CCMusic.com

This Rockpalast appearance by Gary Brooker (1945 - 2022) on February 18, 1983 in Hamburg's Markthalle is unique because - it's hard to believe - the singer, keyboardist and pianist from Procol Harum actually only gave a single solo concert with songs from his two solo albums in his long career.

A great band accompanied Gary Brooker through his program that evening: John Giblin (1952-2023), bass; Henry Spinetti (born 1951), drums; Tim Renwick (born 1949), guitar and Tim Cross (1955-2012), keyboards. The line-up may be reminiscent of the classic Procol Harum formation, but the band members' CVs read like a Who's Who of rock history: John Giblin has worked with artists such as Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel and was a member of Simple Minds; Henry Spinetti was Eric Clapton's sideman for many years; Tim Cross came from the new wave band The Adverts and was an integral part of the Mike Oldfield Group; and Tim Renwick toured with Pink Floyd and David Bowie, among others.

John Giblin and Henry Spinetti had recently played together with Gary Brooker at a "Rock and Classic" event in Munich, where Tim Cross and Tim Renwick were also on stage with Mike Oldfield. Hamburg was the only concert of the five protagonists as a quintet.

The setlist: Songs from Brooker's first solo album, "No More Fear Of Flying", produced by George Martin, including the hit single "Say It Ain't So Joe", and mainly from the second album, "Lead Me To The Water", released in 1982. The two Procol Harum classics "A Salty Dog" and "Homburg" rounded off the coherent program. This Rockpalast is a classic in many ways!

GARY BROOKER / LIVE AT ROCKPALAST 1983