Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale 

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Procol Harum's European Tour, March 2003

A summary survey of the songs the band played


Procol Harum played 274 songs over 13 nights, averaging just over 21 songs per gig; only two albums they've released were not represented, but the lion's share (about 48% of the shows) needless to say went to The Well's on Fire. All tracks from this new album were played (So Far Behind and A Robe of Silk were of course heard on the road in the 1970s, and So Far Behind was a welcome addition to the 2001 setlist; An Old English Dream received 11 performances on the 2002 tours).

The 2003 European set was much more consistent than the last tour we analysed: the printed setlist was identical each night, as we understand, but (as Gary assured his troupes at Milton Keynes) 'It's only a guide!': there were plenty of surprises for the audience, and one or two for the band as well! It's of some interest that Pandora's Box has been in the set almost non-stop this century, excepting 25 and 26 May 2001, and with the possible exception of 29 May 2001, when the setlist we were sent was not reliable enough to publish (many songs had been identified by wishful thinking!).

Thirteen numbers were heard on each of the thirteen nights of this 2003 European tour: A Whiter Shade of Pale, Homburg, Conquistador, A Salty Dog, Robert's Box, Beyond the Pale, Pandora's Box, A Robe of Silk, The Blink of an Eye, The VIP Room, Wall Street Blues, So Far Behind, Weisselklenzenacht (The Signature).

Five songs were played twelve times, having a night off each as shown in brackets: Grand Hotel (Milton Keynes), The Piper's Tune (Emmen), An Old English Dream (Cologne), Shadow Boxed (Stavanger), Fellow Travellers (Stavanger).

As Strong as Samson was heard seven times, and For Liquorice John, As Strong as Samson, and The Question were played six times each. There were five airings apiece for This World is Rich (for Stephen Maboe) and The Emperor's New Clothes (but never on the same night) while the mysterious War is Not Healthy was also heard five times, following the outbreak of conflict in the Gulf.

Repent Walpurgis and Holding On were played only thrice each despite their classic status, while there were two showings only for the excellent Still There'll be More; A Christmas Camel (part), Glimpses of Nirvana (part), The Devil Came from Kansas and Every Dog Will Have His Day were heard at one gig each.

The table below lists the tour's songs (principally in order of release) specifying their recorded sources where appropriate. The column of green figures shows how often the song was played, and the red figures show not the frequency but the position of the song in the setlist of the gig named at the head of each column. Note that A Whiter Shade of Pale ended the show on ten occasions; Repent Walpurgis was the closer twice, and, surprisingly enough, The Question once.

The gigs were: Norway: Stavanger, Skien, Oslo; Denmark, Portalen; UK: Lewisham, Milton Keynes; Holland: Zoetermeer, Emmen; Germany: Stuttgart, Cologne, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Aschaffenburg.

Source

Song

Qty

Sta

19

Ski

20

Osl

21

Por

22

Lew

22

Mil

21

Zoe

22

Emm

17

Stu

24

Col

21

Ham

22

Nür

22

Asc

22

Single

A Whiter Shade of Pale

13

18

20

21

22

22

21

20

17

22

19

22

22

22

Single

Homburg

13

6

6

6

6

6

5

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

Procol Harum 1967

Conquistador

13

15

18

19

20

20

18

18

16

19

17

18

18

18

Procol Harum 1967

A Christmas Camel

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

 

Procol Harum 1967

Repent Walpurgis

3

19

 

 

 

 

 

22

 

 

21

 

 

 

Shine on Brightly

Glimpses of Nirvana

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

A Salty Dog

A Salty Dog

13

17

19

20

21

19

19

19

13

20

18

19

19

19

A Salty Dog

The Devil Came from Kansas

1

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home

Still There'll Be More

2

 

 

 

10

 

17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel

12

4

4

4

4

4

 

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

Grand Hotel

For Liquorice John

6

 

15

15

16

16

 

 

 

16

 

 

 

15

Grand Hotel

Robert's Box

13

7

7

7

7

7

7

7

9

7

7

7

7

7

Exotic Birds and Fruit

Beyond the Pale

13

9

14

14

15

15

14

14

14

15

14

15 

15

14

Exotic Birds and Fruit

As Strong as Samson

7

10

9

9

 

 9

9

9

 

 

 

9

 

 

Procol's Ninth

Pandora's Box

13

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

Procol's Ninth

The Piper's Tune

12

11

11

11

12

12

11

11

 

12

11

12

11

11

The Prodigal Stranger

Holding On

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

9

The Well's on Fire

An Old English Dream

12

16

16

16

17

17

15

16

7

17

 

16

16

16

The Well's on Fire

Shadow Boxed

12

 

10

10

11

10

10

10

12

11

10

10

10

10

The Well's on Fire

A Robe of Silk

13

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

The Well's on Fire

The Blink of an Eye

13

13

13

13

14

14

13

13

8

14

13

14

14

13

The Well's on Fire

The VIP Room

13

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

 1

1

1

1

The Well's on Fire

The Question

6

 

 

 

9

11

 

15

 

23

9

 

9

 

The Well's on Fire

This World is Rich (for Stephen Maboe)

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

15

21

20

20

The Well's on Fire

Fellow Travellers

12

 

8

8

8

8

8

8

10

8

8

8

8

8

The Well's on Fire

Wall Street Blues

13

5

5

5

5

5

6

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

The Well's on Fire

The Emperor's New Clothes

5

8

 

18

19

21

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Well's on Fire

So Far Behind

13

12

12

12

13

13

12

12

11

13

12

13

12

12

The Well's on Fire

Every Dog Will Have His Day

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11

 

 

The Well's on Fire

Weisselklenzenacht (The Signature)

13

14

17

17

18

18

16

17

15

18

16

17

17

17

New

War is Not Healthy

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

 

9

20

 

21

21


 31

Different songs

3

From Procol Harum

1

From Shine on Brightly

2

From  A Salty Dog

1

From  Home

0

from  Broken Barricades

3

From  Grand Hotel

2

From Exotic Birds and Fruit

3

from Procol's Ninth

0

From Something Magic

1

From The Prodigal Stranger

13

from The Well's on Fire

3

non-album tracks

This table shows how many different songs from each source were played on the tour.


 274

Songs altogether

17

From Procol Harum

1

from Shine on Brightly

14

From  A Salty Dog

2

From  Home

0

from  Broken Barricades

31

From  Grand Hotel

20

From Exotic Birds and Fruit

25

from Procol's Ninth

0

From Something Magic

2

From The Prodigal Stranger

131

from The Well's on Fire

31

non-album tracks

This table indicates how many of the tour's song-performances originated with each source. 


Have a look at BtP's list of set-lists 

Procol Harum concerts in 2003: index page


Back to the 2003 index


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