Memory:William Quentin Johnson
My one chance to see GG came on Bicentennial weekend in 1976. They were a last minute addition to a show at a medium-size hall in Rochester (the Masonic Temple?), sandwiched between Angel and Richie Blackmore's Rainbow. Knowing that the band's stage time would be limited was disappointing, but the show was obviously not to be missed. When we got there I was amazed by the number of people wearing GG t-shirts and talking about the band. It became apparent that most of the concertgoers were there to see Gentle Giant, most, like me, for the first time. We sat through Angel, a group of Yes-poseurs complete with caped keyboard player. Their set was peppered with shouts of "GIANT" from the audience, and I soon joined in. I don't remember what the band's first song was, but I clearly remember being absolutely shocked that they were actually playing what I heard on my records. As much as I liked the band I was convinced that there must have been some editing or other studio gimmickry to make them sound THAT TIGHT. After the first song Ray Shulman took center stage to shout "Hello" to the audience. Hearing nothing in response he shouted louder, "HELLO!!!" and finally got an answer. I think we were all stunned, and Richie Blackmore fans must have been positively bamboozled. The band played for about an hour, with at least one encore, before they had to vacate the stage. I remember that quite a few concertgoers walked out at that point, but we decided to at least give Rainbow a chance. After one song we concluded the best thing about the headliners was the big multi-colored rainbow that arched over the stage. Then we walked out, too.