Memory:BIRD516
From The Gentle Giant Home Page
Having seen GG seven times, from 1973-80, it's hard to say which was the best. However, the concert at the Joint in the Woods, a nightclub in a remote part of New Jersey, was the most intimate and therefore would rank, reluctantly, at the top. GG showed up in a rented station wagon on a fall night, Oct 23, 1974, just after the Power and the Glory album was released. We could hear, from outside, the band practicing Cog in Cogs, and Proclamation, but surprisingly, when we saw the show, nothing from P&G was played.
Instead, we were treated to most of the In A Glass House album (wow!), and the Octopus set--Knots harmonizing, the dual acoustic guitar playing by Ray Shulman and Gary Green, the band drum solo and recorder playing, among other highlights. There were no tables or chairs set up on the dance floor where we literally stood for most of the concert. The band was up on the stage and I was about 4-5 feet from my favorite all-time rock musician, Kerry Minnear. To watch him play vibes on Funny Ways and The Runaway was fantastic!
I have a close friend of mine whose taste in music is well, pedestrian, at best. At the time, he thought Loggins & Messina and Barry Manilow (egad!) were great. I told him, on his way to Boston the next year for college, "Do me a favor. You think I'm nuts to think Gentle Giant is the greatest band in the world? When you're at school, if GG's playing, go buy a ticket see the show. If you think it sucks, I'll send you the money for the ticket." Being (still) a great friend, he took me up on the bet. He called me a few days after the concert (where the P&G songs were added to the show), and said "That was the most amazing concert I've ever seen! I can't believe how great Gentle Giant are! You know, I went by myself, and I wish I took this girl I've been dating. What happened was the very next night after the Gentle Giant concert, I had already had tickets for Loggins & Messina, so the two of us went. She enjoyed L&M, but I couldn't get Gentle Giant out of my mind. I kept saying to her, "This is nothing. It's boring. You've gotta see this wild band my friend had me see, Gentle Giant." The girlfriend was not amused, and he soon found himself broken up from her--ah, the perils of loving Gentle Giant. As a postscript, my friend, over many years, simply lost interest in Gentle Giant and prog rock, but he always remained respectful of it. And I think that's I've ever asked from people: Respect progressive rock the way we're told to respect be-bop jazz. Both have their pretentiousness, but there's a timeless beauty to the music and musicianship. Gentle Giant, in my humble opinion, is the greatest example of prog rock. Hail!
