720119
Birmingham Town Hall (with the Amazing Blondel) (article here)
720121
Newcastle City Hall (with the Amazing Blondel) (article here)
720122
Manchester Free Trade Hall (with the Amazing Blondel) (article here)
720123
Bristol Colston Hall (with the Amazing Blondel) (article here)
720124
Portsmouth Guildhall (with the Amazing Blondel) (article here)
720125
Sheffield City Hall (with the Amazing Blondel) (article here)
720303
Salford University (with Iron Maiden and Victor Brox Blues Train)
'I went to this concert in Oxford 1972, 'writes Bill Redhead, who also kindly found us this ticket, 'but in the intervening years I lost any record of it. While sorting out some very old stuff at the weekend I came across my 1972 diary in which I had noted the concert date and venue. After all these years I can't remember a lot about the concert, but the bits I remember are: Dave Ball was on guitar; I heard Bringing Home the Bacon for the first time; they played In Held 'Twas In I, from Autumn of My Madness onwards. I also remember that when Gary announced In Held 'Twas In I, a guy sitting near me exclaimed "They can't play that!"' (thanks, Bill)
PA Hicks writes to BtP to say that this was his first-ever Procol Harum show: "I had just that day finished my first Teaching Practice I was at teacher-training college in Weymouth, and was really looking forward to seeing them. It was a magnificent gig: they were supported by Supertramp and someone else who I can't remember. Dave Ball was on lead guitar. I particularly remember a blinding Whaling Stories. I was also shocked to hear the encore of AWSoP because a few days earlier I had read an interview with Gary Brooker who said he was fed up with it and wouldn't sing it again! As a result of the gig I immediately bought a copy of Home which I played incessantly! A great night a mere 36 years ago!"
720413
Sunshine Inn, Asbury Park, New Jersey (see here)
Auditorium Theatre, Chicago (with Mark-Almond) (setlist)
Songs played included Power Failure, A Salty Dog (with seagulls), Conquistador, In Held 'Twas In I (with explosion). They also previewed several new songs from the Grand Hotel album. (thanks, Pam Chwedyk)
Regarding the 1970 / 1971 / 1972 concerts in Chicago, I was at all three I believe the 1970 Ravinia Concert was 17 July 1970, my first PH Show very excellent. Black Oak Arkansas show was a mess, less than an hour before the encores, all 50s and 60s blues songs. Brooker was clearly in a bad mood. Mark-Almond show was sweet. (thanks, George Andrews)
720422
Ithaca College, NY (note here)
720423
Honolulu International Convention Center, with Humble Pie. "Most concerts were held in the HIC Arena but something else was going on that night so the show was held in the low ceiling convention center. There were ceiling supports all over so you had to be careful not to get behind one of those and lose visibility. I was 15 at the time and definitely stoned but one thing's for sure, it was one of the loudest concerts I've ever been too. The PA was meant for the arena so in this much smaller place it really blasted." (thanks, Joel Barron)
720504
'Procol Harum played at the Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, California, on 30 June 1972. Support acts were Lamb, The Eagles. I was there.' (John Thurau, Phoenix, AZ)
Oklahoma Civic Center Music Hall.
'You can add opening acts the Eagles, followed by Booger Band, then Procol Harum. Booger Band was a local Atlanta group, composed of a drummer (Joel Maloney) and keyboard player (Wil Boulware). Great site, by the way!' (John Underwood)
Staten Island (according to July 1972's Rolling Stone
... we await evidence that the gig was actually played)
'The evidence that you are seeking (graphic, right): I co-produced the two concerts on 16
July at the Ritz Theatre in Staten Island, New York.
We originally booked Procol for one show, but due to the 45rpm release
of Conquistador from
the Edmonton
album and the Top
40 AM radio airplay of it (it charted quite well), demand for tickets
was such that we added another show ... both early and late show were SRO (standing room only).
'We also had Procol at the
Ritz on 21 August 1971, the Blues Project
(later version of The Band) opened. There was a nice review of the
concert in the Village Voice in their Scenes section, I
have a copy of it somewhere.'
(thanks,
Anonymous Contributor!)
720721
The Music Hall, Kansas City
720723
St Louis ... Dave Ball's last gig with Procol Harum, it seems
720922
The Rainbow, London ... Mick Grabham's first gig with Procol Harum
Stuttgart, Germany
721101
Albany, Palace Theatre (with Tir Na n'Og & Steeleye Span) (thanks, Martin Stassen)
Re: your request for specific recollections of late-1972 Procol dates, I have here the ticket stub from my first PH concert, which took place at the Aquarius Theatre in Boston on the fifth of November, 1972.
The opening act was Steeleye Span, who played a lively set to generous applause. Some time later, the lights were all turned down, and one could barely make out the members of Procol Harum taking the darkened stage. We heard the sound of drums being tried out no surprise, of course but then that morphed into the opening drum figure for Bringing Home the Bacon (which none of us had ever heard before, of course). By accident or intent, the lighting person very effectively flickered the lights during those introductory measures, and only when Chris Copping played the famous organ line was the stage bathed in light: Nice! I remember also hearing Grand Hotel for the first time that night Gary told us it was the title for their forthcoming new album and Fires (Which Burnt Brightly), which Gary introduced by saying, 'Keith Reid describes this one as a campaign song.' (I didn't know what he meant by that, but I do remember thinking it was one of the most gorgeous pop songs I'd ever heard.) Gary introduced Mick Grabham (we were, of course, expecting Mr Ball), who broke at least two guitar strings during the set but played brilliantly well, and he made a brief reference to the famous date. ('Anyone here know what day it is? Gunpowder and treason, mates...!') I vaguely remember a music hall-type number that may or may not have been Souvenir of London, punctuated with lots of corny jokes by Messrs Brooker and Wilson, plus, I think, Long Tall Sally and Good Golly, Miss Molly as two of the three encore numbers, the third being precisely what one would hope for and expect. In other words, a magical evening with a transcendently original band! Thanks for prompting such a nice recollection and of course enduring thanks for all that you continue to do for PH lovers the world 'round. Best wishes.
Bob
Young writes, from the USA
I've finally found my long lost poster promoting
Procol Harum's 4 November 1972 concert in Buffalo, NY.
I think it may be of interest to users of this great web site. I've been searching for it since I gave you the date (and you requested memorabilia) a few years ago.
Eureka! As you can probably see, the poster has seen better days but it's not bad considering it's endured nearly forty years' storage in less than ideal conditions. Fortunately, it was printed on a very heavy cardboard stock and it will be well taken care of from this day forward.
Measurements are 22" x 17" (55.5cm x 43cm).
Obviously, there were two shows that night. Cheryl and I attended the
10:30 pm show. I'm still searching for the ticket stubs. Be assured, if
I find them, I'll send scans.
Tom Silvestri was not sure whether he'd seen PH at Queens College in 1972 or 1973. As he wrote to BtP: "I cant remember the exact date of this show, which contained much Grand Hotel material, but I believe it was near Thanksgiving, possibly the Friday of that holiday weekend. Also, the opening acts were Tir Na Nog (first, for about half an hour) and Steeleye Span (for about an hour)". ['Thanksgiving' is a public holiday in America, falling on the fourth Thursday in November]
Marvin Chassman wrote to clarify, as follows: "I found this link at the omniscient Wikipedia. It shows Tir Na Nog at Queens College in 1972 (on 6 November, several weeks before Thanksgiving). In fact this late 1972 tour appears to be their only US tour. Assuming this info is correct (and it must be; I found it on the internet), the show in question is actually from 1972. It's possible Procol played Queens College in '73 without Tir Na Nog but the tour list at BtP shows them in Europe at the time, so that's doubtful. Clicking the links in this Wikipedia schedule doesn't provide any details of the concerts, just the venues (for example, a picture of the movie theater where they played on 1 November). But assuming Tir Na Nog didn't play any solo gigs, you can add these dates to the PH list of dates for late '72."
So the question is now: how many of the following gigs featured Procol Harum? Those we can confirm from other sources are featured in bold type
01 November
1972 Loew's State Theater, Syracuse, NY
02 November 1972 Palace Theater, Albany, NY
03 November 1972 Brown University, Providence, RI
04 November 1972 Kleinhan's Auditorium, Buffalo, NY
05 November 1972 Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA
06 November 1972 Queens College, Flushing, NY
07 November 1972 George Washington University, Washington, DC
08 November 1972 Academy of Music, New York, NY
10 November 1972 Regis College, Denver, CO
12 November 1972 Santa Monica Civic Center, Los Angeles, CA
15 November 1972 Ford Theater, Detroit, MI
17 November 1972 John Caroll University, Cleveland, OH
18 November 1972 Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
19 November 1972 Lyric Theater, Baltimore, MD
20 November 1972 Yale University, Hartford, CO
'To aid your discussion, writes Tony Eyre, 'I can definitely say that Tir Na Nog played Kings Hall Derby England on 5th November 1972 with Bridget St John as support. I can say this for definitely as during some research I was doing on the venue I found an advertisement in the local paper for the gig and a subsequent review. Therefore the Wikipedia entry to which you refer is definitely incorrect that they played Boston that night. Hope this helps with your website.' (thanks, Tony)
'They were there, I was there' ... thanks, Dotnot
'You have the last date listed as the Kennedy Centre. It was Constitution Hall instead. The Kennedy Centre was on a later tour I believe. Or vice versa. But they definitely played CH,' says David Pelletier
PH played at Mansfield State College in Mansfield, PA in the winter of 1972. I was there. Memory fails me but I remember Still There'll be More, A Salty Dog and Whisky Train. (Arley Phillips)