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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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PROCOL
HARUM
Bloomsbury
Theatre, London - Sunday
March 6th 2005 - by Nick Morgan |
| I
can’t now remember if it was my brother or
sister who came home one summer Saturday afternoon
clutching a copy of Procol
Harum’s Salty Dog, but whichever
it was, I was hugely jealous. The LP cover, wittily
based on one of Britain’s most famous and
iconic tobacco trademarks (Serge, ok to mention
smoking products here?) was stunning, and was also
a fond reminder of my Great Aunt Win, who wilfully
smoked a few Player’s untipped every day ‘till
she died in her nineties. |
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| The
music was surprisingly bluesy for a group that had
produced THAT single (which was already wearing
thin by 1969, and is now simply painful), the songs
were great (and have stood the test of time far
better than THAT song) and the eponymous ‘A
salty dog’ (a poetic warning to sailors all)
quite outstanding. Anyway somehow that piece of
beautifully packaged vinyl (and I don’t care
what anybody says, packaging is important) found
its way into my collection, and now the CD is a
regular part of my extended playlist. Which is odd
really as I couldn’t give a fig for the band,
whose earlier and subsequent ‘progressive’
meanderings (Grand Hotel – give me a break!)
were to me symptomatic of the pompous and witless
rubbish that finally pushed the door open for punk
rock in the late 1970s. But for all that when I
saw they were playing in London (“blimey,
I thought they were dead”) I just couldn’t
resist getting hold of some tickets. |
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Just
a few points on the band before I move to the heart
of the matter. Did you know that the core of the
classic line-up (Brooker, Trower etc.) were originally
Southend rhythm and blues rockers The Paramounts
(hit single – ‘Poison Ivy’)? That
Brooker is still working with co-writer Keith Reid
(who never performed with the band)? Did you know
that at one point Brooker gave it all up to go fly-fishing?
Did you know that Brooker performs mightily with
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings? Or that the band
always thought of themselves as a blues-band (“welcome”
says Brooker, “to an evening of Procul Harum
Blues – more than three chords, but that’s
the only difference”).... |
Or
that they loathed being compared to the Moody Blues
(well, come on, who wouldn’t …). Or
that Brooker is the only one of the original band
to still perform? Or that this is the first concert
I have attended where Liquorice Allsorts were for
sale in the foyer? “Who cares?” Well
the answer is that someone does – a lot.
I knew there was something odd going on from the
moment we walked into the theatre. It wasn’t
just all the old fat grey haired men and their surprisingly
elegant wives. Or the earnest young ones with beards
intently studying the equipment on stage, noting
down arcane technical specifications. Just how big
was the air intake on Josh Phillip’s Hammond
organ? There was something eerily familiar about
the look on some of their faces, and the expectant
and almost reverential atmosphere. Finally of course
it clicked. This wasn’t a concert at all.
In effect it was a fan-club (of the most extreme
‘Play Misty for me’ stalker sort) convention.
The majority of the audience were on first name
terms, and many (again I think a majority) had travelled
from the continent (and some from the United States)
to be there. |
| As
it turned out a good number of them had been at
a party for much of the afternoon, celebrating some
anniversary or other connected with THAT song. And
during the performance many clapped their hands
and waved their arms in the air like proselytites
at a revivalist meeting, whilst others muttered
darkly that “Garry vas not playink so properly,
didn’t he miss a note out there?” And
of course they all wore their secret society Salty
Dog T-shirts. Crikey Serge, anything sound familiar
here? |
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| And
what of the concert I hear you ask. Hmmm. High points:
Gary Brooker’s singing on the newer bluesey
(lower key vocals) songs; Brooker’s “Light
and bitter corr that’s a bit of a larrf”
patter; Hammond Organ heaven; an almost faultless
version of ‘A Salty Dog’. Low points;
Brooker’s voice on most of the older material
(he simply couldn’t make the notes, and in
fact apologised in a sort of a way when he explained
that he had sung his voice out in rehearsals). Other
lowpoints: School of Rock lead guitarist; the plodding
nature of many of the songs – they really
dragged; THAT song; and the bizarre ‘multi
song suite’ (ugh!) from the 1968 album Shine
on Brightly, ‘In held twas in I’. |
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Badly
played and poorly rehearsed (but I wondered, was
it specially played for this most special of audiences
as the result of a request, or even maybe a threat?)
this piece (I listened to at home later over a much
needed Brora) allegedly influenced all those later
creators of what came to be known as rock opera.
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As
far as I could see all it could have inspired was
that particularly daft bit in Spinal Tap when the
mini-stonehenge arches were lowered to the floor
on wires. But the audience loved it, sang along,
did crowd noises on cue during ‘Twas tea time
at the circus’ (a lot of ‘twas’
then) and almost wept at its conclusion.
I was in shock, but by this time had decided that
discretion was the better part of valour as I couldn’t
help sensing someone looking over my shoulder at
the invective I was scribbling in my little black
notebook. My photographer said “they’re
a group of well meaning blokes in danger of becoming
their own tribute band”. And maybe it was
that which caused her camera to malfunction. I said,
“Lets get out of here, fast”. So we
did. - Nick Morgan (last photo by Kate)
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the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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