Memory:Dave Matlock
March 31 1973 was my first Gentle Giant concert, GG were one of the bands I was really liking. In early February I went to my part time job at a banquet hall where the university held some pub nights, and on a table were concert posters of Wishbone Ash with Gentle Giant and Vinegar Joe. I know that my feet went off the ground when I saw the poster. It seemed absolutely improbable that this weird obscure English band would be playing in my hometown in Canada. After the Vinegar Joe set my expectations vascillated between GG would be good to could they actually duplicate things on stage. The band came onto the crowded stage and their body language as they took to their instruments told me that this was going to be seriously good. Derek took centre, stretched his arms out level to his shoulders, looked over each shoulder at the others, brought his hands together, the music exploded, and they had me. Songs were rearranged, some played as medleys, a three man drum segment, four recorders at once, vibraphone solo, violin solo, Derek shouting at the crowd off mic, Ray's eyebrows, Gary and Kerry stomping, and more in just 40 minutes. Beyond expectations musically and in quality of performance. That set me on the path of attending every concert of theirs that I could get to.
GG returned to Canada in January 1975. There were GG concerts I was going to in Toronto and Waterloo, and also one in Ottawa about ten days before those concerts. I wanted to go to the Ottawa show as well, but it was 300 miles away. I didn't want to travel that far and not get in if it was a sold out show. I didn't know anybody in Ottawa who could get me advance tickets, so I thought I was stumped. Then one day, I thought, I have a local member of Parliament, I wonder if they could get me tickets. I phoned the local representative's office, told them my situation and gave them a ticket outlet location, They told me they would check into it. A day or two later they phoned back and said the representative's office in Ottawa went and got me tickets and that I could drop by their office the day of the concert and pick them up. The day before the concert, with nothing but a scribbled note of which highways to take, I started hitch hiking to Ottawa, getting there in the late afternoon after sevearal rides. I found my way to Parliament Hill, the nation's capital, found the office and paid for the tickets they had gotten for me. That night I stayed at a hostel, the next day I lined up at the venue in the early afternoon. About ten minutes before the doors opened, my pal from my hometown, who had travelled that day by train, found me in line and soon we were in. John Lee Hooker solo opened the show, he was dressed sharp. I kick myself now that I didn't have the appreciation for him then that I now have. Gentle Giant live were great, as anticipated. When the show ended, we grabbed a taxi to the train station and caught the overnight train to Toronto with minutes to spare, then in the morning took another train to our hometown. In a week and half we'd see GG twice more.