Uncovered outdoor venue in the beautiful Longwood Gardens. Stage area barely
covered. Thunderstorms had been predicted for the day and evening and there was
a very light, somewhat brief rain that began around 6:30 pm. No rain during the
Renaissance or Procol performances, however! Halfway into the 130 mile (2.5
hour) car-ride home, I encountered rain the rest of the way – very heavy most of
that time ('The heavens opened wide'). While onstage, Gary remarked that the
Gardens were almost as large as George Harrison's.*
During the show, GB also noted Switzerland's victory over Spain [football] at which time Josh played the trumpet fanfare from Conquistador.
*
Due to some luck Unsteady Freddie and I wound up seated in the front row, dead centre. I gave Josh two fingers up while he played on the Motif during Broken Barricades (second song of the show). He took his left hand off the Motif and returned one thumb up to me!
Freddie was ecstatic that Gary wore "the shirt" again. Gary responded to Freddie's "Where'd ya get the shirt?" by showing the shirt to the audience and proclaiming proudly, "It still fits."
*
Again, like the other shows [of this tour], Gary was in the finest voice I've heard in many years. Procol's playing was exceptional, up to the highest standards. The set-list contained several nice surprises: when I made a comment on this to Matt Pegg after the show, he made some faces. Apparently he did not welcome the surprises!