Gig review: KINGDOM OF MADNESS – The Carlisle, Hastings, 7 November 2025

November 16th, 2025 by andynathan

Kingdom of Madness, formed by one-time Magnum keyboardist Mark Stanway and boasting four past band members or contributors, have even doing a great job recreating the classic Magnum years before the original band split up in the mid-nineties. Their touring schedule has not exactly been prolific but I saw them at the 100 Club, then last year at Firefest and as a long-time Magnum fan was keen to do so again.

However all good things must come to an end and they announced that the current run of tour dates would be the last before going on indefinite hiatus and focusing on other projects. With no London gig among them, I decided on a Friday night trip down to Hastings’ long-running rock pub. Incidentally this was one of many shows put on by Phill Wood and his See You There Promotions agency, who as many of my Hastings based friends will testify has regenerated the live rock music scene in this historic south coast town.

Ingeniously the set was billed as one of two distinct halves, fittingly as the same could be said of the original Magnum’s career. The first covered the Jet Records years, not very well represented in Magnum setlists in more recent years, and the second the ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’ era and beyond, when both their image and music received a makeover to thrive in the very different scene of the second half of the eighties.

There was a healthy crowd, and a stage even more packed with seven band members, as they started as they meant to go on with a double keyboard intro to ‘Changes’, followed by ‘Back To Earth’.

If those were two of the more commercial numbers from that period that stayed for some while in Magnum’s set, ‘If I Could Live Forever’ was one for the connoisseurs who had been there from the beginning. With an acoustic guitar intro from Richard Bailey, ‘The Prize’ not only brought back personal memories as the opening track from the first Magnum album I ever bought in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ but is one of the late Tony Clarkin’s finest tunes.

Singer Chris Dando, looking more of a metalhead with his shaven head, beard and leather waistcoat, neither looks nor sounds like Bob Catley, and wisely made no effort to replicate his unique hand gestures.

However in his own way he brings those songs to life and also acted as an affable frontman, as he introduced a medley of songs from Richard’s time as the original keyboard player in the band, including ‘All Come Together’ and ‘So Cold The Night’. My one reservation about the first set was that the sound was a bit cluttered with too much instrumentation competing for attention.

However the band were confident enough to put a new spin on old songs with a rearranged and slightly slowed down ‘Soldier Of The Line’ and ‘The Lights Burned Out’, sung in gritty and powerful fashion by Mo Birch and with a superb solo from guitarist Alan Bell. They closed the first set with the eponymous ‘Kingdom of Madness’ with a lilting flute intro from Richard at odds with the frantic heaviness of much of the song.

The second set coincided more with my own peak years as a Magnum fan and could not have begun in stronger fashion with a pair from ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’ in the commercial, keyboard-driven ‘Just Like An Arrow’ (just how was that not a hit?) and the title track, sung by Mo in that soulful, almost Tina Turner-like fashion.

By way of contrast, ‘Love’s A Stranger’ with more flute work has become a KoM staple and provided a mellow respite, before a pair of evergreen anthems from ‘Vigilante’ in the title track and ‘Midnight (You Won’t Be Sleeping)’, which I always find rather tame on record but they really brought it to life.

After Mark paid a generous tribute to Bob Catley, ‘Wild Swan’s heavier feel suited Alan with some more splendid guitar work before another catchy song, but one that actually was a top 40 hit in ‘Start Talking Love’. ‘Only In America’ pales as a song in comparison but had a loose feel to it and gave the rhythm section of Brian Badhams and Mickey Barker more scope to lay down some hypnotic grooves.

In a change to recent setlists, ‘The Tall Ships’ was brought back, Chris and Mo leading the crowd together before the final song of the main set in ‘Les Morts Dansants’. Again Mo’s expressive singing brought the song to life, but during the closing section it was Mickey who my attention was drawn to, as he attacked his kit while sporting the full range of expressive facial grimaces.

Wisely they decided to stay on the crowded stage for the encore, and after some words of thanks, Mark’s trademark classical keyboard intro led into the pomptastic ‘Sacred Hour’, the Magnum song I always most associate him with. It was a fitting end to a wonderful night of classic Magnum songs, interpreted by some of the people who created them, together with their skilled colleagues. It was a night of sadness as well as madness, but they have created some new memories whatever the future may hold.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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