When I try to reach younger musicians about the importance of a GOOD melody..it seems that the word "Good" just slips right by. To them..any melody is a good melody. To me most melodies are filler these days... something to hang on a Christmas tree that really should be put out at Easter. Focus knows melody and how to craft...yes, CRAFT it. It is no different from Michelangelo carving David from marble. One wrong blow of the hammer and the art becomes road gravel.
Is there any good reason why, here in America, when we think of Prog, that Focus is not mentioned amongst those bands right at the top? They remain one of the few bands who have always remained true to their own musical spirit and really never had the time or inclination for pop radio. Moving Waves HAS to be the Dark Side of the Moon to the prog album world, no?
@sustayne There is no good reason whatsoever. Nor any reason why they can only fill small UK venues of a few hundred, except perhaps the sandpaper in the voice of TVL now!
@geoffathff No, that was HOUSE OF THE KING by Focus. It was used on the children's educational TV show called (I think?) DON'T ASK ME from the 1970's starring Magnus Pyke, David Bellamy and others. Shame they don't make childen's programmes like that anymore.
I saw them live two nights ago. Yes, Pierre is awesome and super cool and still looks great! Thijs is a genius but not as pretty as he used to be. I still gave him a big hug and he gave me a kiss on the cheek Magic!
I have this in its entirety on videocassette. The end is cut off here, because it came from the DVD "Masters from the Vault" which excised the credits of director Jean-Pierre Morel who filmed the 20 minute early 1971 documentary from which this came. I believe this was lensed BEFORE the "Moving Waves" LP was recorded in April, 1971 which makes it even more notable as the band worked out the songs. "Focus II" is stately precise, here as well as in the lushly multi-tracked studio version.
It happened in the early seventies: supergroups. Super musicians getting together and making this kind of super music. Did what they felt to do, without directors from record companies who told them to do what sells the best. Focus was one of that really supergoups
Todays generation??? They wouldn't know what REAL music was if it bit them on the bum! This was seriously original stuff, never to be repeated in this lifetime. These songs are as fresh now as they were in there heyday.
@turnerhq You're right. Makes me feel ashamed I didn't appreciate them as much when I was a teenager. Now I feel honored that I listened to this music growing up.
The bandmates were young, breaking new musical ground, and had not crystallised into what they would end up repeating later in life, which inevitably becomes institutional and stale instead of innovative. It happens to people in all manner of arts, be it film directors, painters, etc. Very hard to stay fresh and to continue to move into new territory. Perhaps that's the way things just have to be, to pass the baton onto the next generation, to let them have a go at it.
Sad but true; really sad is the fact that the next gen degenerates to hip hop rap and pseudo-metal crap noise... But I guess that's what they mean by ENTROPY!
There's a certain warmth, pure feeling and concentration (you may also call it magic) in the playing of the original Focus that just won't be repeated. This recording proofs that perfectly well. I think it also has to do with the time in which the music was created.
giving you a thumbs-up is not enough. I think you are perfectly right, that the time in which the music was created is reflected in it. The ambiance goes so well with the progressive rock scene as it was developping at the time. I wish there were more closeups of Martin dresden, but hey, just finding this video is amazing enough. The Camera man (woman?) really knew how to take meaningful shots of the players.
@QuiltedPine Thanks. Yes, very effective camera-work. You got me wondering about who's the bassplayer. I thought it was Cyril Havermans, who succeeded Martijn Dresden and got replaced by Bert Ruiter, later on.
What I love is what passes for a drum kit! These guys really made music out of nothing - today the room would be filled with kit and the music still wouldn't be as good. So, anyone got an inverse equipment/music quality function?
It was either double kick, chinese cymbals and octobons OR eight-foot stacks for bass and guitar if it was all going to fit into the van. I agree -- clearly they made the right choice.
musica bella con todos los ingredientes holandeses grandiosos para los que nos gusta el buen sonido melodioso recordando los anos ochentas cuando todo era mas facil y alcansable .........un hondureno que gusta de grandes accordes ciaooooo pescaooooooo
Wow..Focus rules! What a great tune and arrangement...everyone's playing for the song and not themselves...great restraint 'cause these guys have the freakin' chops! Had to search for Focus 'cause my brother had Moving Waves when I was about 12 and I listened to it over and over again. Brilliant.
The togetherness of mellow gentliness , jazzy intermezzo's , biting guitars, rythm-breaks allover.... might be the answer to : what' on earth is a mans life???,
In my opinion it stands the test of time and bought back some cool memories a true masterpiece well crafted and haunting The only Focus album I had was moving waves on vinyl but this has encouraged me to buy more now on cd
Just take a look and then tell me the pop music scene today is still bringing us vibrant and creative artists..... But still we are here and after all we of course know that the real musicians live for the music and not the gold albums anyway.
Yes, technology has moved forward. But somehow I think on expense of musical creativity. You can get so many cool things out of a computer by just pushing a button, but there's not much behind the sounds.
Uhh, this is the first "Focus" cut from 'In and Out of Focus' lp, their first album, not "Focus 2" which is on 'Moving Waves' lp, their second album. Get it right.
What I love about these guys is that they never loose focus aheh with the music and start playing useless jams that go nowhere. They always were experimental but made melodious tunes. Best Dutch band and maybe instrumentel band ever.
Perfect summary - but I would say definitely the best instrumental band in the world! Most of the others are just guitarists with a backing band, but each of these guys are virtuosi in their own right - and Thijs van Leer is truly MAD, in the best possible way!
These guys are still playing live without Jan Ackerman on guitar who has sold out to trad jazz :-(, but with a new young guitar GENIUS, Neils van der Steenhoven! Same drummer Pierre van der Linden, and a new bass player, Bobby Jacobs (incredible!). You have GOT to see them live - just brilliant :-))
Fair enough, I'll take a look, but I saw him in London 2 years ago and was bored within 30 mins, and brokenhearted at the same time. I so WANTED him to be like the Focus days, but he sounded like a thousand other fast jazz players - "music for elevators" as Thijs said when I talked to him. He was sad too.
Hey, maybe he's back on form, which would be GREAT!
My favourite off Moving Waves- the video has great atmosphere, looking like it was filmed in the winter late '71 or early '72 before Bert Ruiter joined. Yet another Focus clip favourited.
It's OK! I realized the reason a bit later when I was doing own clips, and often the announcer was speaking when the music still had begun or has not ended.
I missed to make an update to my comment, sorry for that - and thanks for posting this clip!
I'm a geriatric 53 year old but I first saw Focus play live at Birmingham Town Hall in 1973 - yes 35 years ago ! I still have all their Cd's and DVD's and their music is still as great as ever. Long live Akerman, Van Leer and You Tube.
Unless he's been cloned or has a doppelganger the flute hooting bod from Focus (I bet he does have a name but I dunno what) was out with Uriah Heep on 'Mistress of All Time' fairly recently.
Música e imágenes sublimes...Me quito el sombrero ante esta imponente banda...No escribo más comentarios porque estoy deseando escucharlos de nuevo...Saludos desde España.
I love Focus, have seen them twice recently -excellent. I was born a month after this album was released, funny to think I was possibly conceived around the time this was filmed!! I was lucky to pick up a Hammond L122organ like the one here for £70 recently, what a steal!
My favourite Focus track. Changes of tempo and rich melodies make it sublime listening. Instrumental rock was always harder to sell than tracks with iconoclastic or oversexed lyrics but Focus broke into the mainstream because my generation seemed more imaginative. A pity about the last ten seconds but the bassist seems to be missing too. Hardly audible and the camera avoids him. The bass adds an extra tonal dimension to the studio track which is lacking here. Brilliant nostalgia though.
My jaw dropped and stayed open when I first saw this amazing video. It's just gorgeous and I rushed to send the link to friends who, like me, loved Focus back when we were in high school. It's really wonderful.
one of the most baeutiful pieces of music ever written. heard it first when i was about twelve. still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
What a crime that the last ten seconds of this song are chopped off here and on the Focus "From the Vaults" DVD. The reason: the credits for director Pierre-Xavier Morel and others are interspersed with the end. A shame that Thijs van Leer couldn't have edited the visuals without chopping off the audio. I have this on video (bought it ten years ago from Sounds Demented in Virginia, USA).
where the fuck did they film this
outtacastatv 1 month ago
thanks for sharing have a great time every one....
ilikeyouallot 3 months ago in playlist focus
very cool
trancehi 5 months ago
Sublime...
Cromag99 6 months ago
Saw them play at Central Park "Schefer Music Festival".... Aug '72 A lifetime ago...
Cromag99 6 months ago
So vast and so very deep, how could such beauty be forgotten be so many?
angie4josh 6 months ago 2
didt they play in the madison square gaurden?
Luukeeeehh 7 months ago
Comment removed
JENKSIEBOY 7 months ago
Awesome!! Beautiful melody, Beautiful sound!! Jan the Man!!
Peace
JENKSIEBOY 7 months ago
Gotta love it - ten foot speakers, no ear defenders, no feedback ,one take - old school rules!
999117 7 months ago
proud to be a dutchman
hellyfornication 8 months ago
Stupendum !!
ardrack1 8 months ago
musicians musicians
rvhawkeye 9 months ago
they are the kings.
MrNeonkind 9 months ago
When I try to reach younger musicians about the importance of a GOOD melody..it seems that the word "Good" just slips right by. To them..any melody is a good melody. To me most melodies are filler these days... something to hang on a Christmas tree that really should be put out at Easter. Focus knows melody and how to craft...yes, CRAFT it. It is no different from Michelangelo carving David from marble. One wrong blow of the hammer and the art becomes road gravel.
sustayne 10 months ago
Is there any good reason why, here in America, when we think of Prog, that Focus is not mentioned amongst those bands right at the top? They remain one of the few bands who have always remained true to their own musical spirit and really never had the time or inclination for pop radio. Moving Waves HAS to be the Dark Side of the Moon to the prog album world, no?
sustayne 10 months ago 3
@sustayne There is no good reason whatsoever. Nor any reason why they can only fill small UK venues of a few hundred, except perhaps the sandpaper in the voice of TVL now!
Hamburger Concerto the best of the lot imho.
mouldsworthblade 10 months ago
If i had to mention a few albums that shaped my musical taste for the rest of my life,Moving Waves would be certainly the most important one.
BenMolen 1 year ago
Where can I get sheet music for Focus?
howardhopkins 1 year ago
'Watch and learn, 3 chord pussies'.....thats the quote of the week! Starting at 1:47 they whip it out.
jonsilence 1 year ago
Comment removed
jonsilence 1 year ago
gruß
papa
lumba768 1 year ago
Focus is really good. My third favorite prog band, after Yes and Renaissance.
SeattleLA 1 year ago 2
epic! xD
pianotimable 1 year ago
still ace live.
killercrabman 1 year ago
I love this!!! Focus forever!!!
paberaguitar 1 year ago
Fantastic video, but why did you cut it off before the end? Boo hoo!
ahoghill54 1 year ago
drummer is f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c
Dealwithitbaby 1 year ago
2:34 - Blows my mind...
katarzis27 1 year ago
Oh my god....I have no words enough to express my feelings....
MusicTheEarth 1 year ago
was this used as a TV theme to something during the 80's ?.
geoffathff 1 year ago
@geoffathff Maybe you're thinking of Eno's Another Green World, theme to Arena in the 80's. Similar kinda ethereal feel. : )
PlungerA10 1 year ago
@geoffathff No, that was HOUSE OF THE KING by Focus. It was used on the children's educational TV show called (I think?) DON'T ASK ME from the 1970's starring Magnus Pyke, David Bellamy and others. Shame they don't make childen's programmes like that anymore.
carmel1956 1 year ago
timeless classic
thanks
Bon0 1 year ago
fantastic!
malanoce 1 year ago
my favorite focus song, im tryin to learn it on organ, it appears i will have a hard time. Van Leer is a genious.
drums343 1 year ago
@drums343
I'd have to agree. Even more: they all are geniuses. Did you see Pierre Van der Linden? Drumming like "no big deal, it's all child's play". Hah ha!
QuiltedPine 1 year ago
@QuiltedPine
I saw them live two nights ago. Yes, Pierre is awesome and super cool and still looks great! Thijs is a genius but not as pretty as he used to be. I still gave him a big hug and he gave me a kiss on the cheek Magic!
ahoghill54 1 year ago
saw them in bilzen in 1974,just before Humble Pie,...man Marriott pissed in his pants, playin as a headliner'!
stoofbuis 1 year ago
Wow - I had forgotten how good these guys were. Thanks for posting!!
hockeyokkie 1 year ago
Look at Akkerman's stack! Back then bigger was was the "in" thing.
Gadomski2006 1 year ago
I have this in its entirety on videocassette. The end is cut off here, because it came from the DVD "Masters from the Vault" which excised the credits of director Jean-Pierre Morel who filmed the 20 minute early 1971 documentary from which this came. I believe this was lensed BEFORE the "Moving Waves" LP was recorded in April, 1971 which makes it even more notable as the band worked out the songs. "Focus II" is stately precise, here as well as in the lushly multi-tracked studio version.
chrisart7 1 year ago
One of my favorite guitarists of all time. He equals and even surpasses Steve Howe.
Jan is to guitar what Keith Emerson is to piano.
Thys Van Leer here on organ is no slouch either. Accomplished flautist and keyboards...decent voice too. Yodeler extraordinaire :)
mus1cat 1 year ago
Good old Blighty didn't produce ALL the best music in the 70's.
Rock on.
1970sman 1 year ago
It happened in the early seventies: supergroups. Super musicians getting together and making this kind of super music. Did what they felt to do, without directors from record companies who told them to do what sells the best. Focus was one of that really supergoups
.
jarmeijer 2 years ago 3
This is the second time in my life a note played by a guitarist made me cry!! And both times it was Akkerman!!
zwartepaak 2 years ago
Always loved this band, love this track.
Jan Akkermans harmonics near the end are just sublime!
Shame it's cut short though.....ah well, that's life.
1970sman 2 years ago
To be teenager in the 70's was to be in the world, to be a teenager in the 80's, 90;'s and 00's, unfortunately, is only to be OF the world.
HardWarUK 2 years ago 3
@HardWarUK : That was so well said.
sillybear969 1 year ago
@sillybear969 Thanks.
HardWarUK 1 year ago
Superb!
perromanchado 2 years ago 3
Too bad the end gets cut off here. Thanks for sharing this though.
mottledbrain 2 years ago 3
Todays generation??? They wouldn't know what REAL music was if it bit them on the bum! This was seriously original stuff, never to be repeated in this lifetime. These songs are as fresh now as they were in there heyday.
Pure Gods of there age.
Todays generation...No chance!!!!
turnerhq 2 years ago 8
@turnerhq You're right. Makes me feel ashamed I didn't appreciate them as much when I was a teenager. Now I feel honored that I listened to this music growing up.
Spartacus217 2 years ago 2
@turnerhq
Bet you parents said that to you too when you where listening this as a teenager :P
Boei666 2 years ago 2
The bandmates were young, breaking new musical ground, and had not crystallised into what they would end up repeating later in life, which inevitably becomes institutional and stale instead of innovative. It happens to people in all manner of arts, be it film directors, painters, etc. Very hard to stay fresh and to continue to move into new territory. Perhaps that's the way things just have to be, to pass the baton onto the next generation, to let them have a go at it.
chrisart7 2 years ago 3
Sad but true; really sad is the fact that the next gen degenerates to hip hop rap and pseudo-metal crap noise... But I guess that's what they mean by ENTROPY!
mullah06 2 years ago
bsolute music...
opera2545 2 years ago 6
There's a certain warmth, pure feeling and concentration (you may also call it magic) in the playing of the original Focus that just won't be repeated. This recording proofs that perfectly well. I think it also has to do with the time in which the music was created.
andzwe 2 years ago 40
@andzwe
giving you a thumbs-up is not enough. I think you are perfectly right, that the time in which the music was created is reflected in it. The ambiance goes so well with the progressive rock scene as it was developping at the time. I wish there were more closeups of Martin dresden, but hey, just finding this video is amazing enough. The Camera man (woman?) really knew how to take meaningful shots of the players.
QuiltedPine 1 year ago
@QuiltedPine Thanks. Yes, very effective camera-work. You got me wondering about who's the bassplayer. I thought it was Cyril Havermans, who succeeded Martijn Dresden and got replaced by Bert Ruiter, later on.
andzwe 1 year ago
@andzwe it is mr havermans
gtr1359 1 year ago
@andzwe Yhea that feeling is just called Dutch.
jamirosmajicrocks 4 months ago
If YOU can not understand that WAVES are MOVING, you do not belong here .
Stay down ,stay low.You'll NEVER get IT.
LIFE...I mean
lekezenman 2 years ago
That is absolutely beautiful!
mottledbrain 2 years ago 8
it is...
cosmicrider287 2 years ago
wow... beautiful song.
TheDiscoLemon 2 years ago 7
What I love is what passes for a drum kit! These guys really made music out of nothing - today the room would be filled with kit and the music still wouldn't be as good. So, anyone got an inverse equipment/music quality function?
999117 2 years ago 10
It was either double kick, chinese cymbals and octobons OR eight-foot stacks for bass and guitar if it was all going to fit into the van. I agree -- clearly they made the right choice.
jon1156 2 years ago 2
musica bella con todos los ingredientes holandeses grandiosos para los que nos gusta el buen sonido melodioso recordando los anos ochentas cuando todo era mas facil y alcansable .........un hondureno que gusta de grandes accordes ciaooooo pescaooooooo
genarofan 2 years ago
Jan Akkerman, Dutch eehmm.. no... World wide Guitar Legend !
Greetz From Holland !
Cheers !
snuk187 2 years ago 8
Looks cold in there.
Zoydude 2 years ago
amazing music. they jam well together.
murderface321 2 years ago
Focus is one of the best bands ever.
Watch and learn, 3 chord-pussies.
sonykroket 2 years ago 73
@sonykroket
whose to say you arent one of them?
UnchosenHippies 1 year ago
Comment removed
sonykroket 1 year ago
@UnchosenHippies
The fact that you're asking me that implies you are?
sonykroket 1 year ago
This is intelligent music for an intelligent, appreciative audience. The level of musicianship by all the band members is second to none. Fabulous!!
MacavitysCat 2 years ago 9
This song could go on foever......Beautiful!
univibe23 2 years ago 13
look at the angle of the guy's solo drum
TheCheepnis 2 years ago
Wow..Focus rules! What a great tune and arrangement...everyone's playing for the song and not themselves...great restraint 'cause these guys have the freakin' chops! Had to search for Focus 'cause my brother had Moving Waves when I was about 12 and I listened to it over and over again. Brilliant.
celestialballadsrule 2 years ago 12
The percussion is also fantastic. You know his name?
arnkind 2 years ago 4
Pierre Van der Linden. He's playing with the keyboardist, Thijs van Leer, in a version of Focus.
dannystrat 2 years ago 4
This song, Janis, Eruption, and Sylvia are by far my favorite songs. This band is fucking magnificent.
Yarsh52 2 years ago 8
god this reminds me of a simpler time.
so nostalgic
8NecroMassacre9 2 years ago 5
Yes it does..almost to tears!!
charmingly 2 years ago 5
The togetherness of mellow gentliness , jazzy intermezzo's , biting guitars, rythm-breaks allover.... might be the answer to : what' on earth is a mans life???,
lekezenman 2 years ago 3
That change at 1:03 is fucking genius!
bigfatbiffta 2 years ago 2
One of my favourite Focus tracks- this vid must be pretty rare!
ebenezerhoary 2 years ago
Sounds like knowledge. Something you might listen to at a library.
0:52 <3
Tengent 2 years ago
I AM listening to this in a library.
borgduck 2 years ago 2
Thanks for putting this on
In my opinion it stands the test of time and bought back some cool memories a true masterpiece well crafted and haunting The only Focus album I had was moving waves on vinyl but this has encouraged me to buy more now on cd
soapy58 3 years ago
IMO Focus 3 is the highlight of their career.
Topographer 2 years ago
This is an orgasm to my soul. This is music! Shame it doesn't have the last 20 seconds. Fantastic anyway. thanks for the upld, steve.
andseibel 3 years ago 2
sorry elviss. meant to hit good comment instead of poor!! could'nt agree with u more.
eagled96 3 years ago
Just take a look and then tell me the pop music scene today is still bringing us vibrant and creative artists..... But still we are here and after all we of course know that the real musicians live for the music and not the gold albums anyway.
drj602 3 years ago
Music of today is a load of bollocks
elviss 3 years ago 4
I can't believe the size of those stacks - like sky scrapers :)
HammondR100 3 years ago
Yes, technology has moved forward. But somehow I think on expense of musical creativity. You can get so many cool things out of a computer by just pushing a button, but there's not much behind the sounds.
Topographer 2 years ago
yes I agree technology and computer destroy the music that they made
StairwayToHeaven666 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Its the people who have destroyed music.
brandon9966 2 years ago
uhh, oops made a mistake this is Focus 2. never mind!!
sladerecords 3 years ago 3
Uhh, this is the first "Focus" cut from 'In and Out of Focus' lp, their first album, not "Focus 2" which is on 'Moving Waves' lp, their second album. Get it right.
sladerecords 3 years ago
The organ is like the breath of life. Love Focus!
elviss 3 years ago 4
first heard this on live at the rainbow when i was a kid they came to my hometown last year just a fantastic night i will never forget
fister69 3 years ago
What I love about these guys is that they never loose focus aheh with the music and start playing useless jams that go nowhere. They always were experimental but made melodious tunes. Best Dutch band and maybe instrumentel band ever.
royalsteven 3 years ago 2
Perfect summary - but I would say definitely the best instrumental band in the world! Most of the others are just guitarists with a backing band, but each of these guys are virtuosi in their own right - and Thijs van Leer is truly MAD, in the best possible way!
peterjgraham247 3 years ago 2
These guys are still playing live without Jan Ackerman on guitar who has sold out to trad jazz :-(, but with a new young guitar GENIUS, Neils van der Steenhoven! Same drummer Pierre van der Linden, and a new bass player, Bobby Jacobs (incredible!). You have GOT to see them live - just brilliant :-))
peterjgraham247 3 years ago
Akkerman has NOT sold out to trad jazz!A look at recent youtubes will prove this.
mentalsum 3 years ago
Fair enough, I'll take a look, but I saw him in London 2 years ago and was bored within 30 mins, and brokenhearted at the same time. I so WANTED him to be like the Focus days, but he sounded like a thousand other fast jazz players - "music for elevators" as Thijs said when I talked to him. He was sad too.
Hey, maybe he's back on form, which would be GREAT!
peterjgraham247 3 years ago
They sounded beautiful back then - they sound beautiful today.
mi1964amigo 3 years ago
What did they sound beautiful back then!
woefbeer 3 years ago
Get out In and out focus, 1969, 1970 with Martin Dresden And Hans Clouver. More lyrics . Good stuff!
elviss 3 years ago
My favourite off Moving Waves- the video has great atmosphere, looking like it was filmed in the winter late '71 or early '72 before Bert Ruiter joined. Yet another Focus clip favourited.
IThinkYouLookLarvely 3 years ago 2
As these are the rehearsals for the album that was released in Sep 1971 (when Havermans left) I think this is likely to be winter early 1971.
sonycmt 3 years ago
sick halfstack!!!
Relayer1968 3 years ago 2
Full stack and a half!
cinema33 3 years ago
for such a small drum kit that guy is damn good lol
metalburger2 3 years ago 3
such wonderful music,it still gets to me every time.
astroman287 3 years ago 3
Absolutely amazing.
Yarsh52 3 years ago 2
man, this band is just as good as YES!!!
Relayer1968 3 years ago 5
better than Yes
metalburger2 3 years ago 7
do they have a big catalog of music? Id love to find out more about this unique band!
Relayer1968 3 years ago
Definitely get everything from "Moving Waves" in '72 up to "Hamburger Concerto"....pure gold, all of it.
xCrumblingMirth 3 years ago
STIll Holds Up. Class Act!!!
bigslick45 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
hey hows it going i made a new page lastnight check it out!! meetyourfling(.Com)
alida
beliceweb 3 years ago
Why the interrupt so near to the end?
skirmish703 3 years ago
cause i got the same footage in a documentary and it's cutted at that part. Yeah, i hated too haha
javiercamafeo 3 years ago
It's OK! I realized the reason a bit later when I was doing own clips, and often the announcer was speaking when the music still had begun or has not ended.
I missed to make an update to my comment, sorry for that - and thanks for posting this clip!
skirmish703 3 years ago
So beautifully played and recorded. They sound wonderful in that room.
I was going to ask if this was available on DVD but I've just seen further down the comments someone already mentioned it. Thanks joelpizzaguy!
HD41117 3 years ago
And thanks stevedr for posting this. It's wonderful.
HD41117 3 years ago
I'm a geriatric 53 year old but I first saw Focus play live at Birmingham Town Hall in 1973 - yes 35 years ago ! I still have all their Cd's and DVD's and their music is still as great as ever. Long live Akerman, Van Leer and You Tube.
vpuser 3 years ago
i am 56 and i saw them in montreal and still have their lp great band great show
just love this song moving wave on the flute it is flying
alain
levoyageur002 3 years ago
Unless he's been cloned or has a doppelganger the flute hooting bod from Focus (I bet he does have a name but I dunno what) was out with Uriah Heep on 'Mistress of All Time' fairly recently.
Farweasel 3 years ago
Música e imágenes sublimes...Me quito el sombrero ante esta imponente banda...No escribo más comentarios porque estoy deseando escucharlos de nuevo...Saludos desde España.
breizand 3 years ago
I love Focus, have seen them twice recently -excellent. I was born a month after this album was released, funny to think I was possibly conceived around the time this was filmed!! I was lucky to pick up a Hammond L122organ like the one here for £70 recently, what a steal!
sonycmt 3 years ago 2
sounds great ..if you ever fancy a jam...
stevedr 3 years ago
where did you see them?? was it in britain coz i saw them in swindon with just thijs van leer and they were amazing!
Axeman89 3 years ago
Fantastic stuff...Where are this generations musicians of this clibre??
jeffs0358 3 years ago
Nowhere man.....
ZIPPTPH77 3 years ago
they're everywhere
namenotrequired 3 years ago
oops it sounds as if I was saying I don't like this or these aren't good players or something! that's really not what I meant!
namenotrequired 3 years ago
Well, I am working on it, I am just 16.
lesyouri 3 years ago
One of their best songs! Nice.
sbt8426 3 years ago
OMG! Where did you find this treasure? What an album. Classic prog.
UnklRudi 3 years ago
actually this is in a dvd.
here in brazil it was released as one dvd of the masters of the vault series.
i own this one from focus
joelpizzaguy 3 years ago
Found it. Bought it. e-Bay rules. Thnx for the tip!
UnklRudi 3 years ago
Superb drumming from PVDL!
mi1964amigo 3 years ago 3
i would love to hear this drummer and nick mason together!
keefyd5 3 years ago
What a shame this is cut short. The climax to this piece is just wonderful.
Mogggpiano 3 years ago
Where is the rest of this song ?
tricky159 3 years ago
simplemente excelentes :)
lespaulcustomplus 3 years ago 2
These guys are all amazing. I especially like the drum/guitar matching at around 2:00 to 2:30. Thanks for sharing the video.
spazzman90 4 years ago 2
second that
podekerken 3 years ago
The Bass player here is Cyril Havermanns
LeighJW 4 years ago
que groso loco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pablomamiaro 4 years ago
Great !!
Thanks for that - Jan always seemed to have the ability to extract emotion from the guitar strings.
Pity the band never really got the success it deserved
paulr999 4 years ago 7
My memory is that they were one of the most successful bands of the early seventies.
NORDOEYE 3 years ago 4
can anyone find this with the song-moving waves?
rvhawkeye 4 years ago
You know they're a great band because they are not wearing any makeup....
ZIPPTPH77 4 years ago
As I recall the bass players name was Bert Ruiter. Magic melodic music!
porityri 4 years ago
Ik denk Cyril Havermans.
Tieszelluf 4 years ago
yep, Cyriel Havermans. Later, in 1971, vervangen door Bert Ruiter
belamy4 4 years ago
Looks like it was snowing outside the Focus home...
ZIPPTPH77 4 years ago
Cheers Kev
tricky159 4 years ago
Lindo! beautifull!
trajanildo 4 years ago
My favourite Focus track. Changes of tempo and rich melodies make it sublime listening. Instrumental rock was always harder to sell than tracks with iconoclastic or oversexed lyrics but Focus broke into the mainstream because my generation seemed more imaginative. A pity about the last ten seconds but the bassist seems to be missing too. Hardly audible and the camera avoids him. The bass adds an extra tonal dimension to the studio track which is lacking here. Brilliant nostalgia though.
Quartzarenite 4 years ago 5
fantastic innovative musicaians and composers...
jeffs0358 4 years ago
Pierre Van der Linden must have learned his licks from Buddy Rich! Great drummer.....
ZIPPTPH77 4 years ago
I remember the rainbow lettering for focus on this album, which i still have. It moved with the light, it was boss back then.....
ZIPPTPH77 4 years ago
Thijs is a crazy man and a great musician! Can't find any these days.....
ZIPPTPH77 4 years ago
Brings me back to '72, brisk cold sunsets, and a few cold beers..... Spiritually inspired music.....
ZIPPTPH77 4 years ago
My jaw dropped and stayed open when I first saw this amazing video. It's just gorgeous and I rushed to send the link to friends who, like me, loved Focus back when we were in high school. It's really wonderful.
auntsuzie 4 years ago 3
Those Where The Days !!!
eibraate 4 years ago
what a great sound that hammond makes and he still uses it cant wait for next month going to their worcester concert uk
fister69 4 years ago
thanks for posting
this means a lot
words cannot describe.....
mitzworld 4 years ago
I have searched for this for years since I lost my cassette 20 years ago thankyou youtube xx
LanMan1812 4 years ago
one of the most baeutiful pieces of music ever written. heard it first when i was about twelve. still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
lovealbatross01 4 years ago
What a crime that the last ten seconds of this song are chopped off here and on the Focus "From the Vaults" DVD. The reason: the credits for director Pierre-Xavier Morel and others are interspersed with the end. A shame that Thijs van Leer couldn't have edited the visuals without chopping off the audio. I have this on video (bought it ten years ago from Sounds Demented in Virginia, USA).
chrisart7 4 years ago