Sold out, but contact us at
webmaster@procolharum.com if you either need tickets or have bought
tickets you can't use.
We'll do our best to match those who need with those who don't.
|
Royal Festival
Hall,
Southbank
Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX Opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain, the Grade I listed Hall is one of the world’s leading performance venues. The auditorium has a fixed raked seating capacity of 2,500. Procol Harum last played the RFH in November 1973 (setlist here). Public booking information is here Schedule of events is here Ticket enquiries: 0844 875 0073 |
|
|
Press release from the Royal Festival Hall. One of the most important bands in the history of British music, to the development of symphonic rock and indeed prog rock, Procol Harum have announced a very special London show in celebration of the 50th anniversary of their seminal song A Whiter Shade of Pale. 2017 will mark a significant milestone in what continues to be one of our most loved musical exports; 50 years after the group formed and released A Whiter Shade Of Pale, the track continues to be one of the best-selling singles of all time, one of the most recognisable and most played songs – ever. Procol Harum will play London’s prestigious Royal Festival Hall on 3rd March 2017, accompanied by a full orchestra and the English Chamber Choir conducted by David Firman. As one of the first groups to embrace the use of an orchestra to enhance their music, the band have a long history of symphonic performances, having performed with orchestras across the world. This included their iconic 1971 concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, where its recorded version reached Number 5 in the Billboard Top 200 chart. The concert will see the band dip into their vast catalogue and canon of worldwide hits accompanied by the orchestra to bring to the stage the magic that they have always retained, taking influences from diverse strands of popular music including Blues, R&B, Soul, Baroque, and Classical. There will also be a few new surprises too. Over the past 50 years the quality of writing and performance has remained Procol Harum’s gold standard through the gradually-mutating line-ups each participating musician has kept the ideas flowing and prevented Procol from resting on their laurels. Procol Harum has been an evolving musical force from the first performance in ’67, but always led by founding member, singer, pianist and composer Gary Brooker, most of today’s line-up has been playing together since the early ‘90s and it includes bassist Matt Pegg (Jethro Tull, Ian Brown), drummer Geoff Dunn (Jimmy Page, Dave Stewart, Van Morrison), guitarist Geoff Whitehorn (Roger Chapman, Paul Rodgers, Roger Daltrey) and Hammond organ player Josh Phillips (Pete Townsend and Midge Ure), but to all their fans, they are the real Procol Harum. As one of the 20th century’s most illustrious British rock groups, this 50th anniversary show will allow fans both old and new to hear their iconic songs performed in the beautiful symphonic soundscape their music so richly deserves.
It’s nice to see this excellent occasion billed as a celebration of the band’s fiftieth anniversary, and ‘Beyond the Pale’ is sure such wording will attract many enthusiastic visitors from all over the world.
Some fans, noting the momentous rhetoric of the announcement, have asked if there will be a BtP Convention associated with the Royal Festival Hall event. The answer is that there will not. Jens and Roland have long-standing previous commitments in preceding weeks and months that will make it impossible to mount a typical event – with basecamp hotel, communal meal, live music and so on – especially on a weekday, in the seething metropolis.
We do look forward to meeting lots of Palers at the Royal Festival Hall, though! And if times and places look propitious later in the Procol year – perhaps that IF should be in capital letters – we look forward to inviting fellow fans to a more extensive international convention.
|
Oh dear ... fifty years of spelling the band's name wrong (see
here)