The Greatest-Ever Procol Harum Fans' Convention • Wuppertal 2013

Convention photographs

Friday evening: Gary Shepard | Thomas Raa Olsen
Saturday afternoon: Gary Shepard | Charlie Allison
Wednesday night's organ recital

Step-by-Step Guide to Buying Convention Tickets | Basecamp Hotel and Booking Basecamp Hotel | Palers' Band 2013 | Upside-down Monorail

'Beyond the Pale' – in collaboration with 'Whaling Stories' (the Gary Brooker fan-club) – has planned some great parties and other celebrations for the first days of April 2013 ... see links above, and publicity here!

We have been busy in collaboration with our German colleagues (principally Michael Ackermann, and Rainer Emerson) making the necessary arrangements so that everybody coming to these extraordinary Procol Harum concerts will have a magnificent and memorable time.

Wuppertal is a friendly and somewhat eccentric town in Germany, a short distance from the major airports at Cologne and Düsseldorf. It is well served by the motorway network and by Germany's renowned rail service: so nobody will have any difficulty at all getting there. English is widely and excellently spoken, for those whose German is a tad rusty!

Until early in the twentieth century Wuppertal was one of the richest towns in this rich region, having made its money through the textile industry based on the swiftly flowing river Wupper. Among the remaining riches from that period are the fantastic Stadthalle (pictured), where Procol Harum will play their two concerts, and the magnificent Haus der Jugend arts complex. Leading conductors praise its fabulous acoustic.

This latter building is the home of Live Club Barmen ('Barmen' is a district of the town), a very comfortable venue where Robin Trower played in May 2008, and where The Palers' Band will take the stage – playing Procoloid music – during the Palers' Party on 6 April (using the same PA, lights, usw).

We have as usual negotiated a special discount deal with a very nice Basecamp Hotel so that Procol Harum fans may stay together, and in comfort. Prices are lower than we paid at the convention in London, 2007, or near Copenhagen in 2006. And the huge advantage of this particular hotel is that it is about 90 seconds' walk from the hall where Procol Harum will be performing (so our party will incur no transport costs getting to and from the gigs).

Wuppertal is the home to a unique railway system (pictured), which runs the length of the valley, swinging over the River Wupper: a ride on this highly unusual 'upside-down' transport system is an absolute must for tourists visiting the area (see here) . 'Beyond the Pale' is also providing a private 'bus service to convey pre-booked Procol Harum fans between the Basecamp Hotel and the party venue (see below) .

Wuppertal contains a marvellous sculpture park run by the world-famous Liverpool-born artist, Tony Cragg. Tony is the Artistic Patron of the Procol Harum weekend: visit the picture-page here. It's also the home of the globally-renowned Pina Bausch TanzTheater, and four dancers from that tradition will take part in the Stadthalle concerts, expanding Procol's ground-breaking use of a trained dancer at London's Barbican during the famous 1996 gig

It would be no exaggeration to say that the cream of the region's artistic culture will be coming together for this unforgettable Procol Harum event.

We now have 33 musicians signed up for the 2013 Palers' Band on this occasion: click here to find out what this is all about, and to read more about our past performances in September 2000 in Guildford, UK [24 songs, personnel listed here (inc. one Gary Brooker performance); the band included Procol's own Dave Ball]; May 2001 in Kristiansand, Norway [13 songs, personnel listed here]; June 2001 in Manchester, UK [27 songs, personnel listed here (inc. two Procol Harum performances)]; July 2003 in Hollywood, USA [32 songs, personnel listed here (inc. five Procol Harum performances)]; August 2006 at Lejre, Denmark [30 songs, personnel listed here and here (inc. three Procol Harum performances, one song with GB guesting with the Palers' Band, and one song with the whole of Procol joining The Palers onstage mid-song)]; July 2007 at St John's, Smith Square, London [16 songs, personnel listed here (no song hitherto performed by the Palers' Band): the band again included Procol's own Dave Ball]

Palers' Band rehearsals will take place on the stage of a nearby percussion studio, which we have booked from 1 to 4 April inclusive, and which will be comfortable and absolutely ideal for our purposes.