What better way to celebrate 50 years of Dutch prog than Focus 50-Live in Rio/Completely Focussed, which sees the legendary Focus in their current incarnation tear through a wonderful live set in front of adoring fans at the Teatro Municipal Joao Caetano in Brazil from September 14th, 2017. If that wasn't good enough (and you get the show on CD as well as blu-ray) the current band have also gone and re-recorded all their classic 'Focus' tunes, now titled Completely Focussed, so for the first time ever you have all these gorgeous instrumentals in sequence from start to finish, "Focus 1" all the way to "Focus 12". The current band features founders Thijs van Leer (keyboards, flute, and vocals) and Pierre van der Linden (drums) along with Menno Gootjes (guitar) and Udo Pannekeet (bass).
Many Focus classics were played this evening, such as "House of the King", the massive epic "Eruption", "Sylvia", "Harem Scarem" and of course the legendary "Hocus Pocus", with mainstays van Leer & van der Linden displaying their decades of prog pedigree but especially Gootjes truly coming into his own as a modern day guitar hero. It can't be easy to follow in the footsteps of Jan Akkerman, but Menno does an outstanding job here. Sound quality & video is quite good throughout, and the new versions of the Focus tracks are a delight to hear in chronological order, with the bands penchant for prog with a healthy jazz-fusion coming to the forefront on these more ballad-based instrumentals.
Add in a charming digi-pack presentation adorned with new Roger Dean artwork and plenty of photographs, and this will be a must buy for any longtime, or new, Focus fan.
Track Listing
CD 1 (56:35)
1. Focus 1 (10:48)
2. House of the King (3:14)
3. Eruption (21:35)
4. Sylvia (6:09)
5. Song for Eva (9:11)
6. All Hens on Deck (5:38)
CD 2 (62:48)
7. Le Tango (5:47)
8. P's March (3:50)
9. Focus 5 (3:47)
10. Harem Scarem (14:45)
11. Hocus Pocus (20:48)
12. Focus 3 (3:35)
13. Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! (10:16)
CD 3: Completely Focussed:
1. Focus 1
2. Focus 2
3. Focus 3
4. Focus 4
5. Focus 5
6. Focus 6
7. Focus 7
8. Focus 8
9. Focus 9
10. Focus 10
11. Focus 11
12. Focus 12
Blu-Ray - Live In Rio:
1. Focus 1
2. House Of The King
3. Eruption
4. Sylvia
5. Song For Eva
6. All Hens On Deck
7. Le Tango
8. P’s March
9. Focus 5
10. Harem Scarem
11. Hocus Pocus
12. Focus 3
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