His extracurricular appearances may have been numerous, yet when Gary Brooker took to the stage without PROCOL HARUM, it usually was to perform only a few pieces – either to promote a certain album on television or to contribute to a multi-artist collective’s concert, as the singing pianist did as part of Ringo’s ALL STARR BAND or his own BAND DU LAC, one of the charity benefits he used to support. Still, it’s almost impossible to believe that, even when Brooker’s main ensemble went on hiatus between 1977 and 1991 and when he went solo, Gary played but a single full-length show as a principal musician – in Hamburg, on February 18th, 1983 – which got filmed and will finally see the official release as a CD/DVD package on May 30th, 2025.
At the time, Brooker was eager to present to the public his latest platter, “Lead Me To The Water” from the previous year, and he treated the audience to seven out of its nine tracks, adding a couple cuts from 1979’s “No More Fear Of Flying” and some rhythm-and-blues staples he used to do with THE PARAMOUNTS, and limited PROCOL classics to two quite unexpected choices. With stellar accompanists – guitarist Tim Renwick, bassist John Giblin, organist Tim Cross and drummer Henry Spinetti – Gary delivered a unique set, so “Live At Rockpalast 1983” promises a lot of delights.
Live At Rockpalast 1983
1. Fat Cats
2. Mineral Man
3. Home Loving
4. Lead Me To The Water
5. Say It Ain’t So Joe
6. A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
7. Another Way
8. Self Sufficiency Blues
9. The Cycle
10. Badlands
11. The Angler
12. A Salty Dog
13. Chasing The Chop
14. Hang On Rose
15. (No More) Fear Of Flying
16. Poison Ivy
17. Switchboard Susan
18. Homburg
