What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

June 30: Three weeks until the 40th Birthday Party of Procol Harum in London, and the 'Procol Rarum' show; Procol Harum live in Sweden tonight  

Added a page of Procol photographs of Procol Harum in Zurich (thanks, Matt)

Procol's dress-rehearsal setlist will be published at BtP once the show proper is over (thanks, OE)

Only five comments so far about BJ Wilson on this page ... why not read it, and leave a comment!

June 29: Procol Harum live in Sweden tomorrow; three weeks until Procol Harum's 40th Anniversary Concert in London

Added a portrait by Mark Brzezicki here (thanks, Matt)

Added a picture of the early Procol line-up here (thanks, Gus)

June 28:

Added a portrait by Mark Brzezicki here (thanks, Matt)

Added some Brooker / Hammond session credits here (thanks, Reza) 

BJ ... only 51? ... leave a comment!

June 27: Procol Harum now rehearsing in Gavle, Sweden

Added a self-portrait by Mark Brzezicki here (thanks, Matt)

Added a paragraph to the story of AWSoP and Mr and Mrs McCartney (thanks, Skirmisher)

Under 50 tickets left now for BtP's Procol Harum 40th Anniversary Concert at St John's, Smith Square on 20 July 2007: booking here 

June 26:

Added two graphics heralding Procol Harum's upcoming Swedish orchestral gig (click pictures for larger versions) (thanks, François)

June 25: Just five days to the orchestral début of the new Procol line-up!

Added an English translation of the lately-uploaded Dutch review of Procol Harum's Live DVD (thanks, Jan)

Added a ticket-scan here (thanks, Anon) 

Let's hope Procol Sweden will be less moist than Glastonbury (pictures here)

If you have problems listening to the Ledreborg recording (see details on June 24th), you are not alone. Danmark's Radion has been told about the problems, so hopefully it will work again soon (thanks Mogens)

June 24:

Added some Bulgarian to this justly-popular page  (thanks, Svetla)

Added a photo of G Brooker sitting in lately with A Lee (thanks, Jim)

Danmarks Radio has aired dose 3 of their fantastic recording from the equally great Procol Harum concert at Ledreborg Castle last year. The programme is available for online listening for a week here. (thanks Mogens)

June 23: Four weeks until the 40th Birthday Party of Procol Harum in London, and the 'Procol Rarum' show  

Added another review (from Holland) of Procol Harum's Live DVD, filmed in Copenhagen (thanks, Ben) ... is there a Dutch speaker who would kindly translate this into English, please?

Third part of Procol Harum's fantastic concert at Ledreborg last year will be broadcast on Danish radio today: you can catch it later online as well: all details here.

Note: 40th Anniversary tickets ordered and paid for at the BtP shop have now been put in the post. Many thanks for all the messages acknowledging receipt. Thanks for everyone's kind remarks. Most customers will of course pick up their tickets on the door. Quote your street address to confirm your identity.

Note also: BtP has now stopped selling tickets for Procol Harum on 20 July and 'Procol Rarum' on 21 July. Please use the venue's official box office from now on.

Alan Matthews writes: if you've got 90 minutes spare, sit back, relax and watch the legend that is Brian Wilson and his fantastic band play at the Norwegian Wood festival ... oh, and 43 minutes 4 seconds into the performance you should spot a very familiar face enjoying proceedings.

June 22: Four weeks until Procol Harum's 40th Anniversary Concert in London

Added a translation to the Spanish DVD review we published the other day (thanks, Martin / Joey)

June 21: Special Happy Birthday to Mark Brzezicki (1957)

Added a review of Grand Hotel ... hands up if you feel that A Rum Tale is a sort of sequel to A Salty Dog (thanks, Jill)

June 20:

Added another review (from Spain) of Procol Harum's Live DVD, filmed in Copenhagen (thanks, Ben)

June 19:

Added a useful photographic page showing the Procol 40th Anniversary venue, and environs

June 18:

It was 2 years ago today ... added a magnificent miscellany of cake-shots (thanks, all)

An early update to BtP today, since one webmaster is at a Brian Wilson gig, and the other is about to set off for the end-of-tour show/party of Paler illusionist Derren Brown: what thrilling lives they do lead, to be sure.

June 17:

'My interpretation of this song makes the most sense in my head, but I didn't write the song ...'

Yet another fan writes in to BtP with a line-by-line explication of Keith Reid's enigmatic verses (thanks, Nicholas) 

June 16: Five weeks until the 40th Birthday Party of Procol Harum in London, and the 'Procol Rarum' show

Added a poster image here, and a page of related photographs here (thanks, Hans)

To answer a question: anyone may book a (free) place to meet-and-greet Procol Harum after their London show on 20 July (while places remain). Even if you are booked into the main parties on 21 July (totally sold out) you may still come to the 20 July party in addition.

So ... a few tickets remain for the Procol Harum meet-and-greet in London on Friday 20 July ... no charge, just click here to reserve your place(s)

Second part of Procol Harum's fantastic concert at Ledreborg last year will be broadcast on Danish radio today: you can catch it later online as well: all details here.

June 15: Five weeks until Procol Harum's 40th Anniversary Concert in London

BtP's two parties on Saturday 21 July – celebrating forty years of Procol Harum – are entirely sold out (thanks, everyone)

We have therefore set up – in collaboration with Procol Harum – a hitherto-unannounced Aftershow Party on Friday 20 July, the date Procol Harum are playing. Entry to this will be limited to badge-holders: click here to find out how to get your free badge!

Please note: the Saturday party sold out extremely quickly. So don't delay, if you want to come to the Friday party! As you will read, we're spreading the booking over the next eighteen hours or so – so that there is no bias towards people living in any particular time-zone.

June 14:

Added some good shots of a recent outing from Gary Brooker and Friends, under the 'No Stiletto Shoes' moniker (thanks, Robert)

Tickets for the 40th Birthday Party Saturday 21. July now on sale. Very limited capacity.

Added an illustration here (thanks, Stefano)

June 13:

Added an antique Procol setlist ... does anyone know the venue?

There is a 1980s instrumental demo available on Matthew Fisher's website: give it a listen.

June 12:

'It's in a total league and a class of its own ... beautifully done, beautifully executed ...'

With A Whiter Shade of Pale riding high in the charts (albeit 40 years ago ... how long before it's in the charts again?), why not take a look at a teaser from Henry Scott-Irvine, Procol film-maker, and founder of Shine On ... and find out who uttered the above estimation of the great single (thanks, Henry)

Ultra-rare Procol 1968 footage from Henry will be shown at the 40th Anniversary Party on 21 July 2007 (thanks, Henry)

June 11:

Sales of the Procol Harum 40th Anniversary festivities are continuing fast. All BtP's own tickets for Friday are now sold out, but we have a small quantity of tickets for Saturday available. The venue, St John's Smith Square, still has tickets for both events on sale to the public. But hurry and make your booking as soon as possible, or you may have to sit on the side balconies, which don't face the stage. For the Procol show there are fewer than 60 regular seats remaining.

If you need accommodation in London, have a look at the BtP Basecamp hotels: there's a choice, but one of these is nearly sold out.

Tickets for the 40th Anniversary Celebrations on Saturday afternoon and evening (one ticket for both events) will come on sale through BtP shortly.

All details about the 40th Anniversary Celebrations are here

Saturday's broadcast from Danish Radio featured Procol Harum in orchestral concert – from last summer's magnificent Ledreborg shows – playing Grand Hotel / Something Magic / Butterfly Boys / Homburg / The VIP Room. (Still available for online listening if you happened to miss it ... full instructions are still  at our Procol News page, which is worth keeping an eye on). Refer to the Brooker intro-variorum page, to work out which performances you have been listening to.

June 10:

June 9: Six weeks until the 40th Birthday Party of Procol Harum in London, and the 'Procol Rarum' show; Procol Harum on Danish Radio today

Added another page of pictures of Procol Harum in Rome (thanks, Francesco)

Squeeze have just announced a warm-up show at The Albany, Deptford, London on Thursday 12 July prior to their headline slot at Guilfest on 14 July. Limited capacity: on sale today, Saturday 9 June, from 11am Box office 0208 692 4446 ... www.thealbany.org.uk (Got my tix ... thanks, Peter!)

June 8: Six weeks until Procol Harum's 40th Anniversary Concert in London

'Gary Brooker and Matthew Fisher were a joy to work with ... Reid was a scary, laconic character ...'

Added some interesting excerpts from the autobiography of Procol producer Tony Visconti (thanks, Charlie)

Good to learn that Our Man in Oman is OK, this disturbing image notwithstanding (thanks, Ian)

June 7:

June 6:

June 5:

June 4:

June 3:

June 2: Seven weeks until the 40th Birthday Party of Procol Harum in London, and the 'Procol Rarum' show

Added some pictures from Procol Harum's gig last year at Chiari (thanks, Mauro) and a related Zucchero entry to the Procol covers page here (thanks, Paul)

June 1: Seven weeks until Procol Harum's 40th Anniversary Concert in London; just 40 years since the release of Sgt Pepper ...

  Read what was new on this website in previous months