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What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

May 2003

May 31: Seven weeks until Procol Harum play the Plauen Festival in Germany

Added some stage pictures of Procol Harum at Nuremberg (thanks, Andreas)

May 30: Ten weeks until Procol Harum play the Cropredy Festival

Added a very interesting and insightful Gary Brooker interview from 7 May (thanks, Ronnie)

Added a link to a good German website, with a review of The Well's on Fire, to this page of Procol weblinks (thanks, Walter)

Added useful booking details to gig pages here and here

May 29: Happy Birthday Gary Brooker (1945)! Seven weeks until Procol Harum play Mainz, Germany

What better way to mark The Commander's birthday than with this excellent, wide-ranging interview given by him in April 2003?
This is a must-read ... and a must-follow-the-links-in-it as well (thanks, Dan)

We're also delighted to mark this auspicious day with the announcement of seven more Procol gigs, in Italy, Japan and America ... and these are not the final gig-announcements of the year: click to read details of gigs on 6 July, 7 July, 8 July, 27 July, 28 July, 3 August, 31 October and 3 November (great work here from Chris at PH management)

May 28:

Added the Phonogram press-release for Gary Brooker's second solo album, Lead me to the Water

May 27:

'a monument to rock'n'roll sophistication and intelligence'

Read the US record-company press-release that accompanied Gary Brooker's second solo album, Lead me to the Water (thanks, Marvin)

May 26:

Added a page about the Heineken Night of the Proms, 1993, and a question about the CD depicted in the programme (thanks, Hermann)

May 25: Two months until Procol Harum return to Stuttgart

Added a page of photographs (chiefly featuring their contributor!) from the Procol gig at the Bottom line in NYC on 9 May (thanks, Unsteady Freddie)

Added a date to the Procol early gigs page ... search for 'Mylon' (thanks, Dave)

May 24: Eight weeks until Procol Harum play the Plauen Festival in Germany

Added a brief account of Procol Harum at Alexandria, USA, from a fan who also did a great job promoting this website (thanks, George)

Added a song-by-song account of the same concert (thanks, Ross)

Added a Mannheim ticket for the Rosengarten 1992, though in fact Procol played the Fire Station instead (thanks, Hans)

May 23: Eleven weeks until Procol Harum play the Cropredy Festival;

Added three new dates to the Procol Harum 2003 tour schedule: at Aalborg and Vejle in Denmark, and a highly prestigious London gig just before Christmas! (thanks, Chris)

Removed one date from the Procol Harum 2003 tour schedule: the TV appearance in Baden-Baden isn't going to happen, unfortunately.

Added a brand new picture of Keith Reid to the appropriate page (thanks, Unsteady Freddie)

Coming soon ... the answer to this question: whose life is described in Gary Brooker's song, Home Loving?

May 22: Eight weeks until Procol Harum play Mainz, Germany

Added an interesting souvenir to this Philadelphia setlist (thanks, Doug)

You may or may not realise it, but you almost certainly own a Procol record with the Brooker / Fisher / Reid composition, 'Junkie Stuff' on it ... read this report on the Procol IMAC concert to know more about this and other topics (thanks, Gary)

May 21:

Added a very nice report on Procol at the Birchmere (thanks, Elizabeth)

Please enjoy the pictures recently added to this Boston House of Blues page (thanks, One-Eye)

Procol Harum to play West Coast of America ...
We are still fielding comments from fans who – not knowing how these things work – believe Procol Harum are being somehow negligent in not playing the West Coast of the USA.

May we repeat that it's not within any band's power simply to decide to play somewhere. Bands need to be booked by venues, and the West Coast venues seem uncertain of Procol's pulling power.

If you want the band to play the San Francisco area, then use your telephone NOW to call the 'buyers' at these four numbers:

Fillmore - 415-346-6000 ; Clear Channel (San Francisco) - 415-371-5500
Slims - 415-255-0333 ; Great American Music Hall - 415-885-0750

These are all buyers who have lately been approached by PH's management and agents, but who remain reticent, unaware of the strength of the band. If they get a deluge of 'phone calls from fans, we might expect the band to get booked.

The question to ask when you ring is simple:
"When are Procol Harum playing at your theatre? Why aren't they booked?"

Do not remain complacent about this ... we are recommending you to make four telephone calls, in exchange for which you might see Procol locally. It's in the band's interest as well as your own. Tell the venues that you will turn up in great numbers. Tell them the band sold out all their East Coast dates. Point to the excellent responses in the Press and on this website.

The people who think this is an unconventional way to go about promoting a band should realise Procol Harum is an unconventional commodity, and we are an unconventional body of fans with an unconventionally-active website.

Please make those calls now

May 20:

Added a Gary Brooker interview from a New Jersey newspaper just before the band played New York (thanks, Carol)

Added a picture to this Birchmere, Alexandria page (thanks, One-Eye)

May 19:

Added a seventh instalment to BtP's ongoing Procol North American tour diary (thanks, One-Eye)

Added a graphic and fascinating account of Procol Harum at the House of Blues in Boston, USA (thanks, John)

May 18: Nine weeks until Procol Harum return to Stuttgart

Added the Washington Times's great review of the new Procol album, with a Gary Brooker interview (thanks, folks)

Added comments about Matthew Fisher and about Keith Reid to our collection of The Commander's Testimonials (thanks, Dan)

Please enjoy the pictures recently added to this Philadelphia diary entry (thanks, One-Eye)

May 17: Nine weeks until Procol Harum play the Plauen Festival in Germany

Please enjoy the pictures recently added to our Montréal pages here and here (thanks, One-Eye)

Added a thoroughly comprehensive mis-hearing of Cerdes (Outside the Gates of) to this page of Procol Mondegreens (thanks, John)

Added a pictorial reports on Procol's triumphant Stuttgart gig in March (thanks, Hans)

For the delight of our many new visitors we are compiling a few useful tips about our website in the coming updates: check out some of Gary Brooker's song-introductions from concerts past ... and then send us more from your own sources!

May 16: Twelve weeks until Procol Harum play the Cropredy Festival; in nine weeks' time, Baden-Baden

Added a review from the Boston Herald about Procol's recent Cambridge concert (thanks Marvin)

Without Randy Newman, whom Keith Reid admires, there would maybe never have been The Devil Came from Kansas. But does Newman also admire Reid? The answer is in this article (thanks, Beverly)

For the amusement of our many new visitors we are adducing a few useful tips about our website in the coming updates: check out the suite of pages about the astonishing 9-man Procol Harum Birthday Party at Redhill in 1997 ... which arguably got the ball rolling for all the current activity.

May 15: Nine weeks until Procol Harum play Mainz, Germany

Added an amusing report on a recent Procol gig in Germany (thanks, Ethan)

Added a review focusing on the lighting provided by Procol 's new technician (thanks, Tom)

Question: did you ever see Procol Harum play on a barge in Lake Erie? Please visit this page and see if you can tell us the exact date of this curious episode (thanks, Howard)

For the assistance of our many new visitors we are furnishing a few useful tips about our website in the coming updates: did you know that you can work back through the BtP's daily updates by clicking on links starting from this page?

May 14: RIP Noel Redding

'Procol Harum covering The Monkees?! Can the Apocalypse be far behind ...'

Added a nicely-illustrated account of Procol Harum at Huntington, NY (thanks, Bert)

Added a sixth instalment to BtP's ongoing Procol North American tour diary (thanks, One-Eye)

As a service to all our new visitors we will supply a few useful tips about our website in the coming few updates: an excellent family-tree showing Procol Harum's line-ups through the years starts here. And you can read more about all the musicians here.

May 13:

Added the setlist – with many surprises – for the final night of Procol Harum's triumphant eight-gig foray into Canada and the United States (thanks, Alan)

Added a Very Pleasing Photograph to this IMAC index page (thanks, Kerry)

Remember how Procol Harum split up after playing final New York gig ...

Fans of BJ Wilson, Robin Trower and Gary Brooker should hurry to this page where we have news of a very delightful collectable CD now available (thanks, Per)

BtP had 14,679 page-views yesterday. A new all-time high ... welcome, new Palers!

For the benefit of all our new visitors we will offer a few useful tips about 'Beyond the Pale' in the coming few days: all Procol Harum's albums (sound and vision) are listed here. And we are registering the numerous compilation albums here.

May 12: International Procol Harum day

Celebrate the thirty-sixth anniversary of Procol's first record release by playing your favourite thirty-six tracks as loudly as you like, preferably out of the window ... and by enjoying this good new picture of the band in performance (thanks, Jonas)

Listen out for Procol Harum and Shadow Boxed on 'Regis and Kelly', the popular American television show : a bit of the song will be played in the context of a competition ... good exposure (5.5 million viewers!) for the band (thanks, Lyell)

Added the setlist for last night's 22-song Procol recital on Long Island (thanks, One-Eye)

Added a New York Times snippet to the Bottom Line index page (thanks, Robert)

Added the 'sold out' IMAC flyer to the IMAC index page (thanks, Dave)
As a service to our many new visitors we will supply a few handy tips about our website in the next few updates: the site has several options for interactivity: a mail-list, message forums, our Procol Harum newsletter and more. See here for more information.

May 11: Today Procol Harum play in NYC; ten weeks until they return to Stuttgart

Added a fifth instalment to BtP's ongoing Procol North American tour diary (thanks, One-Eye)

We have to thank Al 'One-Eye' Edelist for covering this tour – as Gary Brooker did from the IMAC stage tonight, going on to play Quite Rightly So for the first time on this tour (the number Allen sings on Lost in the Looking-Glass, albeit in a rather deeper voice [listen here]! )

Al's return home to LA for Mother's Day means that we very much need someone who's going to the last gig of the tour to send us the Bottom Line setlist from today, 11 May

Added the two setlists – early show, late show – for Procol Harum's mammoth evening at the Bottom Line in New York City, where great numbers of fans heard 36 numbers played, some 23 different songs (thanks, One-Eye, thanks, David)

Added a brief, illustrated first impression of a Bottom Line gig (thanks, Bert)

For the benefit of all our new visitors we will offer a few useful tips about 'Beyond the Pale' in the coming few days: did you know we have an invaluable search engine here?

May 10: Tonight, Procol Harum play Long Island, USA, and tomorrow in NYC; ten weeks until the Plauen Festival in Germany

Added a fourth instalment to BtP's ongoing Procol North American tour diary (thanks, One-Eye)

Added the text from Time Out (New York edition) that looks forward to the weekend's Bottom Line concerts (thanks, Unsteady Freddie)

Added a link to our tour index page so that fans can download and listen on mp3 to three fine songs broadcast live in NYC by Procol Harum on 8 May (thanks, Dave)

As a service to all our new visitors we will supply a few handy tips about our website in the coming few updates: for example, we have some helpful website FAQ here

May 9: Thirteen weeks until Procol Harum play the Cropredy Festival; in ten weeks' time, Baden-Baden; today, two shows in NYC, tomorrow, Long Island, USA

13,366 pageviews yesterday. Nice to see we get new visitors all the time.

'The feared bombast was in short supply ...'

Added a complimentary review of the recent Procol concert in Alexandria, USA, from The Washington Post (thanks, George)

Added a brilliantly welcome Procol picture to this page (thanks, Boyd)

Added the setlist (one significant surprise!) for last night's Procol concert in Philadelphia PA (thanks, Harold; thanks, One-Eye)

For the benefit of our many new visitors we will be offering a few useful tips about 'Beyond the Pale' in the next few days: for instance: the words of all Procol Harum's published songs can be found here

May 8: Tomorrow, Procol Harum play two shows in NYC, ten weeks to the gig in Mainz, Germany

12,765 pageviews yesterday is a new all time high for BtP. The previous record was set when Procol Harum toured Norway in March.

Added a brief and appreciative review of Procol's Montréal concert (thanks, Wayne)

Added a graphic to this setlist (thanks, Marvin!)

Added the setlist from Procol Harum at the Birchmere, Alexandria, VA, in America (thanks, Elizabeth, One-Eye and others)

Added a third, fascinating instalment to BtP's ongoing Procol North American tour diary (thanks, One-Eye)

May 7: Procol Harum play Philadelphia tonight, and two shows in NYC on Friday

' … Ray Charles … sounded like an American version of Gary Brooker … '

Added a brief and appreciative review of Procol's Boston (USA) concert (thanks, Sam)

Added the setlist from the above concert, which contains a couple of very nice surprises (thanks, One-Eye)

A tale of woe, and a couple of free Procol tickets!
I will not be able to make it to the Birchmere show on Tuesday night, and I have two tickets waiting at the will-call. The Birchmere's site says that someone else may pick them up if they have the name and the Ticketmaster order number. The name is David Robertson, the order number 8-11935/WDC, and the last four digits of the credit card used are 7563. This also appears on the confirmation, and they may want it.

Ticketmaster does not indicate that the show is sold out, but you may still find a use for the tickets. Use them, sell them, give them away. I ask nothing in return except that the Palers there drink a toast to me. Maybe whoever gets the tickets would like to buy a couple of pitchers of Dominion Pale Ale (local Virginia brew, quite respectable) for this purpose, or donate the price of the seats to the upkeep of BTP, by clicking on the panel above right. If you claim them in advance of the show, let BtP know, and they can inform the rest of the world that they are taken.

If need be, contact me on my office e-mail, or call me during normal working hours in the eastern time zone on Tuesday at 1-800-345-2900. Just ask for Snake. I will be in the office most of the day, sadly not on the road north to Alexandria. Also, please ask the boys not to play Homburg, so I can console myself with the knowledge that I did not miss my favorite old PH song. (You don't have to do this!) (thanks and commiserations, Snake)

May 6: Procol Harum play Philadelphia tomorrow, and Alexandria, VA, tonight

Added the multilingual text of a fascinating piece about Procol Harum in Manchester from Highlands Magazine ... [incidentally this is the only printed review we know of of the Palers' Band] (merci, Didier; thanks, Emily )

May 5: Procol Harum play Alexandria, VA, tomorrow, and Cambridge, Mass, tonight

' ... the music written by Gary causes Keith's words to explode ...'

Added a personal response to the recent Procol triumph in Montréal (thanks, Michel)

Added a second, fascinating instalment to BtP's ongoing Procol North American tour diary (thanks, One-Eye)

May 4: In a week's time Procol Harum will play their third 2003 date in NYC; eleven weeks until they return to Stuttgart

Of course, we are updating the Montréal setlist each time we get a despatch from the auditorium where Procol Harum are playing. So here is the complete setlist (thanks, One-Eye)

Canadian fans are quick off the mark: added a first review of last night's Montréal gig (thanks Mike)

Added a link showing a Procol influence on the cover of the Exxon-Mobil Annual Report ... or vice versa ... does this strengthen the case that the 'Well' Procol Harum had in mind was an oil well?

Added some information to our page about Procol Harum's auxiliary Hammond man (thanks, Josh)

Derren Brown has added a final date to his sell-out UK tour, a solo gig at London's Palace Theatre in Shaftesbury Ave on 8 June, 'home of Les Mis, which is stopping for a night, of course'. Derren made his record début with Glimpses of Nirvana on 'Lost in the Looking-Glass' – we hope Procol fans will be able to get into this extra show. The rest of the tour sold out twice over, so book soon for the Palace Theatre by ringing 020 7494 5554. You can order Lost in the Looking-Glass online by clicking this link

May 3: Procol Harum play Montréal, Canada, tonight; and Long Island, USA, in a week's time; eleven weeks until the Plauen Festival in Germany

Added a Procol tour-diary and its first instalment as the band embark on their seven North American concerts (thanks, One-Eye)

'Reid's lyrics zig-zag familiarly between the poetic and indecipherable ...'

Added a nice review of The Well's on Fire from yesterday's Washington Post (thanks, George)

Have a crack at a Procol lyrics quiz at funtrivia.com! "I would tend to think most Palers would have both the Thin End of the Wedge and actually the whole enchillada on this one ..." says its creator (thanks, Bruce)

Fresh Fruit, our free newsletter, now has exactly 1,500 subscribers. We are still accepting more: See here for more details

Can anyone help out Jeff Levine with a couple of tickets for Procol's upcoming Philadelphia show?

Henry Henson ... we are trying to answer your various queries about Lost in the Looking-Glass but mails to your address are coming back as undeliverable. In any event, your CDs are in the mail

May 2: Fourteen weeks until Procol Harum play the Cropredy Festival; in eleven weeks' time, Baden-Baden; Montréal, Canada, tomorrow

Added some pictures taken at the excellent Stuttgart gig that was lately heard from SWF1 in Germany … a benchmark concert from the European Tour and well-worth travelling 360 km for (thanks, Carlo and Peter)

American Procol fans!! If you are planning to go to an extra show on next week's tour, make it the one in Montréal. BtP gathers that the US dates are all going to sell out, but that Montréal (tomorrow, 3 May) still has capacity.

Spare Procol tickets for sale: Al 'One-Eye' Edelist has one ticket for Montréal, one ticket for Boston, and one for each of the Bottom Line shows in NYC. Mail him by clicking here, or ring his cell 'phone, 8186941684. His hotel numbers during the tour are 5148789000 in Montréal; 6177341393 in Boston; 2123910088 in NYC.

May Day: Eleven weeks to Procol's gig in Mainz, Germany

'These dinosaurs have made a new album ... '

See what the Hamburger Abendblatt made of The Well's on Fire (thanks, Peter)

Read an English translation of the website text about Procol Harum's concert broadcast yesterday (thanks, Ulrich)

Read what was new on this website in previous months