As long as singing pianist Gary Brooker remains in charge, Procol Harum will always be able to continue in some recognisable form. In his 60s, Brooker’s voice is still as gruffly compelling as those of Cliff Bennett, Steve Winwood and boyhood idol Ray Charles. You’ll also find it hard to fault the other principals involved in this outdoor recital on a fine summer’s Saturday in Ledreborg, 2006.
Most of the vast, seated audience seem to be “of a certain age” for whom a spin of, say, Homburg or 1972’s Conquistador is a brief transport back to adolescence. Rather than leave a peculiar aftertaste, however, Brooker and his group’s reworkings of these, and further items from the decades since A Whiter Shade Of Pale, justify this offering’s publicity spiel. They do, indeed, enter a “new dimension” when augmented by orchestra and choir. Moreover, being set in a natural amphitheatre within palace grounds is in keeping with the ponderous majesty of much of the music.
Supplemented with an absorbing booklet essay by Roland Clare and a so-so Danish TV broadcast by the 1974 lineup, this is a must-have for both marginal fans and those with an insatiable appetite for all things Procol.
