LIVE

This band was certainly Focus like in lineup and often in style. These performances were more in a jazz/rock or jazz style that what was common in Focus yet Jan still throws in the occasional guitar quote from the old band and even wraps up the last concert with a whole Tommy. And, oh yeah, a little Hocus Pocus before that, some Sylvia at the end of the first track in Leverkusen.

Seems like Akkerman has been much more prolific than Van Leer was in his career and Thijs (sorry, not j or capital T) is not a bad disc for fans of the old band to pop in on and see what Jan's been up to since he left the band.

Jan doesn't do anything particularly innovative in these performances but the musicianship is as solid as ever. The new generation that makes up this band aren't too shabby musicians or performers either. It's obvious how much they are in awe about working with such a master.

Jan Akkerman is known as the Dutch guitar master and ofcourse as a member of our beloved Focus. In his solocareer Jan Akkerman focused on fusion and lute-music. This dvd shows Jan Akkerman playing with his band on two short concerts. On the first concert he plays on a semi-acoustic guitar and on the second he plays on his electric les paul. The reportoire consists of guitar-oriented cool fusion tracks and a little bit of Focus material. The bonusmaterial is interesting, but I'll discuss it later on.

Besides the nice music the show itself is pretty poor. No busy podium performance with light etc, just a band playing some tracks for a boring audiance. On the semi-acoustic show Jan Akkerman sits on a chair, doing his unique high speed guitar playing. His accuracy on this concert is high, normally he plays quite messy in my humble opinion (but hey, I'm a guitarist myself..). The sound of the band he plays with is awful. It's professional, but way too professional. The keys sound bitter cold withoud any moment of beauty, the bass is shy and the drums are introvert. These are the conserveratorium musicans that prove that professionals aren't the best musicans around. Jan Akkerman's sound is good and he plays in an interesting way. On the second part, where Akkerman shows his electric guitar shredding over subtle jazz pieces, I regain interest in the show. His band is still horribly introvert, but at least Jan Akkerman rocks out! His version of Hocus Pocus is very out of place here and the band doesn't seem to have any idea how this song should be performed. The other tracks are alright.

The bonus material. This section is actually quite interesting. The interview is very annoying because of Jan Akkerman's uneasy way of talking for the camara. He turnes into a complete other person, I've seen him much more in control on a live concert I've been to the other day. The comes some historical footage. Jan Akkerman vs. Paco de Lucia is a very interesting performance full of note-shredding, as if it were a competition! Though this concept is a bit childish, it's actually fun to watch. The most interesting part of the bonus material is however the scene that shows Jan Akkerman's backyard garage where he normally plays guitar. With a slowly moving camara we get to see all his guitars while listening to some music from his lute period. The shot goes through the room and finally we discover that Akkerman was playing the lute all along and we're just on time to see a part of his lovely performance on this ancient acoustic instrument. Very nice indeed.

Conclusion. This dvd doesn't feel very complete and isn't always that interesting. Jan Akkerman plays very well throughout the performances, but his band is totally not into 'making a good show' and 'having a good sound'. The bonus material shows some nice footage from our beloved seventies and saves this dvd from the fans only rating. Three stars for the total concept, but I do advice to buy the Live at Den Haag dvd first which shows Akkerman playing with a different and more interesting band.

This live DVD features two post-2000 gigs, one filmed on 9/11 according to Akkerman. They are a mixture of blues jam and jazz fusion instrumental performed by a mostly very impressive 4-piece band. The drummer especially had some really nice moments, the bass player was probably a bit tentative for my taste. Of course Jan is the show and he plays beautifully throughout. There is a nice contrast in mood and pace which kept it quite interesting. The camera work was much better on the first show as there were plenty of fretboard shots which are so interesting for guitarists to see. There is a quality bonus interview where the interviewer actually asks good questions, grilling Akkerman about composition and technique, as opposed to simply about mundane rock star issues. Another nice bonus was the inclusion of Jan playing the lute, close up and casual. The reason I can only go three stars personally is that this is the kind of music I *appreciate* more than I love. It gives me that wow factor marveling at the technical proficiency more than it impresses me as an overall satisfying performance. Shredders and guitar lovers will very much appreciate this. For me it's something to enjoy occasionally with my fellow guitar junkies. If you've ever seen the Tolonen/Apetrea "Jazz Legends" dvd, that should give you an idea of what to expect, although here it is much more rocking with a full band as opposed to strictly acoustic.