This was a nostalgic night as 47 years after their ground-breaking concert in Edmonton, Alberta, Procol Harum once again joined with orchestra and choir to thrill their London Palladium audience.
It is 51 years since I first heard Procol Harum’s hit single ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’, this started my interest in what soon became known as Progressive Rock. I last saw them perform live 45 years ago. Only Gary Brooker remains from the line-up that I saw all those years ago. In 2018 he was joined by Geoff Whitehorn (Guitar), Matt Pegg (Bass), Josh Phillips (Organ) and Geoff Dunn (Drums), together with a full orchestra and the English Chamber Choir.
The show started at with Conquistador and ended over two and a half hours later with a repeat of the same song. During their two sets they played every track from the ‘Live at Edmonton’ album and many more.
My favourite songs from the night were A Salty Dog, Whaling Stories and ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’.
I have seen several Rock bands perform with orchestras and choirs and some have worked better than others, this was certainly one of the best.
I was not familiar with any of their recent material but it sat well with their classics that I remembered well even though I had not listened to some of them in a very long time. The only certainty for the future is that I will not be seeing them in 45 years time!
Johns London Music Reviews 