Concert review: Magazine, Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton

Magazine

Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton

Concert review by Peter Carroll

Never mind Take That getting back together, the re-emergence of Magazine surely ranks as one of the unlikeliest musical reunions of recent years.

Prior to their tentative reformation in 2009 the first of the great post-punk bands had not played on stage for 29 years – and the death of influential guitarist John McGeogh, who had subsequently found fame with Siouxie and the Banshees, Visage and PiL, seemed to have put paid to all hopes of the band ever getting back together.

But it turns out the years have been kind to Magazine and their dark, richly-textured tunes still sound fresh and contemporary today.

Front man Howard Devoto remains an enigmatic presence, with stage banter that at times bordered on the impenetrable.

There was no Barry Adamson on bass but Stan from Faithless proved a more than capable replacement.

Most of the band's best-known tunes were aired, starting with a triumphant The Light Pours Out Of Me, along with Motorcade and Permafrost.

But it was the encore of Shot By Both Sides that set the seal on a triumphant return to the Midlands for Magazine.