Just a quick update with news of Magenta live activity over the next few months.

Special Performance of Seven at the Peel in December

Firstly, we will be making a welcome return to the Peel in Kingston on December 19th for a very special one-off Christmas double-header with our old friends Touchstone, where both bands will be playing 90 minute sets. Our set will include a complete performance of our 2004 album Seven, recently included in Classic Rock Presents Prog’s Top 50 Album’s of all time. We’ll be onstage at 7.30 so get there early! http://www.houseofprogression.webeden.co.uk/

New Gig at the CRS

Just prior to our trip to Canada for the FMPM Festival, we will be playing for the Classic Rock Society in Wath on September 5th. Doors at 7pm. http://theclassicrocksociety.blogspot.com/

Magenta coming to a living room near you this Summer...

Christina, Chris and Rob are currently rehearsing an acoustic set for a series of Magenta House Concerts planned for July and possibly August. The set includes some old favourites and several surprises, so if you are interested in hosting a concert, then email us via magenta.web@btinternet.com

Best wishes

Magenta

It’s been a few weeks since our last update, so we thought we’d bring you up to date with current activity in the Magenta camp.

First of all, we are immensely proud that our second album “Seve”n was voted by readers of ClassicRock Presents Prog – whose send edition was published on May 20th – as 46th in the Top 50 Prog albums of all time. This list was, as you’d expect, dominated by the great albums of the 1970s and 80s (we were sandwiched between Trilogy by ELP in 45th and Nursery Cryme by Genesis in 47th) so to be one of only a handful of modern-era albums in the list is, obviously, thrilling and a huge honour. We’d like to thank all those of you that voted for us!

Secondly, a quick reminder of what will be a busy weekend for the band in a few days time, when we play Parc Hall, Cwmparc (Nr Treorchy) on Friday 29th. Special Guest will be guitarist Nathan Treadgold www.myspace.com/nathantreadgold . We also play The Peel in Kingston on Saturday 30th and Mr Kyps in Poole on Sunday 31st. We’re really looking forward to getting out and playing live again, so we hope to see you all at one or more of the gigs.

Thirdly, a quick note to say that the Magenta Facebook page is now fully up and running, so do come and say hello here .

Finally, a quick note that our friend Henri Strik’s reviews of the new live DVD and our performance at Zoetermeer can be seen online at www.backgroundmagazine.nl.

More news very soon!

Magenta

Recorded at the band’s home venue the Point in Cardiff at the end of 2007, the DVD marked an end of an era for the band. Not only was it the last concert in support of their third album Home, but it also marked the last performance of that line up of the band. Full of Magenta’s usual passion and energy, the DVD features a set list largely different from the Gathering, released in 2005. As well as a suite of songs from Home, the DVD also features Envy and a rare performance of Sloth from Seven, as well as the bands show-stopping new arrangement of Anger. Material from the Revolutions album includes a stunning new arrangement of Man the Machine, plus fan-favourite The Warning. The show kicks off with an incendiary version of single Speechless.

As well as the concert footage, the DVD also features a concert documentary, tech-talk interviews with Chris Fry, Martin Rosser and recording engineer Tim Lewis, plus the Speechless video and a photo gallery. In NTSC format with fantastic 5.1 and stereo mixes by Rob Reed, this is a DVD no Magenta fan can be without.

The DVD will begin pre-ordering from the Magenta shop at www.magenta-web.com on March 30th, with advanced shipping from April 3rd. Official release date will be May 1st.

Tracklisting and contents:
147min DVD total length
5.1 mix /stereo mix
NTSC format

Opus Three
Speechless
Envy
Hurt
Moving On
The Journey
Towers Of Hope
Demons
Morning Sunlight
The Dream
The Visionary
Anger
Man The Machine
Genetesis /The Warning
Sloth
The White Witch (extract)

Speechless (video)
Concert Documentary
Tech-talk Interviews with Chris fry, Martin Rosser and Tim Lewis
Photo Gallery

Cardiff gig moved to Treorchy Many of you will already know about the immensely sad closure of The Point in Cardiff Bay a few weeks ago. As a result, Magenta's planned gig there on May 29th has move to Parc Hall, Cwymparc, Nr Treorchy (Phone: 01443 776920)

The full live schedule so far for 2009 now looks like this:

14th March – Montgomery Hall, Wath www.classicrocksociety.net
28th March – The Borderline, London www.ticketmaster.co.uk/venue/254010
29th March – The Robin, Bilston www.therobin.co.uk

10th April - Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands (IO Pages Festival with RPWL and PBII) www.cultuurpodiumboerderij.nl
11th April - The Rock Temple, Kerkrade, Netherlands www.therocktemple.nl (with RPWL and PBII)

29th May – Parc Hall, Cwmparc, Nr Treorchy, www.myspace.com/parchall
30th May – The Peel, Kingston www.myspace.com/houseofprogression
31st May – Mr Kyps, Poole www.mrkyps.net

12/13th September – FMPM Festival, Montreal www.fmpm.net

29th May – The Point, Cardiff, 30th May– The Peel, Kingston, 31st May – Mr Kyps, Poole

In addition, we are sorry to report that Frost* have had to pull out of out two April dates in the Netherlands. However, every cloud has a silver lining and we are delighted to say that the superb German band RPWL have stepped in to play the gigs with us.

The full live schedule so far for 2009 now looks like this:

14th March – Montgomery Hall, Wath www.classicrocksociety.net
28th March – The Borderline, London www.ticketmaster.co.uk/venue/254010
29th March – The Robin, Bilston www.therobin.co.uk

10th April - Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands (IO Pages Festival with RPWL and PBII) www.cultuurpodiumboerderij.nl
11th April - The Rock Temple, Kerkrade, Netherlands www.therocktemple.nl (with RPWL and PBII)

29th May – The Point, Cardiff www.thepointcardiffbay.com
30th May – The Peel, Kingston www.myspace.com/houseofprogression
31st May – Mr Kyps, Poole www.mrkyps.net

12/13th September – FMPM Festival, Montreal www.fmpm.net

More news very soon.
Magenta

Best Band
Best Female singer - Christina
Best guitarist - Chris
Best album artwork for Metamorphosis
Best CRS gig

The band was also well featured in a number of categories:
CRS Musician of the Year: Rob 2nd (winner John Mitchell - It Bites)
Best bassist: Dan 3rd (winner John Jowitt of IQ)
Best album: Metamorphosis 2nd (winner Pure by Pendragon)
Best track: Metamorphosis 2nd (winner This is England by It Bites)

Thanks to everyone that voted for the band - who are all dead chuffed!

Stay tuned for lots more exciting Magenta news very soon!

Firstly, we're thrilled to announce that the band will headline the FMPM festival in Montreal, Canada, which takes place on September 12th and 13th 2009. The band have built up a strong following in North America following the release of Metamorphosis on Lasers Edge, so we're really looking forward to playing this brilliant festival for the first time. Full details can be found at www.fmpm.net

The band will play 3 gigs in March. These will be full 2 hour sets featuring a selection from all of our albums. The dates are:
14th March - The Montgomery Hall, Wath for the CRS www.classicrocksociety.net
28th March - The Borderline, London
29th March - The Robin, Bilston www.therobin.co.uk

We are immensely excited to announce that Magenta will team up with the superb Frost* (www.frostmusic.net) to play some dates during the spring. These are co-headlining gigs, with both bands playing equal-length sets and alternating the running order. There will be a series of European dates in April, and some UK dates later on towards the end of May. So far, we can announce two dates with more to follow, both in Holland:
10th April - Boerderij, Zoetermeer
11th April - The Rock Temple, Kerkrade

Finally, a reminder that the band will be performing all of the current album Metamorphosis at the Classic Rock Society BOTY awards on 10th January. The band will be on stage soon after the doors open, so get there early!

Further details on our live gigs page and watch out for more exciting news from the band very soon!

Best wishes

Magenta

We are delighted to say that we have made the Collection album available for FREE DOWNLOAD. The album includes edits and full tracks from all the bands studio albums to date, and you can also download Speechless - a different mix to those available anywhere else - in the standard 128 kbs format or in a higher quality 320 kbs version.

To download click on the links below to download each track. To download, right click on the link, and click on "save target as"

1.Speechless (edit)(From "The Singles")[4:06] Download
2.Metamorphosis (edit)(From "Metamorphosis")[9:38] Download
3.Visionary (From "Home")[6:04] Download
4.Gluttony (excerpt)(From "Seven")[4:46] Download
5.I'm Alive (From "The Singles")[4:55] Download
6.Anger (From "The Singles")[5:53] Download
7.Demons (From "Home")[5:17] Download
8.Blind Faith(From "Metamorphosis")[5:50] Download
9.The White Witch (excerpt)(From "Revolutions")[4:26] Download
Bonus! Speechless (edit) 320 kbs high quality version (From "The Singles") [4.06] Download