Procol Harum Concerts 1970s

1970

March 11, 1970 Holstebro Hallen, Holstebro, DEN (supported by Delta Blues Band)

March 28, 1970 Town Hall, High Wycombe, ENG

April 3-4, 1970Koln Sporthall Progressive Pop Festival

700418	Dagenham Roundhouse. 'It was a pub, and I remember it well, as it was the first time I saw them live'

700502 Bern, Switzerland

700605	London, The Lyceum (with Hard Meat, Supertramp and Argent)

700509 The Refectory, Leeds University (with Humble Pie)

June 12-13, 1970 Fillmore East, New York City, NY (supported by Rhinoceros, Seals and Crofts, Joe’s Lights) 700620

w/Elizabeth Electric Factory, Philadelphia

July 3, 1970 Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, GA (Atlanta International Pop Festival)

700704

Second Atlanta International Pop Festival, Gainsville, Georgia Ten Years After, Jimi Hendrix, Allman Brothers, Mountain, Procol Harum, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Jethro Tull, Chambers Brothers and several others.

'The festival was really near the town of Byron, Georgia, not Gainesville (Gainesville is northeast of Atlanta, while Byron is south of Atlanta and Macon). I was too far away to see the band very well at the festival, but two friends from my high school told me they were very close to the stage ... close enough to surprise Gary when they stood at the end of Whaling Stories to sing the ending with him.' (John Underwood)

700706 ?	Bill Slish reports here about a gig at Lambertville Music Circus

It was a treat to run across this website. I have only one memory of the Music Circus, but it was a very enjoyable one. In July or August of 1970 my brother and I attended a Sunday concert performed by Procol Harum, the British art rock group immortalized by their recording A Whiter Shade of Pale in 1967. They were my favorite group at the time and it was my first opportunity to hear them perform live in concert. The stage revolved during the performance, sometimes as a song progressed and other times it was rotated to a set position for the performance of a particular song. The band played A Salty Dog, Whaling Stories, Whisky Train and many other selections from their first four albums (Home, the fourth, was about to be released that fall). The group had already undergone their first major personnel change, with organist Matthew Fisher and bass guitarist David Knights departing, both replaced by multi-instrumentalist and former Paramounts bandmate Chris Copping, joining pianist/vocalist Gary Brooker, guitarist Robin Trower and drummer Barrie (BJ) Wilson. I went on to see the band perform live six more times in the next two and a half years, but never in as intimate a setting. 700712 / 13

Fillmore East, NYC (image here) (but is this a confusion with June 12 and 13? It seems likely that the gig was June)

700726

San Antonio, Texas (with Josephus and Ten Years After)

700717	Sometime in Summer 1970 – Ravinia Festival, Chicago (annual summer series of outdoor concerts)

Pam Chwedyk writes, 'This was the first time I ever heard Procol in concert, and the only time I ever heard them with Trower in the lineup. (I say “heard” rather than “saw” because we were sitting on the lawn at a great distance from the stage and couldn’t see zip). Sorry I can’t remember the exact date or any other details—it was a looooooooong time ago.

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.

700801 Santa Monica Civic, with Blodwyn Pig

700802 Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino (supported by Leon Russell & Blodwyn Pig)

August 3-5, 1970 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA

700807

Strawberry Fields Festival, Mosport Park, Canada (from a Jethro Tull source ... thanks, Jim)

August 14-15, 1970 Fillmore East, New York City, NY (supported by Country Joe McDonald, Seals and Crofts, Joshua Light Show)

700828

Afton Festival, Isle of Wight

700904

(West) Berlin, accompanied by Hendrix, Ten Years After, Canned Heat

700906

The Fehmarn Festival in West Germany Fehmarn is situated on an Island just off the German coast. Among others on the bill were The Kinks, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Incredible String Band, Cactus, Fat Mattress. I think The Kinks headlined.

Tour supporting Jethro Tull, with Tir na nOg

September 23, 1970 City Hall, Sheffield, ENG

September 24, 1970 Albert Hall, Nottingham, ENG

September 25, 1970 Town Hall, Birmingham, ENG

September 27, 1970 City Hall, Newcastle, ENG

September 28, 1970 De Montfort Hall, Leicester, ENG

September 30, 1970 The Music Hall, Aberdeen, SCOT

October 1, 1970 Caird Hall, Dundee, SCOT

October 2, 1970 Green’s Playhouse, Glasgow, SCOT

October 3, 1970 Free Trade Hall, Manchester, ENG

October 4, 1970 Colston Hall, Bristol, ENG

October 9, 1970 Guildhall, Southampton, ENG

October 10, 1970 Olympia, Paris, FRA

October 13, 1970 Royal Albert Hall, London, ENG

701015 ??

Dave Tamarkin writes: I saw this on a forum where the person was talking about 1070: sounds like quite a show, and I wish I could hear it. From my searches I found out The Faces played two nights at this venue on 16 and 17 October 1970. That would most likely put this as 15 October 1970 [though would the band have travelled from London to Detroit for a single gig, then back to Denmark?)

"I saw the band on this tour, the second last time I would see them live, and would like to share a story about this evening. Procol Harum were playing at the Eastown Theater in Detroit this night and I was with my friend and band-mate, Lee. Lee’s attitude to Procol Harum was much like the ultimate Dead fan’s; he would go many miles to see his favorite band and be as close as possible. We were sitting about six feet from the edge of the stage with our feet hanging over the edge of what was once the orchestra pit. As the show was drawing to a close I turned to Lee to say something and as I did I noticed that sitting next to him was a well-dressed rocker and next to him a long-haired albino. Yes, it was Johnny Winter. I mentioned this to Lee who turned, looked and exclaimed that it wasn’t! How many people looked like Johnny Winter and what was the chance of him being next to us? Well, the show ended and after calls for an encore the MC appeared on the stage and said that Procol Harum would be right out with a special guest. The gentleman to our right stood up and with one long stride stepped over the orchestra pit, strapped on a guitar and jammed with Procol Harum; it was indeed Mr Winter and the rocker was Rick Derringer. They were appearing the next night with The Faces and Three Dog Night (remember those great shows for $4 and $5?). That’s it."

701017

Holstebro Hallen, Holstebro Denmark, supported by Belta BB with Lyd & Lys (Light show)

701029

October 29-31-November 1, 1970 Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA

701107

We guess this was 1970, when 7 November was indeed a Saturday. Tchouprtoulas is a street in New Orleans where the Warehouse venue opened in January of that year (thanks, Andrew Lawrence)

701114

Ten Years After - Spectrum, Philadephia w/Leon Russell & Procol Harum

November 22, 1970 Columbus, OH

November 25, 1970 Colden Auditorium, Queen's College, Flushing, NY

April 18, 1971 Painter's Mill Music Fair, Baltimore, MD (2 shows 4.00 & 8.30 Cat Stevens support)