This is the definitive DVD for Focus fans. Thijs Van Leer is your host and guide in a wonderful journey featuring rare material from 1971 with the band improvising, rehearsing and refining material for the album which would become "Moving Waves." Also included are extended extracts from the Old Grey Whistle Tests in 1972 and 1973 which helped break Focus in the UK. From 1974 there is a rare concert from the Hamburger Concerto era.. The short-lived Philip Catherine line up is also featured before the close with the band in action today during the triumphant comeback tour of the USA in 1992.

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But DVD has reactivated the past. Someone has lovingly collected together many of the extant videos and TV performances of the band, remastered them in 5.1 surround, and put them on this DVD. Admittedly the indexing on the DVD is poor -- there is no scene selection menu. But that's a very minor point.

The video footage covers the band's early days, its appearances on the UK's 'Old Grey Whistle Test', and the line-up with Philip Catherine replacing Jan Akkerman. Interview links are provided by Van Leer, 30 years older than when the band was at its peak, with some interesting anecdotes about the recording of 'House of the King' and the writing of 'Sylvia'. He makes no reference to Akkerman's destructive drugs habit. After this compilation, we then get a film in which the mid-70s band showcases the 'Hamburger Concerto' LP.

At the core of Focus was the trust between Van Leer and Akkerman. Focus was Van Leer's band, and the question in his mind in many of the performances on this DVD is whether he could trust this brilliant guitarist Akkerman to play his part. Even in one of the earliest performances here (in the snowbound Dutch castle), he looks searchingly at Akkerman. Later on, he plays with his back to the man. In one TV rendition of 'Hocus Pocus', Akkerman takes a drag on something that may have been more than a cigarette; a minute later, while Van Leer is mid-yodel, Akkerman walks off, and for a second or two Van Leer is uncertain whether Akkerman will return to carry on the guitar part at the end of Van Leer's yodel.

If, like me, you believe that Focus and Golden Earring were the best bands to come out of the Netherlands, you have to have this DVD. It's unlikely to change many of your views on the band, but it's a great collector's item. After that, you can think about buying the solo CDs. (Incidentally, Akkerman's are more interesting than Van Leer's 'Introspection' series.)

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

I don't think a Focus fan could ask for more...Jul 27, 2005
By Glen Burg "distantshore"
...but then again, I'm not familiar with the source material to determine if there _was_ more to choose from. A mid-'70s TV special offers "La Cathedrale de Strasbourg" within the hour-long documentary, plus a 16-minute "Hamburger Concerto" as a bonus. The "Medley 1973" is in fact an abridged version of "Anonymus II", we get an Old Grey Whistle Test performance with Philip Catherine on guitar, David Kemper on drums, alongside Thijs and Bert for a very Mahavishnu Orchestra-like track (minus the lightning-fast runs) referred to as "Angel Wings" by the announcer... two early promo films of the "Moving Waves" line-up miming tracks from "In and Out of Focus" ("House of the King" and "Focus (vocal"), several performances taken from within a Dutch castle (an electric version of "Le Clochard", "Eruption" with variations from the recorded version (also played live in another segment, with other variations), as well as a segue into "Hocus Pocus" (which explains the Hocus Pocus-like mini-segment on the album version), and a delightful number sounding like traditional Dutch folk which shows the band in the kitchen/dining area of the castle whilst the owner cuts cheese (and bread?). And I believe three "Old Grey Whistle Test" performances are documented in full here, as well as the same performance of Sylvia from which individual band member shots were taken for the US edition of the "Focus 3" album.

Overall, the performances are what you'd expect from live Focus from that era. To counter a previous reviewer, from what _I've_ read in accounts, I've only been able to determine that Jan was unreliable as a live musician, period. Certain nights would see him soar, while others he was obviously struggling to get the notes out. As to blaming this on drug issues, I would have to say that much of the previous reviewer's comments noting Thijs and Jan's on-screen interaction comes down to reading way too much into things. I didn't notice exactly where Thijs looks "searchingly" for Jan (oftentimes, it looks like Thijs is visibly demonstrating a great amount of respect for Jan), and the segment where Jan walks off-stage (and tries to tell Thijs musically to stop the take, while Thijs stumbles in disbelief, then continues on) is because Jan's guitar strap has become disengaged, and perhaps even disfunctional, as it looks like he picks up a second strap of the guitar amp and locks it in before resuming guitar. In fact, during that performance, there are others in the band who look way more "under the influence" than Jan, though I won't name them here.

True, there is most likely very little love lost between Thijs and Jan (and I've heard this from people who know either/or personally... I came close to meeting Thijs due to one of these people!), but thankfully you don't see it here. Instead, you get a charming memento of the best years (composition-wise) of the band, as well as appearances from over 75% of the musicians that passed through Focus in the 1970's (only Hans Cleuver, Martin Dresden and Eef Alberts (spelling?) aren't visually present... although at least the "Focus (vocal)" track mimed to is actually played by Hans and Martin, and Thijs refers to them by full name in his interview segments).

The only caveats are the age of one of the performances from the castle, as if that particular performance was taken from a previously viewed projector reel, although the sound is quite good (good fidelity with no dropouts).

Overall, a very, VERY worthwhile purchase for the Focus fan, and (from what I've heard as available over the years), all-inclusive.