Hello,
On September
20, 1976 (half a century ago...) the European tour of the Banco del Mutuo
Soccorso started, as an "open show" for Gentle Giant.
Under the
"original" notes of the concerts, also the one in Munich, where
Gentle Giant, (seeing the skill of ours, and the enthusiastic response of the
public) gave permission to the Banco to do an encore, which was not
contractually foreseen.
Practically
the same thing that had happened to them in 1972 in Italy, when they opened for
Jethro Tull.
Attachments,
tour memorabilia.
By kind
permission of Wazza
Sep. 20-Kiel,
Germany
Audimax
Banco finally
was able to open the show. One fan remembers seeing the band at some
point at Ball Pompos, a different venue in Kiel, though there is no proof of
this.
Sep. 21-Hamburg,
Germany
Musikhalle
Banco again
opened the show. According to a review in Hamburger Abendblatt,
about 1,400 fans were in attendance, making the show not quite sold
out. The reviewer also claimed the playing was technically precise
but lacked feeling, causing a less than enthusiastic response at times from the
fans. A member of the audience has also pointed out that the group’s
PA system was noisy and uncooperative at this gig, with the quadrophonic system
used during Ray’s violin solo not functioning properly.
Sep. 22-Berlin,
Germany
Philharmonie
CANCELED
The
band was scheduled to appear at this gig with Banco, but they encountered
problems getting equipment across the border between West and East
Germany. The members of Giant did manage to arrive in Berlin and
were even interviewed for a local music newspaper, but they were unable to
perform. The venue hastily arranged a classical orchestra concert in
the band’s place.
Sep. 23-Dusseldorf, Germany
Philipshalle
Banco opened
the show. This was one of the four concerts from the fall of 1976
that Giant recorded for a potential live album, the other three being the
Munich, Paris and Brussels gigs. When the PLAYING THE FOOL album
was released, it at least included On Reflection from
Dusseldorf, if not possibly a bit more. Other material from this
concert has also seen official release more recently. The
songs Interview and Timing, as well as Intro
76 from this show, appeared on the UNDER-CONSTRUCTION album. The mini
medley of The Runaway/Experience from this show appeared
on the 2000 CD reissue of IN A GLASS HOUSE. This
same mini medley is also included on the 2005 35th anniversary CD
reissue of the same album, where it's erroneously labeled as being just the
song Experience. Still, more of this night’s music
remained unreleased until 2019 when the UNBURIED TREASURE boxset contained,
in remixed and remastered form, all of the surviving source material
from the Dusseldorf show, which is nearly complete. In 2025, a
longer, reimagined version of PLAYING THE FOOL became
available, simulating an entire 1976 concert, including certain songs and stage
banter that had originally been omitted. It was compiled strictly
from the multi-track recordings that still exist so, while it included many of
the same recordings used on the original 1977 release, it also had to
substitute other recordings when the originals were found to be
erased. It is safe to assume that portions of the Dusseldorf concert
appear on the 2025 release.
Sep. 24-Mannheim,
Germany
Rosengarten Musensaal
Banco opened
the show. A newspaper review described the hall as “densely packed”,
while being more favorable of Banco’s performance than of Giant’s.
Sep. 25-Munich,
Germany
Circus
Krone
Building
Banco opened
the show. According to the terms of their contract, Banco was not
allowed to play encores on this tour. However, the audience was
quite vocal at this show in their support for the openers, so Giant reversed
their decision and allowed an encore on this evening and on subsequent
evenings, as needed. This was another one of the four concerts
recorded by the band for the PLAYING THE FOOL album. The Intro and
part of Funny Ways appeared on the 1977 release, as well as
possibly a bit more. A little under an hour’s worth of original
source material remains from this gig and that was remixed, remastered and
included in the UNBURIED TREASURE boxset. The
longer, reimagined version of PLAYING THE FOOL that came out
in 2025 can also safely be assumed to include a portion of material from this
Munich concert. The Circus Krone Building, as the name implies, was
home to one of the largest circus organizations in Europe, although they often
hosted rock concerts and other entertainment events.
Sep. 27-Ulm,
Germany
Donauhalle
CANCELED.
The
band originally planned to play here with Banco, but it was canceled
at the very last minute. Electrical issues in the venue were given
as the reason, but a notice in the Sudwest Presse questioned
whether sluggish ticket sales a contributing factor were.
Sep. 28-Offenbach,
Germany
Stadthalle
Banco opened
the show and was well received, playing one or two encores. During
the show, Kerry greeted the fans by saying "hello Frankfurt",
followed by howls of disapproval from the audience. Offenbach is
very near to Frankfurt but is not actually part of that larger
city. There is some evidence that the band may have also planned to
record this gig, but it didn't happen.
Sep. 30-Zurich,
Switzerland
Volkshaus
Banco opened
the show. The venue was sold out with about 2,000 fans in
attendance. A local newspaper review was mixed, complimenting the
band on their musical prowess and showmanship, while noting the performance was
somewhat routine and uninspired, and some of the solos were “pretty
poor”. This same review was very complimentary of Banco, stating
they were good enough to have been the headliner. This is another
gig that some evidence indicates Giant may have originally intended to record,
though it didn't happen. However, a tape made by an audience member
does exist. It may have been unusually hot on stage that night, as
Derek remarked that it felt "like a sauna bath" and joked that the
band may have to start removing their clothes, which he said might "scare
the gig.
Oct. 1-Neuchatel, Switzerland
Temple
du
Bas
A tape of
this show also exists. Banco opened the show, which was reportedly
only the second major rock concert to be held in Neuchatel. Temple
du Bas was a beautiful old church that had just recently been
renovated. As a rider in their contract, the band had listed certain
electrical safety features be installed. The promoter told
them during soundcheck that the building had brand new wiring, due to the
renovation, and the band’s concerns were unfounded. However, that
evening, when he walked into the dressing room, the promoter saw the roadies
dressed in the band members' stage clothes. The roadies told him
that, because of unsafe wiring, the group would not play, and the
roadies would take their places. The promoter was horrified, at
which time the roadies admitted it was all a bit of English
humor. In actuality, the members of Giant were quite touched by the
lavishly catered affair the promotor and his friends had provided them in their
dressing room. Derek was even moved enough to thank them publicly
from the stage during the concert. Apparently, the band played
loudly enough this night to be easily heard outside in the street, where some
fans stayed and enjoyed the music, no doubt also enjoying the annual wine
festival going on at the time. Multiple press reports were favorable
to Giant’s set, with one singling out Ray’s violin solo in
particular. This reviewer was enamored by Ray’s trick of finishing
by placing his instrument on the floor and walking off while the violin notes
continued to sound.
Oct. 2-Vaduz,
Liechtenstein
Vaduzer-saal
The only
known time the group ever played in this tiny European nation. Banco
opened the show.
Oct. 5-Paris,
France
Pavillon de
Paris
Banco opened
the show. This was another of the four concerts recorded for use on
the PLAYING THE FOOL album. Quite a bit of the
music on the original album came from Paris including at least Excerpts
from Octopus, The Runaway/Experience, Peel the Paint/I
Lost My Head, part of So Sincere, and possibly a bit
more. In 2015, an Alucard reissue of OCTOPUS had a
bonus track of Excerpts from Octopus taken from this concert
which included a bit of Derek’s spoken introduction not heard on the 1977
release. All of the existing source material was finally
remixed and remastered for inclusion in the UNBURIED TREASURE boxset. It
contains not quite the complete show but is well over an hour in
length. Certainly, a sizable portion of musical and spoken material
from Paris was also included in 2025’s expanded, reimagined version of PLAYING
THE FOOL. John recalls a nerve-wracking moment that played
out in Paris while he and Gary were doing some after dinner sightseeing along
the banks of the Seine. They noticed a student riot taking place on
the river’s opposite shore when suddenly, a portion of the rioters split from
the group and ran across the bridge towards them. As the students
ran by, baton wielding police in close pursuit, John and Gary held their ground
but yelled out, “Anglais! Anglais!” The police apparently
understood and left them alone, continuing to chase after the
rioters. Relieved, John and Gary quickly returned to their
hotel. This could have taken place around the time of the band’s
Nov. 29, 1975, Paris gig, but this one seems more likely, as they had
a day off for sightseeing before moving on to Brussels.
Oct. 7-Brussels,
Belgium
Cirque Royal
Banco opened
at this, the last of the four concerts recorded by the band for use on
the PLAYING THE FOOL album. This gig was held in
another venue originally designed to stage circuses, as was the case for the
Munich show listed above. This venue seated 3,500 and. although
exact attendance on this night is unknown, it was said to be quite
crowded. One fan report has a significant number of audience members
there specifically to see Banco and then leaving before Giant’s
set. A keyboard breakdown just before So Sincere led
to a lengthy delay in the show, during which Ray, Gary and John filled some
time with a spontaneous improvisational version of the 1925 jazz standard Sweet
Georgia Brown, a number they had played on and off for years during
soundchecks. It appeared on the PLAYING THE FOOL album,
retitled Breakdown in Brussels, interestingly one of only two
songs the band ever released that were not original compositions, the other
being The Queen off the first album. There was a
report long ago that band members improvised more than one number during the
breakdown but no further corroboration of this has ever surfaced, so it
does not appear to be the case. The keyboards were eventually brought back
to half strength so the band could at least finish the show. The
song Free Hand from this concert also appeared on the 1977
live album, as well as possibly a bit more. As was done with the
other three PLAYING THE FOOL gigs, all the remaining material
that exists from Brussels was remixed, remastered and included in the UNBURIED
TREASURE boxset, but the source material that remains is only the last
three songs of the show and barely approaches a half hour in
length. Sadly, Breakdown in Brussels and the entire
keyboard fiasco from earlier in the evening no longer exist and do not appear
in UNBURIED TREASURE. Likewise, when the expanded,
reimagined version of PLAYING THE FOOL came out in 2025,
compiled solely from the existing muti-track recordings, only a limited amount
of material from Brussels was available and used in that
release. The exception is Breakdown in Brussels which
has once again been included in the newer 2025 release, but was mastered and
mixed from a different source, rather than from the multi-track recordings.
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