Focus - Warsaw Klub Hybrydy (24-03-23)

What a great way to spend a Friday evening: watching Focus at the Klub Hybrydy in Warsaw:

Full credit to the band for doing about a two-and-a-half set that was nicely divided up into two parts by a drinks break.

The place was so packed that for the first half of the show I could only see Thijs van Leer and Menno Gootjes on stage, but after the break, I got into a better position where I could see Pierre van der Linden too:

Don't usually take that much notice of drummers but it's a different case with van der Linden, he's truly gifted at his craft.

Below, there's a couple of shots showing how transfixed the crowd were during Hocus Pocus:

At this point, I had no view of the stage as I'd just got back from having a leak.

But somehow, I managed to jockey myself into a decent central position near the bar, where I could see all the band (including bassist, Udo Pannekeet):

Really enjoyed this 50th Anniversary Celebration with Focus, especially the more laid-back tunes like Focus 7; Le Tango; and the sublime Le Catedrale De Strasbourg.

Previous to this gig, I'd only seen Focus twice, doing shorter sets at the New Day Festival in south-west England, so it was nice to see the band indoors doing a longer set.

Have really enjoyed Focus each time I've seen them, to be honest.

Can remember listening to them back in the 1970s, a friend used to always play Hocus Pocus and Harem Scarem, so I'm glad I've finally caught them live a few times over the last few years.