What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

October 2010

Hallowe'en: Procol Harum play Los Angeles in a fortnight's time and Leamington Spa tonight

Added a historic pair of tickets here, and a tour date here (thanks, Tom)

Clarification: setlists for forthcoming concerts (links here and here, for instance) are blank at present because, although we have prepared a page to receive the information, we don't yet know what songs will be played. We rely on fans' reports when compiling these pages. Study previous setlists to see how Procol Harum vary the selection of material played from night to night (thanks, Hal)

In many parts of the world the clocks go back tonight. Evan Wagshul sends us a graphic reminder (left).

October 30: Procol Harum play Leamington Spa tomorrow, Collingswood in a week's time, Santa Barbara in a fortnight, Copenhagen again in eleven weeks, Wilmington in five weeks, and Aarhus in twelve

'The sound is rich and bold. Great care has also been taken with the artwork ... and the 23-paged booklet ... without question, this is an album worth owning ...'

Added a review of the Salvo remaster of Grand Hotel, which comes out in the USA next month (thanks, Chris)

October 29: Procol Harum play Snoqualmie in a fortnight's time and Copenhagen in eleven weeks

' ... I always think of it as sort of tailoring. You know, you kind of take in the trousers a little, a bit of length in the cuff. That sort of happens when you're working the song out ... when you hear it actually being sung you can see that you could slightly improve it, a word which looks good on paper doesn't sound so good when it's sung ...'

Added an excellent interview with Keith Reid (thanks, Anvil, et al)

Please be aware: people coming to the UK gig (Leamington Spa, 31 October) should know that the end of British Summer Time coincides with Hallowe'en; which is as much as to say that at 0200 on Sunday 31 October the official time across the UK will commute to 0100. The fans' gathering starts at 1730 GMT, and if you haven't adjusted your timepiece from BST ('the hands they both turn backwards') you'll be there an hour early, and will have longer to wait before the Procol Harum show starts ... (thank you, Martin)

October 28: Procol Harum play Tallinn in three weeks, Harrisburg in a week's time, and Vejle in twelve weeks

' ... as time goes on, as the years go on, you seem to have less and less and less time. I think whatever profession you're in, everybody would agree with that. We've got to have lots of things that help us, that make life easier. But you end up looking at e-mails for two hours a day, and by the time you get through everything, you sometimes don't feel like going and playing the piano ...'

Added an excellent and illuminating recent interview with Gary Brooker (thanks, Anvil, et al)

October 27: Procol Harum play Edmonton in a fortnight

Added a fifth and final page of pictures taken when Procol Harum played Bad Krozingen (thank you, Linda)

Gary Brooker talks to Blogtalkradio about the last four Salvo remasters (get them here), on 3 November: click here to get the programme and, usefully, to programme a personal reminder (thanks, Chris)

October 26: Procol Harum return to Edmonton in a fortnight's time, and play Aalborg in twelve

Added an excellent page that offers a glimpse of Procol Harum, on and off duty, in Poland – and (towards the bottom of the page) a little bit of time-travel too (thanks, Mac)

Read the yellow panel here, which tells you how to register, free of charge, for the Fans' Gathering at Royal Leamington Spa – on 31 October, Hallowe'en. Excellent numbers will be there !
Leamington is in the very heart of England – full details of how to get there, and how to book, are here. 

October 25:

Added an illustration to this fascinating page (thanks, Jim); recent converts to BtP might like to explore the whole series of NME pages: The Mammoth Task (extracts from the first 52 weeks of Procol coverage in the New Musical Express) and Swimming Against the Tide (extracts from the remaining ten years of Procol press in the NME) (thanks, Yan)

' ... so, I just listened to my very first Procol Harum album ...' This [click here] could develop interestingly ...

October 24: Procol Harum play Los Angeles in three weeks and Leamington Spa in a week

Added some more photographs of Procol Harum's most recent outing to San Diego (thanks, Susan) 

October 23: Procol Harum play Collingswood in a fortnight's time, Santa Barbara in three weeks, Copenhagen again in twelve weeks, Wilmington in six weeks, and Aarhus in thirteen

' ...we didn’t even have Whiter Shade of Pale on the set list, and nobody missed it ...'

Added a Gary Brooker interview from Edmonton, 2010 (thanks, Robert)

October 22: Procol Harum play Snoqualmie in three weeks' time and Copenhagen in twelve

 ' ... like hearing a orchestra without the orchestra ...'

Added an illustrated review of Procol Harum at Wantagh in the summer (thanks, Gary)

October 21: Procol Harum play Tallinn in four weeks, Harrisburg in a fortnight's time, and Vejle in thirteen weeks

 Added a seventh page of German photos (thanks, Giancarlo)

October 20: Procol Harum play Edmonton in three weeks

Added a ticket – with dramatic spelling-error – here (thanks, Chris)

The German radio channel SWR1 is inviting people to vote for the best songs ever. Please vote for A Whiter Shade of Pale by clicking www.swr.de/swr1/rp and going to 'zur Abstimmung'. Success for Procol Harum in a poll like this could lead to concert bookings, record sales, and increase our chance of hearing more songs and concerts (thanks, Hans)

October 19: Happy Birthdays Keith Reid and Pete Solley Procol Harum return to Edmonton in three weeks, and play Aalborg in thirteen

Added some photographs of Procol Harum's most recent outing to San Diego (thanks, Susan)

October 18:

Added a sixth page of German photos (thanks, Giancarlo)

Procol Harum in Harrisburg, PA: still booking ... check it out

October 17: RIP Benoit Mandelbrot Procol Harum play Los Angeles in four weeks and Leamington Spa in a fortnight

 '... we asked Gary Brooker if that was Ball's first show ...'

Added an American newspaper article including some interview comments from Gary Brooker (thanks, Bradshaw)

October 16: Procol Harum play Collingswood in three weeks' time, Santa Barbara in four weeks, Copenhagen again in thirteen weeks, Wilmington in seven weeks, and Aarhus in fourteen

October 15:  Procol Harum play Snoqualmie in four weeks' time and Copenhagen in thirteen

Added a fifth page of German photos (thanks, Giancarlo)

October 14: Procol Harum play Tallinn in five weeks, Harrisburg in three weeks, and Vejle in fourteen weeks

Click on the poster to find out about Procol Harum's only UK gig of the year, and about the Fans' Gathering. Book your tickets now! Read the yellow panel here, which tells you how to register for the Gathering – on 31 October, Hallowe'en

October 13: Procol Harum play Edmonton in four weeks

October 12: Procol Harum return to Edmonton in four weeks, and play Aalborg in fourteen

October 11:

Added a Procol Harum ticket here and here (thanks, Lars)

Added a nice page about a new Prog Rock radio show that plays round the world online and has a Procoholic co-host. Get your requests played and keep Procol Harum on the airwaves! (thanks, davelee)

Did you know Curved Air are touring the UK? Recommended by RC from BtP, fwiw!

October 10: RIP Solomon Burke  Procol Harum play Los Angeles in five weeks and Leamington Spa in three weeks

Added a fourth page of German photos (thanks, Giancarlo) 

October 9:  Procol Harum play Collingswood in four weeks, Santa Barbara in five weeks, Copenhagen again in fourteen weeks, Wilmington in eight weeks, and Aarhus in fifteen

October 8: Procol Harum play Snoqualmie in five weeks and Copenhagen in fourteen

'Beyond the Pale' is thirteen years old today: the site has been updated daily since 1997 and we'd like to thank all the contributors and well-wishers who have kept us afloat with photographs, articles, ticket-stubs, concert-publicity, interviews and donations!

Added three fresh pictures of BJ Wilson (also now added here and here) (thanks, Klaus; thanks, Frans)

October 7: Procol Harum play Tallinn in six weeks, Harrisburg in four, and Vejle in fifteen

Added a page about Procol Harum from Pollstar (thanks, Chris)

October 6: Procol Harum play Edmonton in five weeks

Added a third page of German photos (thanks, Giancarlo)

Steve Cowie notes: 'It is a sad day for me, 5 October 2010.  I just found out that the venue for the Procol Harum concert on 9 August 1975, the Pier Pavilion in Hastings, has burned down. It has special memories for me, being my first-ever pop concert. At the time, though, it was a little scary as the whole pier moved in resonance when people started dancing in time with each other!' Click here for a photograph of the pier, taken in 1987 by Paler George Bertok

October 5: Procol Harum return to Edmonton in five weeks, and play Aalborg in fifteen

October 4:

October 3:  Procol Harum play Los Angeles in six weeks' time and Leamington Spa in four weeks

 Added scans from the programme from Procol Harum's recent Chicago gig
 

October 2: Procol Harum play Collingswood in five weeks, Santa Barbara in six weeks, Copenhagen again in fifteen weeks, Wilmington in nine weeks, and Aarhus in sixteen

Added a fifth page of photographs of the Procol experience in Italy, summer 2010 (thanks, Martin)
 

October 1: Procol Harum play Snoqualmie in six weeks and Copenhagen in fifteen

Added a first page of German photos (thanks, Giancarlo)

Read what was new on this website in previous months