Focus - The Cellars, Portsmouth, UK (Cuztard Pi)
 
Album info
 
Recording Date  : 13-11-2014
     
Length  : 115:19
Format  : FLAC
Track List
 
01 Intro - Set 1 01:10
02 Focus 1 (prelude) 01:30
03 Focus 1 06:13
04 Anonymus 01:21
05 House of the King 03:43
06 Eruption 21:00
07 Sylvia (prelude) 02:31
08 Sylvia 04:38
09 Intro - Set 2 00:48
10 All Hens on Deck 07:46
11 Round Goes the Gossip 05:43
12 La Cathédrale de Strasbourg 08:17
13 Harem Scarem 03:58
14 Menno's Guitar 07:33
15 Bobby's Bass 03:03
16 Harem Scarem (reprise) 02:08
17 Thijs' Organ and Flute 04:49
18 Hocus Pocus 07:00
19 Pierre's Drums 05:26
20 Hocus Pocus (reprise) 04:33
21 Focus 3 03:37
22 Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! 08:32

Notes
Recorded at the Cellars, Portsmouth, UK. Excellent audience recording.


From the info file:

Focus - 2014-11-13 - The Cellars, Portsmouth, UK (AUD)

Band Name: Focus
Venue: The Cellars At Eastney
City, County, Country: Eastney, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK
Date: Thursday 13th November 2014

Source: Audience (~6 feet from centre 'stage' (Seated), 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

File size: WAV = 1.13GB; flac = 701MB

Set-list (Set 1: 42m / Set 2: 73m [1hour 55mins total]:

Intro - Set 1
Focus 1 (prelude)
Focus 1
Anonymus
House of the King
Eruption
Sylvia (prelude)
Sylvia

~~intermission ~~

Intro - Set 2
All Hens on Deck
Round Goes the Gossip
La Cathédrale de Strasbourg
Harem Scarem
Menno's Guitar
Bobby's Bass
Harem Scarem (reprise)
Thijs' Organ and Flute
Hocus Pocus
Pierre's Drums
Hocus Pocus (reprise)
~~encore ~~
Focus 3
Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!


Note: flac tags, fingerprints & MD5 files are included.

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

Notes:
Ticket Price: £18 (adv.)

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

A recording of mine that has never been posted on-line previously, so I thought it was about time that it was. It was recorded in a tiny pub venue that coincidentally has it's final closing gig tonight!! Such a shame!!
RIP! http://www.thecellars.co.uk

I was early & lucky enough on the night to get a stool with about 10 other folks right in front of the band who were squeezed onto the small 'stage area' in the corner of the pub (I was so close that I could lean forward and touch TvL's leslie cabinet positioned directly in front of his Hammond). Actually this turned out to be a super position to get a fantastic recording .. one of my best!!!

A great show as always by the band but no surprises from their standard set list of the last couple of years.

Even though I was very very very close to the band and it being a small venue, it was actually not too loud. The sound was terrific, with all instruments nicely balanced along with the small but clear PA. My recording has come out super nice & representative of the sound from my stool right in front of the band on the night (TvL 6 foot away on my left & MG 6 foot away on my right).

The small but enthousiastic crowd who were stood behind me, were very respectful during the music so there is no annoying chatter on this one; its super clear, sounds great & is highly recommended.

Note - PvdL did have a few gremlins with his snare mic at the beginning of the 2nd set, eventually resolved with help from BJ; hence the extended guitar & flute intro during 'All Hens on Deck' & the cheer when the full band finally gets started.

For those interested - basic details of the mastering applied today 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 (-1dB max) / Dithering to 16bit
D: Add silent lead-in & -out plus 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 9.5 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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FREE TRADE ONLY - NOT FOR SALE!!!

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A CURSE ON ANYONE SELLING THIS RECORDING!!!!!
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Enjoy - Cuztard Pi - 2nd August 2015