Brooker, Dunn, Pegg, Phillips, Whitehorn
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Wonderfully warm atmosphere in the
intimate, sold-out
City Winery (capacity 300). But very cold near the
merchandise stall, in the corner by the entry door. Hence, no doubt, the
written sign above the stage,
which is an anagram of 'Icy Wintery'
|
I Told on You |
A sparkling opener, with great interplay, or perhaps collaboration is the better term, between drums and bass, coordinated by glances and gestures |
|
Pandora's Box |
Exciting end-part, with specially inventive and surprising piano in particular |
|
Homburg |
Big clap when the words started, almost as if the audience didn’t recognise the intro |
|
The Unquiet Zone |
'A number from Procol’s Ninth,' said Gary. 'Not from Chicago’s Ninth. The Moody Blues, who’ve been in the news lately … haven’t they? Oh, perhaps they haven’t …' Anyway, marvellous to hear this stellar piece again: it does sound very like the original. GE uses a bit less cowbell than BJ but it has the same thrilling drive as the 1975 version; wonderful vocal and guitar solos |
|
Can't Say That |
Again, the eye-contact between Matt and Geoff Dunn … even more intricate bass and drum play … the piece pounds ahead like a galloping horse, making the slow finale even more stirring. Best bass-sound I’ve heard in years, thanks to Bunny Warren on the sound desk: great to hear The Mighty Pegg so distinctly |
|
The Devil Came from Kansas |
|
|
Sunday Morning |
False start … ‘I wasn’t nodding, I was just saying “hello”!’. Otherwise, a superb performance, with applause to match. A dawning realisation, as some would say, that our American chums are probably hearing these songs live for the first time |
|
Simple Sister |
A storming performance takes us into the interval |
|
Bringing Home the Bacon |
Lots of cowbell on this one; the playing is as tight as a Very Tight thing; first backing-vocal of the evening for Matt Pegg. First time I’ve heard this song starting with the ‘Emperor Baby Dumpling’ verse. One could query this with The Commander, but the – unbeatable – response would be very likely to be ‘How do you know it was right on the record?’ |
|
Fires (Which Burnt Brightly) |
A wonderful vocal here; verse three contained a bit of verse two recycled, but it didn’t matter at all. Spectacular drumming: between the verses Geoff Dunn throws caution to the lions, and his extended fills are labyrinthine, almost shocking in their unpredictability, as well as speed and technical virtuosity. The man’s amazing. Hints of octopus in bathtub falling down stairs, if I may mix my BJ metaphors. Spine-tingling |
|
Shine on Brightly |
Warmly received , quite a gentle-paced version except for super-violent last beats on the drums. Very tasty organ work. The song is '51 years old today’. Gary talked about having
met Sandy Hurwitz (‘Uncle Meat’) lately in Nashville. She opened for
Procol when the band first visited the New World, in 1967. Good BtP
readers will know that she is the dedicatee, or inspiration, of the
words of Quite Rightly So |
|
Businessman |
Ultra-bright pace, very exciting; lots of antiquated headbanging in the crowd and a delightful Fabulous Furry Freak Brother dancing on his own at the back of the packed-out Winery. He bought a CD at the end even though he has no CD player. Delightful. Then a most bizarre story from the piano-stool about an obstetrician who had delivered a baby earlier in the day, to the strains of A Whiter Shade of Pale. The obstetrician – Howie – himself was in the audience and was greatly moved to hear the delivery-suite tale of little Rycker … quite an unusual name … retold from the stage a few hours later |
|
Neighbour |
None of the usual preamble … Rycker had usurped that … but it all sounded good. New organ solo in the final rounds |
|
A Salty Dog |
Bit of patter about vacuum-cleaners, to cover a 24-second restart routine on the piano. When it comes back to life it says ‘Hello Gary, I’m a Yamaha’. Allegedly. A Salty Dog tremendous. A customer (luckily they’re always right) chooses the first drum-fill moment to come to the merchandise stall and discuss why there are only short-sleeved tee-shirt available. But the rest of the performance was brilliant, no holds barred in all departments. Slow, poignant, relaxed, elevating. Standing ovation |
|
Grand Hotel |
Lengthy Brooker patter about some Burger company … ‘not a freezer in the joint …’ impossible for a foreign visitor to determine the truth value, if any, of any of it. Grand Hotel … such dynamics! Vital and absorbing. In the violin solo, pantomime from the fretmen as they weep on each other's shoulders. ‘These New York girls they like to fight’. Second standing ovation |
|
Whisky Train |
Hey Bartender … all very visceral and committed; great drum solo from GE. |
|
A Whiter Shade of Pale (two verses) |
The usual musical excerpts telling the story of the descending chords; two verses of AWSoP including a lovely guitar solo and very pleasing saturation of organ lines. Crowd calls out for more! |
| 17 | songs altogether: | From Procol Harum | 1 | from Shine on Brightly | |
| 2 | From A Salty Dog | 1 | From Home | 1 | from Broken Barricades |
| 3 | From Grand Hotel | From Exotic Birds and Fruit | 2 | from Procol's Ninth | |
| From Something Magic | From The Prodigal Stranger | from The Well's on Fire | |||
| 5 | From Novum | 2 | non-album tracks | Photo courtesy of Bert Saraco | |