PROCOL HARUM, Helsinki, 1st Nov 2006

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PROCOL HARUM visited Finland last Summer at the Järvenpää Puistoblues festival, and they probably had a good time as they decided to give another concert here again at 1^st of November in Helsinki, Kulttuuritalo. I like their early works much, and as I watched their great concert video from 2004, I decided to pay the 45€, and also my parents wanted to see them and came along. The majority of the attendees were older people, but there was also a league of younger people among the crowd, proving that this artistic band is a real classic group! I also spotted some Finnish professional musicians in the audience, Mikko Kuustonen and Heikki Silvennoinen who played guitar in the prog group TABULA RASA.

The set begun dynamically with “Conquistador”, and it was immediately clear that this was going to be a great concert with great sound quality: The old Hammond sounds with GARY BROOKER’s wonderful voice and piano created very authentic old sound which is present in their 60’s recordings. The audience was ecstatic, and the band was cherished with so long applauses, that few times Gary asked people to stop. He gave some warmhearted humorous narrations, talked with some people in the crowd, and also gave a promise to return Finland again!   

The set list covered their whole career, and I must admit that I didn’t know all of the tunes. But the overall repertoire lasting over two hours with a short break was wonderful. The melancholic melodies and grandiose dramatics with blues elements are a combination which strikes directly to the Finnish mentality. From the newer tunes I liked “An Old English Dream” lots. In addition of these songs the first half of the concert had “Shine on Brigthly” and “Grand Hotel”. During the dramatic piano solo of the later one, there was also heard a short alarm of a cellular phone. This was really disgusting. I also noted that some people were sending text messages with their phones during the concert! Some people are very insane.

The second half begun with “Pandoras Box”, reaching also exploding applauses from the crowd. “Bringing Home The Bacon” had a funny part with short solos from all players, and there was a short quotation of “Smoke on The Water” there too. During a narration before the next song, the band also played a short excerpt of JAMES BROWN tune, as he was also performing in Helsinki at the same time. In addition of the great blues tunes we heard “Homburg” and “Barnyard Story”, which was stated of being one of the happiest songs of their happiest album. The short composition was nicely extended by reprising some themes of the song in the end. “Salty Dog” was one of last songs, and it’s really a marvelous number, but quite difficult to perform without symphonic orchestra. The performance was still very touching, and guitarist GEOFF WHITEHORN contributed nicely in creating some atmospheric tones to it. His performance was great in other tracks too, he really had a great approach to the songs, sometimes just playing quiet supportive chords, and sometimes doing loud solos.

The encore had two songs, first I didn’t recognize, but the second was obvious. “Whiter Shade of Pale” opened with a joke teaser medley consisting of BEETHOVEN’s symphonic themes, BACH’s “Air”, BOB MARLEY’s “No Woman No Cry” and PERCY SLEDGE’s “When A Man Loves A Woman”. After this the band gave their bowings over ecstatic applauses. The evening of listening their music was a great thrill, as it was wonderful to see a group which records I have listened from 15 years of age, and I never guessed I would see them live on stage. Also the slight stress I have had during last few days vanished, proving that enjoying arts is truly a healing thing!  

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Eetu Pellonpaa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: June 17 2005 Location: Finland Status: Offline Points: 4828	Topic: PROCOL HARUM, Helsinki, 1st Nov 2006 Posted: November 02 2006 at 05:49
	PROCOL HARUM visited Finland last Summer at the Järvenpää Puistoblues festival, and they probably had a good time as they decided to give another concert here again at 1^st of November in Helsinki, Kulttuuritalo. I like their early works much, and as I watched their great concert video from 2004, I decided to pay the 45€, and also my parents wanted to see them and came along. The majority of the attendees were older people, but there was also a league of younger people among the crowd, proving that this artistic band is a real classic group! I also spotted some Finnish professional musicians in the audience, Mikko Kuustonen and Heikki Silvennoinen who played guitar in the prog group TABULA RASA. The set begun dynamically with “Conquistador”, and it was immediately clear that this was going to be a great concert with great sound quality: The old Hammond sounds with GARY BROOKER’s wonderful voice and piano created very authentic old sound which is present in their 60’s recordings. The audience was ecstatic, and the band was cherished with so long applauses, that few times Gary asked people to stop. He gave some warmhearted humorous narrations, talked with some people in the crowd, and also gave a promise to return Finland again! The set list covered their whole career, and I must admit that I didn’t know all of the tunes. But the overall repertoire lasting over two hours with a short break was wonderful. The melancholic melodies and grandiose dramatics with blues elements are a combination which strikes directly to the Finnish mentality. From the newer tunes I liked “An Old English Dream” lots. In addition of these songs the first half of the concert had “Shine on Brigthly” and “Grand Hotel”. During the dramatic piano solo of the later one, there was also heard a short alarm of a cellular phone. This was really disgusting. I also noted that some people were sending text messages with their phones during the concert! Some people are very insane. The second half begun with “Pandoras Box”, reaching also exploding applauses from the crowd. “Bringing Home The Bacon” had a funny part with short solos from all players, and there was a short quotation of “Smoke on The Water” there too. During a narration before the next song, the band also played a short excerpt of JAMES BROWN tune, as he was also performing in Helsinki at the same time. In addition of the great blues tunes we heard “Homburg” and “Barnyard Story”, which was stated of being one of the happiest songs of their happiest album. The short composition was nicely extended by reprising some themes of the song in the end. “Salty Dog” was one of last songs, and it’s really a marvelous number, but quite difficult to perform without symphonic orchestra. The performance was still very touching, and guitarist GEOFF WHITEHORN contributed nicely in creating some atmospheric tones to it. His performance was great in other tracks too, he really had a great approach to the songs, sometimes just playing quiet supportive chords, and sometimes doing loud solos. The encore had two songs, first I didn’t recognize, but the second was obvious. “Whiter Shade of Pale” opened with a joke teaser medley consisting of BEETHOVEN’s symphonic themes, BACH’s “Air”, BOB MARLEY’s “No Woman No Cry” and PERCY SLEDGE’s “When A Man Loves A Woman”. After this the band gave their bowings over ecstatic applauses. The evening of listening their music was a great thrill, as it was wonderful to see a group which records I have listened from 15 years of age, and I never guessed I would see them live on stage. Also the slight stress I have had during last few days vanished, proving that enjoying arts is truly a healing thing!