Focus The Stables April 2026

It was good to see Focus once again at The Stables in Milton Keynes last night. Theplace was packed. Thijs has been unwell and so it was good to see him in fine fettle, even singing, and the rest of the band on fine form too. We began with Thijs on solo flute, We then had Focus 1 and a snippet of Anonymus (which Akkerman's latest version of would be very hard to beat). Then it was House of the King, a long Eruption which lost some of us a bit in parts, I fear. Then Focus 7 and finishing part one with Sylvia. After the break we had Focus 2, All hens on deck, La Cathedrale and then an extended Harem Scarem with lots of solos, which left me a little unmoved. They ended, of course, with Hocus Pocus and a long solo from Pierre van der Kinden. For their encore, thye not only did a beautifu Focus 3 but Answers Questions Questions Answers (where they can rival Akkerman as they have the flute too). Nice to speak briefly to Thijs before leaving.

Live at The Stables Milton Keynes October 2017

 

It was fun to be at a Focus Concert once again. I have seen them in The Stables. Milton Keynes before. It is a little sterile but it was good to see nearly 400 present. I ended up with a front side row seat just a few feet from Thijs van Leer himself. It was not a great spot in some ways but it gave certain advantages. We had the usual run - Focus 1, Anonymous, House of the King to begin; Eruption, Sylvia and La Cathedrale with Harem Scarem elsewhere; Hocus Pocus to close and Focus 3 with Answers Questions, Questions Answers as an encore. We also had All Hands on Deck, which I have heard before and, for the first time for me, P's March.

Being as close to van Leer as I was I observed how he mostly only used one hand to play the battered old Hammond organ he sat at most of the night. He also played the flute with one hand at times (sometimes combining flute and organ). He also played the haunting alto flute at the beginning, the simple melodica on Le Tango and did various things voice wise - scat, singing, whistling, yodelling, throat singing and oohs and aahs, usually with the vocoder. The high note on Hocus Pocuss are no longer possible but Thijs still has a very good singing voice.

I enjoyed all the solos from the band in the main, including new man Udo's six string bass. Still not sure about all of Menno's.

The evening began with an elderly heavy metal outfit called Burnt Out Wreck who were alright for what they were. After the main event the band happily signed autographs and chatted. I bought the latest offering (already purchased on itunes) and had it autographed. I also persuaded Pierre van der Linden to give me a signed drumstick.