Procol Harum In Concert with The Danish National
Concert Orchestra & Choir (2006/Eagle
DTS DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B Extras: B- Concert: B-
In Rock
Music, especially in the sorry state it has been in lately, the new acts have
been usually lame, unoriginal, tired and untalented, while the old guard has
too many acts continuing to tour and even record despite being past their
prime. I was intrigued when Procol Harum
had a new DVD coming out and wondered if the band that had more Top 40 albums than
hit singles could pull off a good concert.
Procol Harum In Concert with The
Danish National Concert Orchestra & Choir from 2006 proves that they
still had it.
So many
versions of A Whiter Shade Of Pale
have been around and survived that I wondered how another recording would
play. Gary Brooker, who was the voice on
the original record, is here and sounds very good, never hitting a false note
throughout the more recent concert in front of a fine crowd. The songs performed include:
1)
Grand Hotel
2)
Something Magic
3)
Butterfly Boys
4)
Homburg
5)
The VIP Room
6)
Fires (Which Burn Brightly)
7)
Nothing But The Truth
8)
Into The Floor
9)
Simple Sister
10) A Salty Dog
11) An Old English Dream
12) Sympathy For The Hard Of
Hearing
13) A Whiter Shade Of Pale
14) Whaling Stories
15) Conquistador
It is a
pleasant surprise that this concert delivers when so many more well-known and
long-running Rockers have failed and are playing long past their prime. It is also a plus that it is a group from the
Art Rock/Psychedelic era (like Yes or Pink Floyd) that is holding up better
than outright Rockers long gone soft (does Rod Stewart really need to do the
same material as Taco, but worse?) and that makes this a worthwhile DVD concert
to check out.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image has some good color but also has detail
limits suggesting a 1080i shoot, while the DTS 5.1 mix is the highlight of the
disc sounding really good with rich playback and a good soundfield. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes are
not bad, but the DTS it the winner. Extras
include an illustrated booklet with an essay and tech info inside the DVD case
and a fine 1974 TV concert special with the classic line-up at their
prime. From an analog PAL source, those
songs include:
1)
Bringing Home The Bacon
2)
Toujours L’Amour
3)
Grand Hotel
4)
The Devil Came From Kansas
5)
The Idol
6)
Butterfly Boys
Nice
bonus!
- Nicholas Sheffo
