Procol Harum's European Tour, March 2003

A summary survey of the songs the band played

Procol Harum played 274 songs over 13 nights, averaging just over 21 songs per gig; only two albums they've released were not represented, but the lion's share (about 48% of the shows) needless to say went to The Well's on Fire. All tracks from this new album were played (So Far Behind and A Robe of Silk were of course heard on the road in the 1970s, and So Far Behind was a welcome addition to the 2001 setlist; An Old English Dream received 11 performances on the 2002 tours).

The 2003 European set was much more consistent than the last tour we analysed: the printed setlist was identical each night, as we understand, but (as Gary assured his troupes at Milton Keynes) 'It's only a guide!': there were plenty of surprises for the audience, and one or two for the band as well! It's of some interest that Pandora's Box has been in the set almost non-stop this century, excepting 25 and 26 May 2001, and with the possible exception of 29 May 2001, when the setlist we were sent was not reliable enough to publish (many songs had been identified by wishful thinking!).

Thirteen numbers were heard on each of the thirteen nights of this 2003 European tour: A Whiter Shade of Pale, Homburg, Conquistador, A Salty Dog, Robert's Box, Beyond the Pale, Pandora's Box, A Robe of Silk, The Blink of an Eye, The VIP Room, Wall Street Blues, So Far Behind, Weisselklenzenacht (The Signature).

Five songs were played twelve times, having a night off each as shown in brackets: Grand Hotel (Milton Keynes), The Piper's Tune (Emmen), An Old English Dream (Cologne), Shadow Boxed (Stavanger), Fellow Travellers (Stavanger).

As Strong as Samson was heard seven times, and For Liquorice John, As Strong as Samson, and The Question were played six times each. There were five airings apiece for This World is Rich (for Stephen Maboe) and The Emperor's New Clothes (but never on the same night) while the mysterious War is Not Healthy was also heard five times, following the outbreak of conflict in the Gulf.

Repent Walpurgis and Holding On were played only thrice each despite their classic status, while there were two showings only for the excellent Still There'll be More; A Christmas Camel (part), Glimpses of Nirvana (part), The Devil Came from Kansas and Every Dog Will Have His Day were heard at one gig each.

The table below lists the tour's songs (principally in order of release) specifying their recorded sources where appropriate. The column of green figures shows how often the song was played, and the red figures show not the frequency but the position of the song in the setlist of the gig named at the head of each column. Note that A Whiter Shade of Pale ended the show on ten occasions; Repent Walpurgis was the closer twice, and, surprisingly enough, The Question once.

The gigs were: Norway: Stavanger, Skien, Oslo; Denmark, Portalen; UK: Lewisham, Milton Keynes; Holland: Zoetermeer, Emmen; Germany: Stuttgart, Cologne, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Aschaffenburg.

Back to the 2003 index