Throughout the 80s, Magnum were one of the great hopes of British AOR. Their mid 80s releases ‘On A Storytellers Night’ and the Roger Taylor produced ‘Vigilante’ gained the band critical acclaim, and remain beloed by fans. 1988’s ‘Wings of Heaven’, arguably, represented a career peak, and a show from Hammersmith captured on that tour formed an essential VHS release. Unfortunately ‘On The Wings of Heaven Live’ languishes in a VHS limbo, now unlikely to gain an official DVD release.

There are a few other Magnum shows circulating on official discs, including one celebrating that album’s 20th anniversary tour, and it’s fine enough, but lacks the spark of the both the original tour and the bombast of much later Magnum, present once songwriter/Tony Clarkin began to gain a creative inspiration on albums like 2016’s ‘Sacred Blood, “Divine” Lies’ and 2020’s ‘The Serpent Rings’.

There were only a few shows filmed from Magnum’s later years, but the set from the 2019 Rock Hard Festival is one of the most interesting. With the band at an outdoor venue and battling the elements, Bob Catley’s voice is a little rough — he was arguably past his best at that point, but would begin to sound better following an enforced rest during the 2020 lockdown — but Tony’s guitar sounds absolutely huge throughout, and Rick Benton’s keys really showcase the later material’s bombastic edge.

Aided by an interesting setlist, mixing then more recent material with a few cast-iron classics, this set filmed for German TV show Rockpalast captures the melodic rock stalwarts in a slightly rough and ready mood, but the enthusiasm within the performance itself allows songs like ‘Lost On The Road To Eternity’ to shine, alongside fan favourites, including a full ‘Don’t Wake The Lion’.

This mightn’t quite have the same power as the band’s final show with Tony, as captured on the ‘Live At KK’s Steel Mill’ release, but for the fan, there’s still a lot to enjoy.