Tag Archives: Focus

Album review: FOCUS – Focus 12

Posted on May 30, 2024 by GRTR! HQ

David Randall chatted to Thijs van Leer for his weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio playing tracks from the new album. First broadcast 9 June 2024 and featured in the second hour. Spirit Of Unicorn Music [Release date … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, Focus, Focus 12, Jazz rock, Pierre van der Linden, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Thijs van Leer | Leave a comment

Gig review: A NEW DAY FESTIVAL- Mount Ephraim Gardens, Faversham, Kent, 19-21 August 2022

Posted on September 13, 2022 by andynathan

In the beautiful setting of the grounds of Mount Ephraim House deep in the ‘Garden of England’, A New Day Festival has always intrigued me with some impressive line ups, mainly, though not exclusively, featuring classic bands from the seventies, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged A New Day, Atomic Rooster, classic rock, Colosseum, Deborah Bonham, festival, Focus, gig, Heavy Metal Kids, Hugh Cornwell, Jethro Tull, John Verity, Progressive Rock, Skinny Molly, Stray, Sweet, Ten Years After | Leave a comment

Album review: ROB KORAL – Wild Hearts

Posted on June 2, 2021 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Rob Koral for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio playing tracks from the album ‘Wild Hearts’. First broadcast 13 June 2021. RKUK [Release date 28.05.21] Rob Koral’s ‘Wild Hearts’ is an exhilarating instrumental album comprising guitar, Hammond … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Blue Commotion, Carlos Santana, drums, Focus, Frank Zappa, Grateful Dead, guitar, Hammond, instrumental, interview, Jeremy Stacey, John McLaughlin, King Crimson, Larry Carlton, Pat Metheny, Paul Kossoff, Paul Stacey, Pete Whittaker, Ralph Towner, review, Rob Koral, Wild Hearts | Leave a comment

Book review: Decades – Focus in the 1970s (Stephen Lambe)

Posted on April 26, 2021 by GRTR! HQ

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 30.04.21] At the outset I should declare an interest. As an inveterate Focus-watcher since the early 1970s, author of articles about the band for Record Collector magazine, liner notes, and the first book about Jan Akkerman … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, BOOK REVIEWS | Tagged book, Focus, Focus In The 1970s, Jan Akkerman, Mike Vernon, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Stephen Lambe, Thijs van Leer | Leave a comment

Album review: LESZEK CICHONSKI AND FRIENDS – Thanks Jimi Symphonic

Posted on February 22, 2021 by petefeenstra

Ledzek Cichonski And Friends - Thanks Jimi Symphonic

Pete Feenstra chatted to Leszek Cichonski for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, including the background to his album, world record-breaking and the Hendrix festivals. First broadcast 21 February 2021. Luna Music [Release date 26.06.2o] From the guitar and orchestral intro … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, Dave Gilmour, Focus, guitar, Jerry Kosek, Jimi Hendrix, Jorgas Skolias, Leszek Cichonski, Leszek Cichonski And Friends, Lukasz Krywicki, Malford Milligan, Nelson Riddle, NFM Worclaw Philharmonic, orchestra, Ravel, review, Robert Jarmuzek, Storyville, Thanks Jimi Symphonic, Thijs van Leer, Tim Rose, Tomasz Grabowy, vocal, Wojciech Bulinki | Leave a comment

Feature: Call Collect: An introduction to FOCUS

Posted on April 1, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Focus - Hard Rock Hell Prog, Pwllheli, 21-22 March 2014

In their own words, Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman discuss the early days of Focus and their wider success…and demise in the late 1970s. This feature is based on interviews in 1990 for a ‘Record Collector’ article published in … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Call Collect, FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, Interviews/Rock Stars | Tagged Bert Ruiter, Dutch, feature, Focus, Holland, introduction, Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden, prog, Progressive Rock, Thijs van Leer | Leave a comment

Gig review: FOCUS/Chantel McGregor – Under the Bridge, London, 25 October 2019

Posted on November 3, 2019 by andynathan

This show in one of London’s more enjoyably upscale venues was an opportunity for me to kill two birds with one stone, as well as bringing together two contrasting acts in an interesting pairing. Chantel McGregor has been a rising … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 25 October 2019, blues rock, Chantel McGregor, classic rock, Focus, gig, London, Menno Gootjes, Pierre van der Linden, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Thijs van Leer, Under the Bridge | Leave a comment

Album review: JAN AKKERMAN – Close Beauty

Posted on October 10, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

Music Theories Recordings/Mascot [Release date 25.10.19] Let’s be honest. Jan Akkerman hasn’t exactly been active in terms of album releases in the millennium. I also have to declare an interest having managed several UK tours for the guitarist in the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Close Beauty, Focus, fusion, guitar, guitarist, Jan Akkerman, jazz fusion, Jazz rock, review | Leave a comment

News: MARGATE RHYTHM & ROCK, 6-8 September 2019 with headliners LINDISFARNE, WILKO JOHNSON & STEVE HARLEY

Posted on August 26, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

WILKO JOHNSON BAND – Royal Albert Hall, London, 26 September 2017

This preview was first broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio on Sunday 25 August featuring two of the bands appearing at the three-day Margate event: Curved Air and Man. (12:16) Margate Rhythm & Rock 2019 takes place 6th – … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Festivals & Large Events, NEWS | Tagged 6-8 September 2019, blues rock, classic rock, Curved Air, festival, Focus, Lindisfarne, Man, Margate Rhythm & Rock, R&B, Steve Harley, Stray, The Blockheads, The Sharpeez, Wilko Johnson | Leave a comment

Gig review: GIANTS OF ROCK – Butlins, Minehead, 25-27 January 2019

Posted on January 29, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

Zal Cleminson - GIANTS OF ROCK, Butlins, Minehead, 25-27 January 2019

Three more days of rock, roll and roast pork and “last man standing” is becoming an ever more recurring theme. “Last man” might mean, literally, the last remaining member of a particular touring band or maybe a sole representative plying … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events | Tagged Atomic Rooster, blues rock, Butlins, Carl Palmer, Cats In Space, Chris Slade, classic rock, Dare, Elliot Randall, festival, FM, Focus, Giants Of Rock, gig, H.E.A.T., January 2019, Martin Barre, melodic rock, Minehead, review, Skid Row, Sweet, Udo Dirkschneider, Vega, Zal Cleminson | Leave a comment

Album review: MIKE VERNON & THE MIGHTY COMBO – Beyond The Blue Horizon

Posted on August 17, 2018 by petefeenstra

Manhaton Records [Release date 07.09.18] Producer, songwriter and vocalist Mike Vernon’s award winning career has encompassed the birth of British blues including Clapton, Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac etc. He also worked with the younger David Bowie, Focus and soul singer … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Andrew Roachford, Beyond The Blue Horizon, Big Town Playboys, blues, Brook Benton, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Focus, Frogman Henry, Ian Jennings, Kid Carlos, Laurence Jones, Matt Little, Mike Hellier, Mike Vernon, Mike Vernon & The Mighty Combo, Mose Allison, Oli Brown, Paul Tasker, Peter Green, R&B, review, Rocky Sharpe & the Replays, Sari Schorr, The Olympic Runners | Leave a comment

Gig review: HRH PROG VI – Pwllheli, North Wales, 17-18 November 2017

Posted on November 20, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Edgar Broughton - HRH PROG VI - Pwllheli, North Wales, 17-18 November 2017

David Randall writes… Friday Edgar Broughton opened the proceedings on Stage 1 without his band but with tales of daring-do over a career spanning nearly 50 years and since his signing to the Harvest label in 1968. Apparently he presided … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged Caravan, Carl Palmer, Focus, Hafan Y Mor Holiday Park, Hawklords, Heather Findlay, HRH Prog VI, Magenta, Magnum, North Wales, November 2017, Pwllheli, The Far Meadow, Uriah Heep, Von Hertzen Brothers | Leave a comment

Gig review: RAMBLIN’ MAN FAIR – Day 3 – Mote Park, Maidstone, 30 July 2017

Posted on August 8, 2017 by david.wilson

After the deluge on Saturday the forecast for the Sunday was looking a lot brighter and judging by the size of the crowd in the arena the sun had enticed a few extra bodies along for another top day of … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events | Tagged 30 July 2017, blues, Devin Townsend Project, Focus, gig, Kent, Magnum, Maidstone, Mote Park, progressive, Ramblin' Man Fair, review, rock, Snakecharmer, Stone Broken, The Quireboys, UFO, Wishbone Ash, ZZ Top | Leave a comment

Gig review: ERIC GALES BAND & Gary Hoey Band – Nells Jazz & Blues, London, 2 June 2017

Posted on June 3, 2017 by petefeenstra

This may well be the first time two American label mates who have known each other down the decades make their UK debut’s on the same night. And while the evening brings a sharp contrast in styles, the two guitarists … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, The Best of 2017 | Tagged AJ Pappas, blues, Bootsy Collins, Bryan Adams, classic rock, Cody Wright, Cream, Eric Gales, Focus, Freddie King, funk, Gary Hoey, gig, guitar, Jaco Pastorious, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, LaDonna Gales, Led Zeppelin, Matt Scurfield, R&B, review, Robin Trower, The James Gang | Leave a comment

Album review: COLIN HARPER – Titanium Flag (Remastered & Expanded Edition)

Posted on March 31, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Market Square Records [Release date 24.04.17] The sad thing about this album is that most punters will be drawn in primarily by Track 3 which features legendary Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman. In fairness, back in 2010 when this was released … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged acoustic, album, ambient, Andy Roberts, Colin Harper, Cormac O'Kane, Focus, folk, instrumental, Jan Akkerman, jazz, Liverpool Scene, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Phil Shiva Jones, Premik Russell Tubbs, Quintessence, review, Titanium Flag | Leave a comment

Gig review: GIANTS OF ROCK – Butlins, Minehead, 27-30 January 2017

Posted on January 31, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Steve Hackett - Giants of Rock, Minehead, January 2017

David Randall sets the scene… Giants of Rock. Geriatrics of Rock? It’s where we’ve ended up. The bracing sea air, the faded resort town, the surfeit of hand-wash. These events as much remind us of our own mortality as that … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events, The Best of 2017 | Tagged Atomic Rooster, Bernie Marsden, Butlins, Dare, Eric Sardinas, Focus, Giants Of Rock, gig, Ian Anderson, January 2017, John Lees Barclay James Harvest, Minehead, Oliver Dawson Saxon, Popa Chubby, Rebecca Downes, review, Steve Hackett | Leave a comment

EP review: THE ANN WILSON THING – Focus

Posted on August 3, 2016 by GRTR! HQ

Rounder Records [Release date 12.08.16] Essentially Heart minus Nancy Wilson, The Ann Wilson Thing is a vehicle for Ann to ‘give it large’ without her younger sibling by her side. The band’s second EP features two cover live covers – … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews | Tagged Ann Wilson Thing, AOR, Craig Bartock, EP, Focus, hard rock, Heart, review, rock | Leave a comment

Gig review: HRH PROG – Pwllheli, Wales, 17-19 March 2016

Posted on April 9, 2016 by GRTR! HQ

Arthur Brown - HRH Prog - Pwllheli, Wales, 17-20 March 2016

I remember the first time I attended the HRH Prog festival which was held at the ice cold Magna Centre in Rotherham; boy was it cold, even the artists had coats on whilst they performed! But it looks like we … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events | Tagged 17-19 March 2016, Arthur Brown, Caravan, festival, Focus, gig, HRH Prog, Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull, prog, progressive, Purson, Pwllheli, review, rock, sci-fi weekend, The Enid, Wales | Leave a comment

Album review: JAN AKKERMAN – Jan Akkerman (1977 reissue)

Posted on January 23, 2016 by GRTR! HQ

Esoteric Recordings [Release date 29.01.16] “Jan Akkerman”, the 1977 album with the distinctive “guitar in bed” cover, was Akkerman’s answer to Jeff Beck’s ‘Blow By Blow’ two years earlier. This was the Dutch guitarist’s first solo album since splitting from … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged Dutch, Focus, guitar, guitarist, Holland, Jan Akkerman, jazz fusion, Jazz rock, rock | Leave a comment

Album review: FUSONIC – Fields Of No Man’s Land

Posted on August 22, 2015 by petefeenstra

DMI Records [Release Date 22.06.15] Fusonic is a Dutch symphonic prog rock band whose second album draws on the prog rock giants of the past and reaches for a new musical vocabulary for the present. The fact they don’t quite … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Camel, ECM, Eno, Fields of No Man's Land, Focus, Frank Zappa, Fusonic, Harry Ickelsheimer, Paul van der Feen, Pink Floyd, review, Ronald Hoogwourt, Teo | Leave a comment

Album review: THE MENTULLS – Reflections

Posted on June 10, 2015 by petefeenstra

ProgBlues Music [Release date 10.07.15] The curious thing about prog rock is that what once was a ground breaking musical genre now clearly defines a particular retro period of rock history – arguably the late 60’s to the early 70’s. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Andrew Pipe, Andy Powell, AYNSLEY LISTER, blues, Eric Clapton, Focus, guitar, Jamie Pipe, Johnny Guitar Watson, Martin Turner, Nick Colman, Peter Green, prog, Reflection, review, Robin Trower, rock, The Mnetulls, Walter Trout, Wayne Proctor, Wishbone Ash | Leave a comment

Album review: THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA – Plays Prog Rock Classics

Posted on April 10, 2015 by GRTR! HQ

Purple Pyramid/Cleopatra [Release date 20.04.15] Classical rock is an often maligned genre, when done well it can bring new dimension to time-worn classics, done badly and it can fail to enhance the originals. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have always done … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Adrian Smith, ELP, Focus, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Guthrie Govan, Ian Bairnson, Jethro Tull, Jimmy Greenspoon, King Crimson, Mark Feltham, Moody Blues, Patrick Moraz, Pink Floyd, Plays Prog Rock Classics, Richard Harvey, Rush, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thijs van Leer, Yes | Leave a comment

Album review: SWUNG – Vol.1 & 2 (feat. members of FOCUS)

Posted on December 8, 2014 by GRTR! HQ

In And Out Of Focus Records [Release date 03.11.14] ‘Swung’ was evidently conceived and recorded during downtime from the “day job” – for Bobby Jacobs and Pierre van der Linden this means the current incarnation of Focus. Although that band … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Bobby Jacobs, Focus, fusion, instrumental, Jazz rock, Menno Gootjes, Niels van der Steenhoven, Pierre van der Linden, review, Swung, Vol.1 & 2 | Leave a comment

Album review: FOCUS – Golden Oldies

Posted on May 24, 2014 by GRTR! HQ

In And Out Of Focus Records [Release date 14.04.14] They say rock is dead, the endless process of reinvention now limited, and the pioneers now ageing. There is no doubt that a great chasm will open within the next 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, compilation, Focus, Golden Oldies, Pierre van der Linden, prog, progressive, re-recording, review, rock, Thijs van Leer | Leave a comment

Gig review: HARD ROCK HELL PROG – Pwllheli, 21-22 March 2014

Posted on May 2, 2014 by GRTR! HQ

The Flower Kings - Hard Rock Hell Prog, Pwllheli, 21-22 March 2014

Thursday 20 March Amongst the highlights on the first night Synaesthesia only had a few gigs under their belts but gave us a great keyboard driven modern prog rock set. With most of their music being written by 20 year … Continue reading →