Procol Harum
themselves played a great set at Ewhurst,
but they were absolutely tremendous
at Winterbach (the audience thinned considerably for the headline
act). Good to see soundman Geoff Curtis back in the saddle, and
intriguing to witness a live performance of an upbeat Brooker song
previously heard only in GB's barn. The band battled heroically against unexpected tropical-style rain
at Bellinzona, where Chris
Cooke with the poppy-coloured umbrella, sheltering
The Commander from the tempest, was one of the key Procol images of the
year. In December the Finnish press enjoyed the band, as did fans,
although they were a man down ... and it is good to note that
a new song came out of it, written by GB
(words and music) in his new house, surely a promising omen for things to
come.
BtP's Winterbach party – thanks to Paul and Marion, and Brendan and Kellie – was marvellous fun, with superb food and drink, and a little highly informal music feat. Gary Brooker on drums and vocal, Geoff Whitehorn on a prototype Elyra guitar (they were playing together, though one was in the garden and one in the house – InsideOutside as it were) with support from Jens (drums) and Roland (piano). Our host, Paul Koehrer, is also the man who designed, made and delivered a very pleasing custom lampshade for Gary Brooker, responding to what some had taken for an April Fool appeal at BtP.
The
Palers’ Band wasn’t active in 2015 (though there’s a lot of interest in
another session sometime), but Tito Davila and Gary Celebre did a
superb job bringing together some stalwarts from their own band
'Broken Barricades' to play a day – billed as
'Liquorice Jam' – in a Brooklyn basement, with many
additional Palers, eleven from the USA and two from Bristol, UK.
Though we spent a lot of time laughing and having a great time,
there were very serious moments as we played in memory of our late
friend Dave Ball, who died on 1 April 2015.
It's safe to say that everyone misses Dave very much for his camaraderie and musicianship and encouragement (and filthy sense of fun). As his son Ashley Ball wrote, on reading the fans' tribute page, 'It is very touching and I have shared it with the whole family. Dad always spoke fondly of the Procol fans and would not miss a chance if he could help it to hang out with what he considered a community of good people who shared his love of music.'
The 'Beyond
the Pale' Facebook group has continued to attract members, as
has the ‘Fresh Fruit’
Procol Harum newsletter on its new platform (if you want the latest PH news straight to your
mailbox, it’s easy to sign up).
Procol completists were catered for this year with the
vinyl
double-album releases (even with the wrong liner-notes on the Union
Chapel one) and with the Esoteric CD re-releases, another excavation of the early archive (again,
not without anomalies).
And the future? Maybe
it’s a latent consequence of the high exposure of the
BBC Dominion
broadcast in 2014, but in the coming year Procol have an unusually high profile in the
UK with Minehead and
Maidstone already confirmed. So
there’s much to look forward to and to keep our fingers crossed for.
Jens + Roland
from Norway and England
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