What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

February 28: Fifteen nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, London

Added some decidedly lo-res pictures of the last gig Procol Harum played in the UK.

Added a picture of a ticket here (thanks Carlo)

February 27: Four days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added a list of dates played by Gary Brooker on the 1993 Rock Meets Classic tour (thanks, Nik)

February 26: Eighteen nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

Added the biography of Procol Harum, from Eagle Rock, their new label (thanks, Chris)

February 25: Six days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

What musical projects occupied Gary Brooker during the early years of the 1990s? Added an excellent article, looking back ten years, about Rock Meets Classic (thanks, Hermann)

We lack one or two dates for the table at the foot of that page: can anybody help?

Added a ticket scan here (thanks Knut)

BtP has no information about why the announced Gary Brooker interview was not aired on BBC Radio 2 yesterday, but we will let you know when we have.

• Hotel booking for Palers going to Procol shows in Lewisham / Milton Keynes is soon closing. Order your accommodation via e-mail links on the pages here and here.
• We are very pleased to announce that there will be a private bar for Palers (no need to book! Just turn up to the gig) at the Theatre after the Lewisham gig. It'll be open until 11 pm with a quarter of an hour's drink-up time. Of course, we have invited Procol Harum to join us, but we're well aware that they are playing the following evening so they may be ready for a sharp exit instead
• If you have booked accommodation in Croydon and are still waiting for confirmation from the hotel: don't worry - these things are handled in batches and as far as BtP knows no confirmations have been sent yet.

February 24: Nineteen nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, London

BBC Radio 2 Simon Mayo Album Chartshow (7 pm): Gary Brooker will be talking about the new Procol album

Added a 1973 review of the DoubleBack Shine on Brightly / Home (thanks, Phil)

February 23: Eight days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

What (if any) was the first Procol Harum song that disappointed you? Did it subsequently win you round? 

Added a page about Simple Sister, viewed from an unashamedly personal perspective. 

And let's not overlook another, more thorough, feature on the same song. 

And let's not overlook Gary Brooker's orchestral score of the same song, now owned by a proud fan in the USA, whose purchase of it did much to keep 'Beyond the Pale' out of debt (thanks, Gary; thanks, Paul)

February 22: Twenty-two nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

BBC Radio 2 Bob Harris radio show: The Well's on Fire should be featured, we understand ... try the webcam ...

' ... the songwriting wins an epic tug-of-war against the horrible backing instrumentation and arrangements ...'

Which Procol oeuvre does the above quotation refer to? Added a page that might upset all the Americans who recently voted it their favourite album (thanks, Galpy)

February 21: Ten days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added a couple of nice Zoetermeer Procol tickets, here and here ... and of course here

If you've booked for forthcoming Procol shows, why not send us your ticket scans now?

February 20: Twenty-three nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, London

Added a page by way of example of 'local action' … read what a Danish fan has done to alert his local media about the new Procol Harum album, and then do the same thing yourself! (thanks, Thomas)

February 19: Twelve days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added a detail from the CD liner for The Well's on Fire ... nice to see Chris Copping and Chris Thomas credited ... and a good surprise to find out who that was singing back-up on Shadow-Boxed (thanks, yet another Chris)

Added news of Procol Harum UK radio promotion of the new album in coming days: see here for details

Orders for the Lost in the Looking-Glass double-CD from the Palers' Project have been going out within 24 hours. Please note, though, that no albums will be sent out between 20 February and 1 March, owing to works holiday.

Don't stop ordering, though! Please click here to pay online : 40 Procol Harum songs reinvented and revisited in studios all over the world, and 'compulsive listening' according to The Commander, Gary Brooker

February 18: Twenty-six nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

Added a brief but glowing review of The Well's on Fire (thanks, Antonio; thank you, Martin)

February 17: Fourteen days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added a page showing extracts from the spring programme from Norway's Stavanger Konserthus, where Procol Harum will kick off the tour to promote their new album.

Some reminders:

• Hotel booking for Palers going to Procol shows in Lewisham / Milton Keynes: order your accommodation via pages here and here
• Have you pre-ordered the new Procol studio album? Direct links here, hereand here
  Have you telephoned all your local record shops to get them to order it? Remember ... big sales could possibly lead to another studio album. Disappointing sales will certainly mean the opposite. Also remember ... five years of Paler Action has helped to get us thus far ... fans' efforts are not in vain.

February 16: Twenty-seven nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, London

Added a review of Shine on Brightly that is in marked contrast to the one offered on 13 February (thanks, Dave)

Added a booking-link to the page forProcol's gig at IMAC ... follow that to see a picture and read some new text about the band

February 15: Sixteen days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added pictures of two albums with Portuguese Procol covers on them, here and here (thanks, Aurélio)

Added a page containing a picture that you can copy and print, to make a lapel-badge that will enable fellow Palers to recognise you at forthcoming Procol Harum gigs.

February 14: Thirty nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

Added a comprehensive and nicely-illustrated report of the hilarious first Procol Harum gig of the 2002 tour ... where new Well's on Fire material was first heard live. This report contains a detailed assessment WH Auden's influence on Keith Reid's Old English Dream from that album

February 13: Eighteen days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

'Musical carbon copies rarely approach the quality of their predecessors'

Added an interesting, perhaps rather contentious, review of Shine on Brightly ... Plus! (thanks, Galpy)

Read another opinion, and lots of detailed observation, in BtP's original review of the same album.

People going to UK Procol concerts in March: book your hotel rooms using the special links on the pages for the Lewisham Base Camp and the Milton Keynes Base Camp. This will ensure that the information you send is in the form that is expected.

February 12: Thirty-one nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, London

Added a page confirming an excellent base-camp for all Palers going to the Procol gig at Lewisham (thanks, Sophie)

Added a new banner showing all the European dates of the The Well's on Fire tour (thanks, Jonas)
 

February 11: Twenty days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added a page about the Palers' Base-Camp at Milton Keynes for 16 March (thanks, Yvonne)

By the way we understand that there are 30 seats left at the Milton Keynes gig. The venue is intending to sell some standing places as well, however.

Details of the Base-Camp for Lewisham will follow very shortly.

To add yourself to the list of people attending these UK gigs in March, click here

If you're in Canada, you can pre-order The Well's on Fire using this direct link

February 10: Thirty-four nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

BtP's filing-system has disgorged some fuzzy-but-interesting snaps from Procol gigs last summer. Here's a page that reveals the curious surroundings of the band's last UK gig of 2002, at Bramhall. Manchester

February 9: Twenty-two days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Added a new page of pictures taken at the No Stiletto Shoes gig near Gary Brooker's home, just before Christmas

February 8: Thirty-five nights until Procol Harum play Lewisham, London

Added a couple of American dates to Procol Harum's The Well's on Fire tour (thanks, Chris)

Keep an eye on 'Beyond the Pale' for details of additional gigs ... these will be East Coast, so West Coasters will have to Learn to Fly. We understand that Procol Harum are also keen to play Toronto on this visit.

We have fresh supplies of the Palers' Project CD, Lost in the Looking-Glass. Please order! You can read Gary Brooker's praise for this double album of 40 Procol songs, revisited and reinvented, by clicking here (or on the button, right); you can securely order the album by credit card or by PayPal by clicking here. All receipts help towards the costs of keeping 'Beyond the Pale' online, and further our work publicising Procol Harum to the world.

February 7: Twenty-four days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

Since so many Procol Harum fans also follow Richard Thompson (and if not, why not?) ... do watch the RT documentary on BBC 4 at 9 pm tonight.

Corrected an error here (thanks, Gunnar)

Added a new page of pictures taken at the No Stiletto Shoes gig near Gary Brooker's home, just before Christmas

February 6: Thirty-eight nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

Since so many Procol Harum fans also follow Richard Thompson (and if not, why not?) ... do watch the RT documentary on BBC 4 at 9 pm tomorrow.

Added a nice wee review of the six clips from The Well's on Fire that have been aired at 'Beyond the Pale' (thanks, Charlie)

February 5: Twenty-six days until Procol Harum release The Well's on Fire: order it here, here or here

We hear that tickets for the German Procol shows are selling extremely fast: do book soon, if you hope to get in (thanks, Hans)

Added (here) news of an upcoming UK radio broadcast from Gary Brooker.

Added a page featuring two Procol / Fillmore East illustrations (thanks, Dave)

February 4: Forty nights and forty days until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

Lightly updated our page on Ian Wallace, who drummed with Procol Harum ten years ago (thanks, Marjorie)

Added a DJ preview copy of Fires (Which Burnt Brightly) to our page of promotional discs (thanks, Beverly)

Added a ticket from 30 September 1975 (thanks, Beverly)

Added a Swedish poster to the 1992 tour-dates page (thanks, Beverly)

February 3: Forty days and forty nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, UK

Today ... at some unspecified juncture ... our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all 1,368 subscribers where to find pre-release excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here

Added a fascinating page, being the statistical breakdown of the feedback from some 250 Palers who took the trouble to fill in our Procol for the USA survey. Read this to get a picture of the nature of our North American friends, and their current thinking towards Procol Harum, their records, and this website.

New traffic record in BtP in January: 213,863 pageviews generated by 1,438 daily visitors!

February 2: Forty-two nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

One day to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all 1,364 subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!

Added a new page of pictures taken at the No Stiletto Shoes gig near Gary Brooker's home, just before Christmas

February 1: Forty-two nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, UK

Two days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!

Added two more European gigs ... Zoetermeer and Emmen ... to the The Well's on Fire tour (thanks, Chris)

Added a tour banner, which will show up on various pages (thanks, Jonas)

Added a page showing who is going to any the UK gigs in March. When we have a few more names listed, we'll be able to see about organising a communal hotel or two to add to the revelry. So please let us know if you are coming ... don't delay!

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