Valley Forge Music Festival, Valley Forge, PA (USA)

12

songs altogether:

From Procol Harum

from Shine on Brightly

from  A Salty Dog

From  Home

from  Broken Barricades

from  Grand Hotel

From Exotic Birds and Fruit

from Procol's Ninth

from Something Magic

From The Prodigal Stranger

non-album tracks

'The live performance of Learn to Fly brought this song to life. This was an exceptional take, perhaps the definitive one for this number. I always thought LtF an uncharacteristically affirmative Procol number and a clear reference to No More Fear Of Flying. That night in Pennsylvania, Procol really seemed to hit its stride as they played LtF for a final encore. It was played without pause, following Kaleidoscope, something that gave extra vigor to this most energetic rendition.

'The 1995 US summer tour was characterised by 55-minute sets as Procol shared the bill with Jefferson Airplane and Steppenwolf. This cramped arrangement detracted from the shows as Procol had to rotate positions on the bill from show to show and, most unfortunately, capitulate to the clock. But that night in Devon, Procol played last, and they excelled.

'After the show, I had an opportunity to speak with Gary. He told me that he found out – only too late – that Procol had more time and could have played longer. Unfortunately, the band did not know this at the right moment. And so it was that terrible miscommunication truncated an extraordinary performance.' Thanks, Evan