Grand Magus live at Voodoo in Dublin on March 13th, 2014

Grand Magus_17

© Olga Kuzmenko

Photos by Olga Kuzmenko

http://www.olgakuzmenko.com/

Last year was my debut viewing of Grand Magus when they rowed their longboat to Belfast. Unfortunately this time a solitary Dublin show necessitated my departure to foreign shores. Dublin is generally spoiled when it comes to live gig venues. Unfortunately my debut visit to”Voodoo”left me far from impressed with it. A former venue, which had been closed for a long period of time has recently been reopened. Unfortunately the issue of refurbishment was not on the agenda when that idea had been mooted. A gig during the week had also had an adverse effect on audience numbers despite a very strong supporting bill. Following two very energetic and crowd-pleasing sets by young Icelandic retro rockers The Vintage Caravan, and British purveyors of Biker rock-(just think Motorhead and you will get a full flavour of their sound.)it was time for the evenings main attraction.

Since their tour last year Grand Magus have added another sonic cannon to their arsenal with the release of “Triumph and Power” Opening with a suitably ott extensive intro tape, the Swedes were off and hitting the stage running. The band don’t break any new ground musically, but just deliver basic hard hitting Viking metal. Simply but powerfully delivered and warmly received. Thankfully audience numbers had now swelled to a semi-respectable level, with space at the raised area becoming a premium. I secured a position, back to the pole on the edge of the stage area and enjoyed a very pleasing and solid set from them. Grand Magus have clearly identified a sound which they resolutely follow. Songs following a similar sing a long and anthemic delivery. The audience was quite diverse, with both young and old in attendance. It was also particularly pleasing to view a generous proportion of the fairer sex present. This was surprising as I had assumed that the style of battle metal played would be a predominantly male bastion. Lead singer Jb has a great command of his audience and encouraged a solid response and reaction throughout their set. The set didn’t contain any surprises with a cross section of their back catalogue,delivering exactly what the audience expecting while also paying homage to the bands cultural legacy. Drum solo deviated things slightly but thankfully that was short. All in all a sound and enjoyable evenings entertainment, with a quality 3 band bill. All bands were three pieces also-well they do say say that good things do come in threes….thus it was proved so…Lighting and venue didn’t score highly but the entertainment fully delivered.