Procol mentions in The Times
Michael Wale in The Times 13 October 1973
Procol
Harum: Festival Hall
The difficulties of reviewing rock concerts continue to multiply. Recently I
have narrowly escaped physical assault by tearful fans at an Osmonds concert,
been blinded by television lights while attempting to watch Don McLean, and last
night I was seated in a box above the stage with the result that I could hardly
hear a word of what was sung. With Procol Harum the words often matter most
because they are written by the highly articulate Keith Reid, who captured a
moment of social history in the summer of 1967 by writing A Whiter Shade of
Pale.
Because of the weird sound balance that
reached my box the attention was focused for much of the first part of the
evening on the group’s drummer, BJ Wilson. He achieved no particular
excitement, and produced a drum break during Power Failure that reached a
mundanity only equalled by the opening group, Kevin Coyne. However, on record
Procol Harum are one of my favourite groups and although they never seemed to
equal the heights of any of their recordings they pleased their audience with
selections from those very albums.
They transmitted what can only be
described as a sepulchral energy with the combination of their organist, Chris
Copping, and their pianist-composer, Gary Brooker. On stage therein lies their
strength as they complement each other with an almost demonic quality. I found
it much preferable to the frenetic playing of their two guitarists and drummer.
There was much to like about what they played, especially old favourites like
the rumbustious Conquistador, Salty Dog and Whaling Stories
from the Salty Dog album [sic], and a
selection from their latest album Grand Hotel, in which the title song
saw Broker [sic] and Copping at their most
inventive.
The only really new work of the evening
was a piano solo song by Brooker called The Idol, but once again the
inability to hear the words for me removed the point of the song. If I had been
able to hear the words I am sure it would have been a memorable evening. As it
was it was merely enjoyable.
Thanks to John Lock for locating
this article, Jill McMahon for typing it
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