Progressive Circus & Chez Nous Prod proudly present two Swedish gigs with legendary FOCUS: the first one ever in Gothenburg (Stenhammarsalen, May 21) and the first in 52 years in Stockholm (Södra Teatern May 23)!
When the band was formed in Amsterdam 1969, organist/flutist/singer Thijs van Leer probably didn’t think that he would lead a superb lineup of the iconic band on tours around the world 56 years later. The international breakthrough came with the second album ”Moving waves“ (1971) when drummer Pierre van der Linden had joined. The jam-turned-into-song single “Hocus Pocus“ with it‘s odd combination of van Leers yodeling, whistles and nonsense singing, taking turns with Jan Akkerman’s hard guitar riffs became a permanent leitmotif of the band. For the soccer world cup of 2010, the song gained new popularity as the theme for Nike’s official world cup commercials.
The following albums ”Focus 3” (1973) and ”Hamburger Concertco“ (1974) are also considered as classical albums in progressive rock. Through the years, the band has dissolved and reunited in various forms, with continued releases of strong albums including “Focus 12“ from 2024. On this tour we hope to hear many of the band’s classics from the first four albums, together with inspired songs from recent years, performed by legends Thijs van Leer on organ/flute/vocals, Pierre van der Linden on drums, 1997 recruit Menno Gooties on guitar and 2016 recruit Udo Panneket on bass.
