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Review: Focus, The Fleece
Who’d have predicted that Bristol would get a 1973 Prog Month in 2022? Although this was more by accident than design, the shows by Tangerine Dream, Caravan, Gong and Focus were packed with enthusiastic punters. The common feature was that they were all epics, each lasting more than two-and-a-half hours with no support acts. Take note, young whippersnappers who can barely play for an hour before running out of steam and/or songs. Of this diverse, illustrious quartet, Focus is the band with the most ‘original’ members (septuagenarians Thijs van Leer and Pierre van der Linden) and also the one that sticks most closely to ’70s prog values.
The upside is that lengthy compositions are in abundance, beginning gently with the venerable Focus I. Standard etiquette for veteran proggers – aka the Steve Hackett approach – is to fill the first half of the show with newer material and then reward the audience for their patience by returning to the classics in the second half. Tonight, Focus turn that on its head. House of the King, aka the Saxondale theme tune (“Our first hit in Holland and the Flemish part of Belgium but nowhere else,” avuncular van Leer informs us), and Sylvia demonstrate their knack for writing concise, upbeat, melodic and yet musically inventive hit singles. The opera-inspired Eruption, which swallowed the whole second side of Moving Waves, showcases the band’s hardcore prog credentials. If the greatest prog takes the listener on a musical journey, this is one of the genre’s most eventful ones. It’s a composition that starts off like Keith Emerson jamming with Carlos Santana, incorporates a drum solo and even finds room for a virtuoso display of scat singing (with audience participation) from van Leer. It’s incredible to think that this challenging music was at the heart of the rock mainstream back in the early seventies, when Focus were all over the radio, enjoyed hit albums and sold out the Bristol Hippodrome on two occasions. Oh for a time machine . . .
After a 30 minute break, they’re back for a second set that features a fair bit of music recorded in this century. The jazzy, driving All Hens on Deck from Focus X has earned its place alongside the classics and the quartet even unveil a brand new, still-unnamed and suitably mournful new composition in memory of former bassist Burt Ruiter, who died last week. There are also solos. Lots of them. This feature of ’70s music still divides audiences and Focus are one of the few acts from that era who persist with it. They certainly wouldn’t get away with this if they weren’t such great musicians. In the tradition of Ginger Baker and Bill Bruford, Pierre van der Linden is a jazz drummer playing rock music, which gives Focus a distinctive rhythmic feel. He’s also got remarkable stamina for a man of 76, playing with the vigour of someone less than half his age. Newest recruit and fellow jazzer Udo Pannekeet, who’s served a mere six years, is an excellent foil for him on six-string bass, giving it the full Jaco Pastorious during his solo spot. Guitarist Menno Gootjes is an astonishing technical player and by far the band’s most able substitute for the great Jan Akkerman, whose departure was keenly felt.
is needed now More than ever
Portly ringmaster Thijs van Leer keeps alive the sly sense of humour that many of the band’s early critics chose to ignore and excels on organ, flute and melodica (or “this bizarre instrument” as he describes it). He may be doomed to be forever known as the yodelling Dutchman, but has always used his voice imaginatively as another instrument and has something of a penchant for onomatopoeia (exhibit A: La Cathedrale de Strasbourg). Naturally, the show concludes with Hocus Pocus, which is still laden down with that momentum-sapping lengthy drum solo. Hell, if they trimmed all the fat, they’d probably have time to play the entire Hamburger Concerto. But the punters who start to drift away while we wait patiently for the main theme to return miss an unexpected encore of the sublime Focus III. One suspects Focus will continue to plow their own idiosyncratic furrow and we’ll all continue to love them for it.
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: April 2022
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