Memory:Rich Anthony
After 30+ years as a fan I still never get tired of listening to GG and now visiting your site to get a bit of info or a laugh. Wanted to relate a couple of things to you. If you find any of it postable "you have my permission to post this on your site."
1-A new convert: I live in Lowell , MA, but grew up in NYC. This past June we moved my mom to Lowell to live with us. She was a former Speech and Theatre professor so has always been open minded and enthusiatic about her kids musical taste. Over this past year inevitably she has heard me playing various GG on the stereo or in the car and to my pleasant surprise has come to really like them!! She commented last night while I was playing parts of Out of the Fire, that GG really was a lot of fun to listen to because they just understood music and composed such wonderfully diverse and enjoyable songs!! Pretty cool that a 76 year old woman could "get it" on a first listen to GG!
2-A tale of 2 concerts. I grew up in NYC at a time when WNEW was the great rock FM station of the era. They played everything. I heard Free Hand and fell in love with GG. When I graduated High School in 1977 GG played in Central Park the day after graduation. My girlfriend of the time and another couple went to see them. We enjoyed the warm up act and then GG came on stage and opened with Just the Same. I was in heaven! My friends looked at me like-"what the heck is this??" The band was in great form and played a set almost exactly like Playing the Fool, but also with the song Interview added. My friends dealt with it okay until the glass breaking intro to The Runaway. They just couldn't get it and insisted we leave. I was devastated. I didn't get to hear some of my favorites. Life went on and no other opportunities came to see the band. Fast forward to 1981 and college, and an add in the college newspaper for Gentle Giant at a small local theatre!! I told my girlfriend-now my wife of 26 years- we have got to go see them. We went and it was awesome. It was the Civilian tour, but they still played a ton of old material including the Octopus medley, Free Hand, Play the Game, and many others. The band sounded great and the audience was seriously into it. To top it off.it was the night the NY Islanders won their fourth Stanley Cup. Just before the second encore, Derek said he had an announcement of great importance and told the crowd the Islanders had won!! He then donned an Islanders jersey and the band played an absolutely raucous version of Number One to close an amazing show. It is still one of my fondest concert memories and I feel lucky to have had a second chance to see these guys live!! Hail to GG!!