Live song list

This is The Complete Live Gentle Giant: A list of all known live pieces played by Gentle Giant, thanks to Jack Skelly, dated 21 April 2000.

I humbly submit the complete listing, broken down by album, of all live Gentle Giant songs known to exist on tape. Again, this is only those that exist ON TAPE - if anyone can provide further info on any other live songs, I'd love to hear about it.

Gentle Giant

• ALUCARD
• FUNNY WAYS (played on most tours up to January, 1978)
• NOTHING AT ALL (contained a drum solo, later expanded into the first "drum bash")
• THE QUEEN (used to end early shows. at some German gigs in late 1972, they combined it with a bit of the German National Anthem)
• GIANT
• ISN'T IT QUIET AND COLD (only known on one rare 1971 tape)
• WHY NOT? (also on that rare 1971 tape)

Note: this rare 1971 tape, mentioned in Proclamation, is said to also include CITY HERMIT, HOMETOWN SPECIAL and an encore of PEEL OFF THE PAINT, an unreleased song. practically nothing else exists on tape from the early gigs, so it's impossible to know what other songs may have been played on stage. However, a lifelong friend of Ray Shulman's recalls the band doing a song called EVIL WOMAN on stage at their earliest shows. (See our list of rare Gentle Giant songs.)

Acquiring The Taste

• PLAIN TRUTH (always included Ray Shulman's violin solo. the band usually played only a part of the song and sometimes omitted the vocals entirely)

Note: again, lack of tapes makes it impossible to know if other songs from this album were ever played live. Gary Green recalls doing PANTAGRUEL'S NATIVITY a few times, but no tapes with this song have surfaced.

Three Friends

• PROLOGUE
• PEEL THE PAINT
• SCHOOLDAYS (apparently only done on one English tour in November, 1972)
• MISTER CLASS AND QUALITY

Note: sometimes, the band was known to combine some of these songs into mini-medleys. PEEL THE PAINT and MISTER CLASS AND QUALITY were combined at times, occasionally with a Gary Green guitar solo in the middle. sometimes, VALEDICTORY from THE POWER AND THE GLORY was also thrown into the mix. It is rumored that the other songs from this album were played live in the early days, but this has never been verified.

Octopus

• THE ADVENT OF PANURGE
• KNOTS
• EXCERPTS FROM OCTOPUS (Short Version done from late 1973 to mid 1975)
• EXCERPTS FROM OCTOPUS (Long Version done from late 1975 to late 1977)

Note: only one tape, from early 1973, is known to exist that included Phil Shulman on OCTOPUS material. He contributes to THE ADVENT OF PANURGE on this tape.

In A Glass House

• THE RUNAWAY (originally, the entire song was performed live but, after a while, the middle part with Kerry Minnear's vocals was omitted)
• WAY OF LIFE
• IN A GLASS HOUSE (only a small portion of the song was done, leading into Gary's guitar solo)
• EXPERIENCE

Note: On occasion, Gary would toss in a small bit of PEEL THE PAINT into his solo.

The Power And The Glory

• COGS IN COGS
• PROCLAMATION
• VALEDICTORY (as stated earlier, this song would sometimes be used to end a medley of other tunes. It appeared on stage in some early 1975 gigs. A small bit of this was tacked onto the end of PROCLAMATION at the 1976 shows.)
• SO SINCERE (included the further expanded "5-man drum bash")
• PLAYING THE GAME (not generally played live until early 1977)
• THE FACE (not played live until late 1977, when it included Ray's violin solo)

Note: Derek Shulman has stated that the band tried PLAYING THE GAME at some 1975 shows, but it wasn't working out, so it was dropped. no tapes of the song from that year are known to exist.

Free Hand

• On Reflection
• Free Hand
• Just the Same

Note: Although a successful album, it's surprising how few songs from FREE HAND were actually performed on stage.

Interview

• INTERVIEW
• GIVE IT BACK
• TIMING (in 1976, this is the song that Ray used to spin off into his violin solo)
• I LOST MY HEAD (only the second half of the song was performed, combined with a portion of PEEL THE PAINT)

Note: the song BREAKDOWN IN BRUSSELS actually was part of the TIMING violin solo from Brussels, Belgium in October 1976. some equipment really did break down so Ray spontaneously went into this song to keep things going. after 1976, the band apparently dropped all material from this album from their live set.

The Missing Piece

• AS OLD AS YOU'RE YOUNG
• WINNING (the live arrangement of this, from early 1977, was drastically different from what appeared on the studio album)
• FOR NOBODY
• MEMORIES OF OLD DAYS
• I'M TURNING AROUND
• BETCHA THOUGHT WE COULDN'T DO IT
• TWO WEEKS IN SPAIN
• MOUNTAIN TIME

Note: the only song from this album that doesn't appear on any known live tape is WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? the first four songs listed were premiered live in early 1977 before being recorded for the studio album. on this same tour, the band played IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR as a surprise second encore at one gig.

Giant For A Day

• GIANT FOR A DAY

Note: since the band took a hiatus from touring between January 1978 and May 1980, most of the songs from this album were never played live.

Civilian

• CONVENIENCE
• ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
• INSIDE OUT
• IT'S NOT IMAGINATION
• UNDERGROUND (on the 1980 US tour, this is the song that went right into the "5-man drum bash")
• NUMBER ONE

Note: the songs from this album did not require complex, elaborate instrumentation, so they fit in well on the band's 1980 tour, which was scaled down in scope from previous tours.