Tales From The Crypt - August Bank Holiday (Monday 29th August 2022)

A different Bank Holiday Monday is in prospect, more on that later.  Before I can enjoy that I have a bunch of things to get done, unusually not involving washing.  I'll not go into details, but there's been some final painting-related DIY to complete, a quick shopping trip and a few other minor tasks that need to be done today.

The plan is that a friend will pick me up around 11:30 and then we'll head off to the Wokingham Festival.   There are a few bands and artists playing today, mostly that are new to me, but the headliners are Focus (yes, that band) who I've never seen live but am intrigued to see what they are like 50-odd years later.

Given I will be out for most of the day, this may well end up being a brief post.

I'm home!  The festival was great fun. Very chilled. Great music. Great food. Great company. I might even have to go next year!  The musical highlight was Focus's performance.

I didn't know what to expect of Focus, especially since only Thijs Van Leer (keyboards, flute, yodelling) of the original line-up from the 1970s is still in the band.  Mind you he was the founding member of the band and probably the craziest on stage.  Pierre van der Linden, the drummer, has been in the band on and off since their second album 'Moving Waves' and is in the line-up today.

Let's cut to the chase: Focus were excellent, much better than I could have expected.  Thijs is still quite a character (before their set he was seen wandering around the festival looking at the stalls and chatting to fans etc) and is still full of fun. Though the set focused (!!) on their earlier material, it wasn't an exercise in nostalgia. All the 'songs' were imbued with a sense of fun and played in a way that suited the current line-up and suited their talents, each one of them being a virtuoso on their instrument.

The 'new' guitarist (original Jan Akkerman left in 1976!!), Menno Gootjes, who re-joined the band in 2010 (after an earlier stint in the 1990s) was really impressive and had an amazing tone very close to Jan Akkerman's studio playing to these ears.  The audience loved it and a wide range of ages, including quite a few whose parents probably weren't even born in the 1970s, were up and dancing. It was immensely enjoyable and fun. I had a smile on my face from start to finish, even during the two drum solos (yep! they still did those and the rest of the band left the stage!), despite drum solos not being top of my list of live favourites by anyone.

You're going to ask if they played 'Hocus Pocus'. Of course they did, it was the extended set closer. Thijs can no longer hit the highest notes when yodelling (I'm afraid so - give it a listen, you may be surprised how well it works!), so these were played on the guitar, though even back in the 1970s I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel (see live video below). The audience joined in with the higher notes. Everyone was having a lot of fun. Me included.

All in all, it was a great day out and I have to thank C and P for the ticket and for me being there. In the scheme of things at the moment, this break from life at home was really needed at this time.  I also have some new bands to investigate (help!)

When I arrived home dinner was waiting for me, cooked by sons 2 and 3. I could get used to this!

I watched more of the Tangerine Dream documentary while I ate. Off to bed.

I know what you're wondering: Yes, of course I spoke to Q whilst at the festival, just before she went to sleep!

And now for something completely different...

Suede / '15 Again' / 'Autofiction' (Forthcoming)

[[The second single from their forthcoming album and it's a belter.  'Autofiction' is shaping up to be another excellent late-period album, more like some of the earlier raw tunes. Cool.]]