CHRIS HARE … HARELINES
PROCOL HARUM – INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
Still going strong, I am pleased to say, is that remarkable band Procol Harum. Led by the original and wonderful Gary Brooker, they played our Broadway Theatre and delighted the virtual sell-out audience. In my experience, a unique feature of this particular show were [sic] the enormous distances travelled by the fans to be part of a one-off concert in our downtown Catford venue. Our Box Office reported bookings from across America, Norway, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Holland and Sweden. Over 100 people had travelled from abroad to our gig in addition to the rest of the audience, which covered the length and breadth of the UK. The band has a wealth of material from their numerous albums but of course, the finale of ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ was spine tingling and worthy of the five minutes standing ovation it received. Although the band perform regularly in stadiums across Europe, UK dates are surprisingly rare, have real novelty value and are available via Mark Lundquist’s office. I urge you to grab the chance of staging a genuinely original band, offering venues a magical night and the opportunity to take copious amounts of euros, dollars and travellers cheques across the bars. The band appreciated the vast distances the audience travelled and expense the fans had gone to and met many of them at an impromptu and informal reception after the show. Excellent public relations, which meant so much to the fans. Other bands please take note.