Late But Good

Mary Kohn in The Morning Call • Allentown, PA • 28 November 1970

Procol Harum ran late last Saturday, but once they got going, there was almost no stopping them. Although one of the trucks carrying their sound system and other equipment was involved in an accident (in which most of the stuff was severely damaged) the combined efforts of Lehigh’s ‘technicians’ and the Harum’s roadies made the gig very enjoyable.

Most of the evening’s material was taken from their albums, and all of it went over very well with the audience. The new arrival, for people who haven’t been following the group, is Chris Copping who replaced Matthew Fischer [sic], one of the moving forces behind Harum in the Whiter Shade of Pale days.

Harum was at its best when doing songs from Home, their most recent LP.Dead Man’s Dream and Whaling Stories were excellent in sound reproduction and instrumentation.

Harum has a way of putting these fantastic songs over with an eerie sort of beauty. Whiskey [sic] Train gave Robbie Trower a chance to show what a really fine guitarist he is. Unfortunately this is sometimes overlooked when people listen to Harum; they seem to want to pay strict attention to the organ work that they’ve heard so much about. The same is true with BJ Wilson’s drumming.

In response to demand, they did Shine on Brightly and Salty Dog. I’m quite sure Harum was relieved they heard no one ask for Whiter Shade of Pale. Let’s face it, if you had been doing a song for a few years, you’d be a bit tired of it too.

The audience was very receptive and had apparently decided they were going to have a good time. When you’re playing for people like that, you can’t help but do a good show. The audience gave the band a long standing ovation both before and after Great Balls of Fire and other surprise rock out tunes. 

(thanks, Mary)

Procol concert reviews | 1970 tour dates