Gentle Giant
Pacific Coliseum
Vancouver, BC
1976-07-22

Gary Green � guitar, vocals, other
Kerry Minnear � keyboards, vocals, other
Derek Shulman � lead vocals, other
Ray Shulman � bass guitar, vocals, other
John "Pugwash" Weathers � drums, percussion, vocals, other

SOURCE: Unknown cassette deck with unknown external microphones
LINEAGE: Master cassette (cheap Realistic tape) played back on NAK 582 >
Reel (Maxell XLI) @ 3.75 IPS on Revox B77 with dbx II > VHS Hi-Fi
(Sony T-120 Pro-X) @ SP on JVC HRD970U > HD > wav
ENCODING: CDWave > flac frontend > flac
TAPED BY: Roy Hamilton (A friend of a friend)
TRANSFERED BY: Pantagruel

SOUND QUALITY: A- (re-seeder's rating)

Setlist:

01 Just The Same->
02 Proclamation->
03 Valedictory
04 Excerpts From Octopus (The Boys In The Band-> Raconteur Troubadour-> Acquiring The Taste-> The Advent Of Panurge)
05 So Sincere-> drums and percussion
06 Free Hand
07 Peel The Paint-> I Lost My Head

Total time: 50:54

Notes:

This is Gentle Giant touring in support of "Interview," in this case opening for Yes. While they surely benefitted from the exposure to Yes's larger audience, the downside for Gentle Giant fans was their abbreviated set -- only one song from the new album (when I saw them a few days earlier at Anaheim Stadium, due to time restrictions, they played *nothing* from "Interview"). However, that didn't stop them from laying down a monster performance.

First, the technical stuff:

The beginning of a couple of songs is clipped, there's the odd fluctuation in volume and there are cuts between songs. All in all, this is a great recording, considering the conditions and technology of the time.

This recording has very nice stereo separation, and lots of the ambience of the old Pacific Coliseum. Our taper seems to be under the radar of the reinforced sounds, so the vocals are not quite so up front. However, it sounds like he was close to the stage, because instruments sound very clear and up front. The drum sound is superb, especially Pugwash's cymbals -- they ring beautifully! The tone of Ray's bass is one of the sublime sounds of the universe. What a rhythm section!

These guys set a high standard for their live performances, and this one does not disappoint. When I saw them in Vancouver in October of '75, I could *not* believe that humans were capable of this sort of precision playing in the context of a five-piece rock band. They were truly mind-blowing. The audience reaction to this performance sounds quite ecstatic. Some new Giant heads were made on this night! A couple of my favorite reactions: toward the beginning of "So Sincere" one guy pipes up "Oh wow, a cello!" Later, right at the point where they switch from the drum bash to those tiny bells, somebody (maybe the same guy) utters in seeming awe "oh . . . wow!"

Enjoy y'all!
---

THE NOTES ABOVE ARE ADAPTED FROM THE ORIGINAL TORRENT (MOSTLY NOT WRITTEN BY ME).

Seeded on DIME by pantagruel on 2004-07-10
Reseeded on DIME by iggy1 on 2026-01-13
- No audio changes made to FLAC files
- Tagged and renamed files
- Created new FFPs to reflect new file names
- Checked Google, Prog Archives, Discogs, and Bandcamp to see if released
- Added information to info file
- added poster, ad, and concert photos from https://gentlegiantmusic.com/

This is a great-sounding audience recording. On TTD 2021-03-14, Lucifer Burns identified the taper as Roy Hamilton.

Notes from the great Gentle Giant fan website http://ggconcerts.on-reflection.org/part6.htm -

Opened for Yes. A tape of this gig exists and, once more, one fan remembers GG being booed, although another report has this behavior not being rampant, with most people enjoying Giant�s set. According to one fan at the show, Yes singer Jon Anderson was also impressed with GG�s set, commenting from the stage that they were a tough act to follow. The local press agreed with this in their review, stating Giant was �well received�. Ray commented to this reviewer that, although the band preferred smaller audiences, they were currently trying larger places such as this one to �see what happens�. This particular venue was a 15,000-seat hockey arena but Giant had a very cramped space on stage in which to perform. Attendance was officially reported as 11,901.

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

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