Procol Harum fans at large

'Beyond the Pale' seems to have been instrumental in some holiday get-togethers, or gets-together, of disparate fans from various countries whose habitual interactions are confined to the cybersphere or to Procol concerts and Palers' Band rehearsals ... here are one or two snaps of such merry events:

Palers' Band guitarist Gary 'Shep' Shepard receives a flying visit from NY's Unsteady Freddie, at his home in South Carolina

Unsteady Freddie in characteristically expansive mood, with his friend Shirley, Gary's friend
and part-time co-writer, Louisa Branscomb, and axemeister Gary himself

Linda and Roland (not illustrated) marvel at one mere corner of the huge Treasure-Archive maintained near Amsterdam by
 Procol scholar Frans Steensma, pictured here with the Procol Promo Box, one of the rarest items in a remarkable collection

Roland and Linda dine in Wuppertal with the very hospitable Whaler-in-Chief Michael Ackermann

Jeremy Gilien, Bernie Mases, Al 'One-Eye' Edelist and Kurt Harding ...
getting together in front of El Coyote in LA (photo by Jill McMahon)

First meeting for an organist from LA and a film-maker from Clapham: Anglophile Jeremy Gilien drove thither
with all the aplomb of a native, and Henry Scott-Irvine showed a preliminary cut of his fantastic Procol documentary

Outside the famous barn, Messrs Brooker and Gilien, who had last met on British soil at Cropredy a year before

Jeremy and Roland in Bristol, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel's famous Suspension Bridge spanning the Avon behind

London: Palers Peter Christian and Jeremy Gilien (left) with One-Eye and Roland (right): Henry (behind) shows them the plaque
that marks the Soho studios where the Fisher-produced tracks from Home, heard on the Copping Brothers video, were recorded

Palers Karl Severson, Gary Johnson, Al 'One-Eye' Edelist, Jeremy Gilien (in Shoreham by Sea tee-shirt) and Jill McMahon gathered on the occasion of a gig at The Temple Bar in Santa Monica, in May 2005, by LA's fantastic Conjunto Jardín, who play the highly acclaimed Conquistador on From Shadow to Shadow. Gary is the arranger of that track and '... is a whiz on keys and percussive gordos and the like that made one think his twitching body is working in time to an unused mushroom.' writes One-Eye. 'His wife, Libby, intrigued us with beautiful vocals and fine guitaring ... About four songs into the set, Gary called out, "Is One-Eye here?" "Of course," I responded with a yell. Gary then dedicated the next song to the Palers in attendance and with emotive inflection stated "Procol Harum Rules!"'

Nothing remarkable about seeing these three close relations together ... except they are thousands of miles from home:
Pat, Allen and Evan Edelist in the Royal Albert Hall, while Cream are playing onstage.
In the same row, Palers Peter Christian, Roland, Linda and Peter Clare

Stefano (right) from Rome, in a Los Angeles restaurant with his three sons, Jill McMahon and Pat 'Two-Eyes' Edelist (left)

Stefano (right) from Rome again, with the Los Angeleno One-Eye, both in merry mood

Procol Harum fans Sue and Alan (see him in music-making attire here) got together in November 2005 for the specific purpose of
getting married! Paler matrimony is to be encouraged so let us hope this example spawns further such musical yokings. The
lookers-on are Alan's daughter Holly and Sue’s son Chris.

More miscellaneous photos at BtP