Focus - The Brook, Southampton, UK (Cuztard Pi)
 
Album info
 
Recording Date  : 25-03-2015
     
Length  : 128:35
Format  : FLAC
Track List
 
01 Intro - Set 1 01:16
02 Focus 1 (prelude) 01:50
03 Focus 1 06:24
04 Anonymus 01:18
05 House Of The King 03:35
06 Hurkey Turkey 2 05:39
07 Eruption 22:27
08 Sylvia (prelude) 02:00
09 Sylvia 04:50
10 Intro - Set 2 00:37
11 All Hens On Deck 06:41
12 Ode To Venus 06:57
13 P's March 04:38
14 Round Goes The Gossip 06:13
15 La Cathédrale De Strasbourg 07:57
16 Harem Scarem 03:54
17 Menno's Solo 07:11
18 Bobby's Solo 03:11
19 Harem Scarem (reprise) 02:27
20 Thijs' Solo 05:34
21 Hocus Pocus 06:56
22 Pierre's Solo 07:13
23 Hocus Pocus (reprise) 03:35
24 Focus 2 06:12

Notes
Recorded at the Brook, Southampton, UK. Excellent audience recording.


From the info file:

Focus - 2015-03-25 - The Brook Southampton UK (Aud)

Band Name: Focus
Venue: The Brook
City, County, Country: Portswood, Southampton, Hampshire, UK
Date: Wednesday 25th March 2015

Source: Audience (~10 feet from centre stage (Standing), with 12 inch left/right mic separation)

Lineage: Stereo Omni Mics (Panasonic WM-61A elements with 'Linkwitz' common source degeneration mod) & battery box (9V) -> Olympus LS-14 (line-in; 24bit/88.2kHz) -> SDHC card -> HD -> Wavelab6 & HarBal -> *.wav (16bit/44.1kHz)-> Foobar2000 (level 8) -> *.flac -> Dime

Recorded & Transferred by: Cuztard Pi
Mastered by: Cuztard Pi

Title: Live Above the Bar

File size: WAV = 1.26GB; flac = 761MB

Set-list (Set 1: 49m / Set 2: 79m [2hour 8mins total]:
Intro - Set 1
Focus 1 (prelude)
Focus 1
Anonymus
House Of The King
Hurkey Turkey 2
Eruption
Sylvia (prelude)
Sylvia

Intro - Set 2
All Hens On Deck
Ode To Venus
P's March
Round Goes The Gossip
La Cathédrale De Strasbourg
Harem Scarem
Menno's Solo
Bobby's Solo
Harem Scarem (reprise)
Thijs' Solo
Hocus Pocus
Pierre's Solo
Hocus Pocus (reprise)
~~encore ~~
Focus 2


Note : The second set is 79m:16s long so you should be able to fit it onto a single CDR.

flac tags, fingerprints, MD5 files & artwork are included.

.................

Notes:
Ticket Price: £16 (adv.)

Focus are:
Thijs van Leer - Hammond-organ, flute and vocals
Menno Gootjes - guitar
Bobby Jacobs - bass
Pierre van der Linden - drums

A great show as always by the band. Only a couple of changes to the standard set list of the last couple of years, but a fantastic performance by the band as usual. It was loud in front of the band which you can tell from the recording but the sound is still very good, with all instruments nicely balanced. My recording has come out very nice & representative of the sound in the room on the night.
The only slightly negative aspect was being stuck next to Mr Clappy but I've tried to minimise his well over the top clapping.

For those interested - basic details of the mastering applied to my original LS-14 recording (using Wavelab6 & HarBal) are as follows:
A: Balance left & right channel volume & frequency response
B: Adjust stereo phase to fix a few minor issues
C: Apply EQ / Compression / Limiting (-0.6dB max) / Dithering to 16bit
D: fade ins & outs
E: track split

A note for any finicky audiophiles out there:
Mastering has been done to polish the raw master recording with the aim of enhancing the listening experience. If you prefer virgin recordings, unspoiled by any such amateur 'dabbling' then do not join in on this one. Be warned now ... I don't want any whingeing! ;-)

But for the rest of you Dime'ers I recommend that you GO FOR THIS ONE ... you won't be disappointed!
I score the sound quality as 9 out of 10 ( = A- ); but hey! ... don't flame me if you don't agree ... & at least keep it friendly ;-)

If you have any comments, whether positive, negative or otherwise, I would love to read them ... don't be a lurker!

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Enjoy - Cuztard Pi - 2nd April March 2015