LIVE IN ENGLAND

Live in England is an absolutely outstanding live release from Focus, capturing a powerful performance from Bilston, UK in 2009. I own the 2016 2CD+DVD set with the video disc holding the film of the same concert as is featured over the two audio discs ? the best way to do a live release, in my view. While the video is very interesting to watch a few times, the music is of everlasting value.

The band is extremely tight and play with great skill and emotion. Many of the numbers they perform sound fresher than ever, and the recording quality is great and often surpassing the original studio versions of the tunes. I have always loved Focus, but this live release actually made me appreciate them even more.

The main character is the incredible Thijs van Leer on Hammond organ, flutes, vocals, and assorted instruments (here the video version is especially interesting to see what actually makes all those sounds). Pierre van der Linden is on the drums, and Niels van der Steenhoven and Bobby Jacobs are on guitars and bass respectively.

The concert opens with Focus 1, originally from the very first Focus album. The tune has been given a new arrangement. It starts out rather quietly and then builds to ever greater highs, with the brief vocal part entering some minutes in followed by a superb flute solo. Towards the end it transforms into Anonymous, which is not credited on the sleeve. A brilliant version of Focus 1! Straight away they launch into the rousing House of The King, which likewise is performed excellently.

A few songs from the most recent studio albums at the time are included with Tamara's Move from Focus 8 slowing things down a bit after the hard hitting introduction, also featuring wonderful flute work. This is followed by Focus 7 from the album Focus 9/New Skin, standing up well to the older self-titled numbers. Aya-Yuppie-Hippie-Yee again from Focus 8 is a fun track, in the spirit of Hocus Pocus.

An 18 minute plus version of Eruption is then performed, which is slightly shorter than the original version, and better for it in my opinion. Still, for me it is shorter tracks that work best with Sylvia coming next. This is followed by Sylvia's Stepson and Focus 3 and Focus 2 round off the first disc.

The second disc is not as strong as the first, mainly because it features quite a lot of elongated jamming. Harem Scarem flows into something they call Adventure 10, and the closer Hocus Pocus has been extended to over 20 minutes! The best number of disc two is Black Beauty, which comes in an instrumental version in which the vocals have been replaced by lead guitar to great effect. This version is for me much better than the original vocal version from the debut album. Other classics appearing here include Le Cathedrale de Strasbourg and Round Goes the Gossip. The latter is not listed on the sleeve, but it is here. Overall this is a fantastic performance well captured, and an excellent representation of a great band. Very highly recommended!