Rhythm Kings in Concert

Aarhus, Denmark: 20 October 1998

Hi! I would like to give a fresh account of the concert in Aarhus, Denmark last night with Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings at Train.

What a night. A very friendly crowd of people greeted the band with enthusiasm despite serious trouble with the sound. Gary Brooker and especially Georgie Fame was marred by problems with the sound of their instruments as well as their microphones in the beginning of the two-hour long set.

Georgie Fame seemed somewhat disgruntled by this and virtually disappeared from the action later on. Gary Brooker, however, took a serious revenge later on in the set, especially in the encores; Good Golly Miss Molly and a Rock & Roll Medley. This final medley almost brought the house down as the band played a fragment of Tequila.  Little did they know that this recently was a signature tune for a very popular entertainment programme in Danish TV; Bill Wyman looked absolutely startled when the crowd shouted 'Tequila' at least 150 db.

Gary Brooker sang amongst other tunes Stagger Lee, Rockin' Pneumonia and Ooh Poo Pah Doo as well as conducting the band in an awfully long version of Hit the Road Jack.

I must say that the true star of this evening was not Gary Brooker. It was the two guitar players, Martin Taylor and Albert Lee. Having not heard Martin Taylor before, I was pleasantly surprised by his playing, incorporating jazz as well as country flavours in to this rock & roll set. Especially the tune Easy Come, Easy Go was a treat. And the final guitar battle between the two had to be seen (and heard) to be believed! They ended up both playing the same guitar at a rapid speed before a cheering crowd.

I can warmly recommend this very varied mixture of fine music and I hope that lots of Procol Harum fans will be able to attend the next concerts in Sweden and Norway as well as other countries of Europe.

Per Ryolf Harlev, Denmark: perryolf@usa.net