This year Polish concert took place in the modern Atlas Arena in Lodz, where Polish volleyball team won the 2014 World Cup. Despite the sport character of the hall, the music sounded great. In absence of any advertisement [expect from ‘Beyond the Pale’!] three thousand people gathered up in that nasty, foggy Sunday evening.
And they were all delighted, some of them even surprised with quality of the music which Procol Harum delivered that night. Particularly, Gary Brooker’s voice was so impressive showing that is still in a great vocal form. Last October concert of Fish in Warsaw showed that the passage of time destroys the vocal cords of even younger singers. Later a week ago, Jethro Tull also toured, and Ian Anderson was not only tired with higher vocal parts... This does not concern Procol Harum leader at all.
In my opinion, it sounded even better than a year ago in Katowice. Chapeau bas! In general, the concert was really great. The first part was probably a bit better for me – clear sound, perfect band’s performance, especially revealed in the faster Pandora’s Box and energetic Simple Sister.
In the second part we heard more hits though I was particularly impressed with Cerdes, less known to a wider audience. At the first bars of A Whiter Shade of Pale, people got up from the chairs and so it was until the end, shortly before 11 pm.
Another magical evening with Procol Harum with indestructible vocal by Gary Brooker. Almost two hours of immersing in higher culture and timeless music. It must be so, since a twenty-year-old girl sitting next to me was staring at the scene like in a holy picture ..
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