There is usually nothing more dreadful than a middle-aged rock group attempting to recreate the sounds of its glory years on stage. But somehow the reconstituted Procol Harum, touring for the first time in 12 years, managed to pull it off Monday at the Variety.
Maybe it's because the high-brow English group's Bach 'n' roll music seemed middle-aged in the first place, wedding Beethoven to the blues and Gilbert & Sullivan to gospel and soul, with impenetrable post-Dylan poetry.
So even if the group itself has aged a bit, the music seemed as fresh, or at least as distinctive, as ever. Procol founders Gary Brooker on vocals and piano and Matthew Fisher on organ (supported by a new backing band) recaptured, even revitalized, the trademark sounds.
In some way, the likes of A Salty Dog, Conquistador and the encore of the eternal Whiter Shade of Pale - with a new second verse! - never sounded better. The material from the recent reunion album The Prodigal Stranger adds touches of Dire Straits and Steve Winwood to the old sound with mixed results.
But no one was there to hear the new stuff - this was definitely a 'classics' crowd, quite the mid-life male bonding event.
