Day Off Week 18 2026

We haven't had a formal day off for a while but we tried to have one last Tuesday. There were a few things that needed to be dealt with but otherwise there was time for reading, coffee and to receive a parcel of books by Benjamin Beddome, vry kindly sent by someon eno longer needing them. In the evening I drove up to The Stables, Milton Keynes, to catch Focus on their latest tour. Bed by midnight.

Julie Fowlis in Milton Keynes November 2017

Tuesday is my official day off and I really enjoyed this last one with a long walk with the dog in the morning (good for him and good for me) and a return to The Stables n Milton Keynes, this time to see Julie Fowlis live. I had a front row seat and really enjoyed the excellent double set, as did the 300 or so also there. With Julie the band consisted, as usual, of Eamon Dooley and Tony Byrne (on guitars) and Duncan Chisholm (on fiddle) with Patsy Reid othis time on viola. Julie not only sang but played various instruments including various whistles, a ukulele adn three different whistles.

The prgram was a masterful blend of the pretty obscure with the more immediately accessible. So we started with  a Gaelic song, Oran an Roin, about seals but that soon merged with the now well known Puirt a beul track  Hug air a bhonaid mhoir. Just when it got rather Gaelic we had first Anne Briggs' achingly beautiful Go your way and later Paul McCartney's Blackbird (in Gaelic). In the second half there was plenty more obscurity including a Galician/Gaelic song Camariñas but with a few more instrumentals too. SOmehow she even had us sing along to the chorus of Smeorach Chlann Domhnaill.

All too soon the time had one but we were able to get them back on for an encore. Up until that point, with no bozouki or bodhran, I thought all insturments beginning with the letter B had been banned but then at the very end doing something I had not seen on the two previous occassions of hearing them - Julie on the bagpipes. What an encore! Patsy Reid kindly let me have her playlist at the end and I collected Julie and Eamon's autographs again before heading off and being home by 11 pm.

Focus in 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.

Akkerman at the Stables

Out at The Stables Milton Keynes last night to see Jan Akkerman and his band put in a sterling performance. I thought we'd get more of the new album but although he began with three numbers from it (Freewheelin', Minor Details and Blind baby - ie blues, jazz, bluies) and opened the second half with the superb Mena Muria (the Moluccan anthem) it was mostly the old stuff that we got and that was probably wisely judged.

So in the first half we had a curious version of the Zebra, a realtively short version of Tranquiliser and the well loved Paul Weller number You do something to me. The second half was pretty much given over to old Focus numbers - Answers Questions, Focus 2 (superb), Anonymous and a long version of Tommy, finishing off with the obligatory Hocus Pocus (still able to squeeze new life out of that somehow) and Sylvia. For the encore we had fine versions of Streetwalker and Pietons.

There is something slightly sterile about the Stables venue but this highly competent performance won through and certainly left the audience of around 250 very pleased. Copies of the new CD were available and, as you can see, the big man was obliging with his autograph. He was in hospital with a stroke recently and has finally given up tobacco after many warnings. Hopefully that will keep him perfroming into his seventies.

Focus Live

Along with about 300 others (90% male and most over 40) I saw the rock legends Focus live last night at The Stables Milton Keynes. I've seen them several times before now (almost never with the same line up) and always very much enjoyed it. Last night was no exception. New guitarist Niels Van Der Steenhoven is up to the mark and was especially good with the more subtle stuff. Part of the trick is that just when the band threatens to turn into any old rock band in will come some Latin or jazz to open up a new front. Thijs Van Leer is not a young man and that amazing voice is nowhere near what it was. However, he still hammers on that Hammond, plays the flute wonderfully and does incredible scat. I particularly liked his flute solo - Bach followed by jazz and then into the scat. They all had solo spots. I particularly enjoyed an amazing drum solo from Pierre Van Der Linden on Hocus Pocus, who had been almost ordinary until then. In fact he stole the show on that track, even though it should have been an opportunity for Van Der Steenhoven to shine on guitar.

The set list was - Part 1: Sylvia's Stepson, House of the King, Tamara's Move/Focus 7, Aya-Yuppie-Huppie-Yee, Eruption, Sylvia. Part 2: Focus 3/Focus 2, Black Beauty, La Cathedrale de Strasbourg, Harem Scarem, Ode to Venus, Hocus Pocus. Encore: Brother (with some vocals) and a brief reprise of Sylvia.

The band were good enough to hang around after to sign autographs and I had a little chat to Thijs and the others. I had the temerity to talk to Pierre about his drum technique. Too many people around to talk long and I wanted to be home before midnight. En route they were talking about the House of Lords and someone said they need evolution not revolution - that's Van Leer's musical philosophy too. I chuckled.