Magma Live in Geneva and Lausanne
- May 1979
Photos by Joe Paradiso
(click on the thumbnails for a larger image)
I've been a fan of the French band Magma
for over 30 years now. Although I'm based in the USA, I lived in Europe
during much of 1979-1983, primarily Switzerland (first Geneva, then Zurich).
I was fortunate enough to see Magma live twice while I lived in Geneva
on two consecutive evenings - I recall that these gigs were iin May of
1979. The first evening's concert was in a the function hall (termed "Salle
des Fêtes") in a sleepy Geneva suburb - I think it may have
been Onex or Thonex. I drove out to Lausanne the following evening to
see them again, this time in a proper auditorium right downtown. Both
evenings were electrifying - a dream come true for me, as I'd been following
Magma's music for many years from the USA with little hope at that time
of seeing them in concert. I brought my camera to the gigs, and as there
was plenty of light, I was using a fast film, and I could get next to
the stage in the Geneva performance, I was able to use my telephoto lens
and get several closeups of Christian Vander and the band in action. The
set list was pretty close to that on the Bobino live CD (I believe that
the actual setlist for this tour is enumerated on the OrkAlarm
website). Highlights for me included a performance of Zess, which
I wasn't to hear again until the Les Voix CD was released circa 15 years
later. I recall that all photos on this site are from the Geneva performance,
except for the full-stage views at the end, which came from Lausanne.
A portion of the tour poster can be seen at the upper-right corner of
the bulletin board in this photo of my desk
at the CERN Laboratory taken shortly
after the show.
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