasers like the controversially lyriced Permafrost, Feed the Enemy(played once again at its original speed) and the fairground whirl of Model Worker, after which the guitarist points out to the audience that because of the words and actions of the contemporary incumbent, the band has decided not to follow the tradition of updating the song’s lyric to reference the current President of the USA.
By now, the band is in full stride and feeding off the wholehearted crowd reaction, and despite having earlier promised “je ne vais pas trop raconter”, Petersen produces a book of Sartrean French philosophical prose and proceeds to read some extracts to add to the bohemian, cabaret-sequel feel of the performance, including an extended passage where the narrator feels that he is an insect, a prelude to the two popular Magazine songs on that theme which end the main set, Song From Under The Floorboards and The Light Pours Out Of Me, with the singer again slipping into his native tongue for a few choruses of “La lumière s’échappe de moi”.
The band swiftly returned for a three song encore which included Definitive Gaze, with a spritely Formula again defying his 79 years with an agile and energetic performance around his various keyboards, before Noko took centre stage for the finale, the legendary riff around which Shot By Both Sides (and The Buzzcocks’ Lipstick) is built.
The highly recommended Songs From Under The Floorboards tour continues around the UK this month, and the band will also be appearing at Rebellion Festival and other events this summer.
