Gargantua, Pantagruel and Panurge: Three Inseparable Friends Ride the Musical Legacy of Three Friends Through the Heart of Trieste (2012)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Castello Di San Giusto / Trieste (Trst) / Italy
Concert date: 26.07.2012
Attendance: 600
Ticket price: 16,00€

This year’s Summer Rock Festival, which has already hosted prog rock names like Van Der Graaf Generator, Caravan, Gong, Focus, Steve Hackett and The Grandmothers of Invention, was held once again at Castello di San Giusto after last year’s move away from Trieste’s main square. The castle grounds, with ramparts that offer a lovely view of the city, are tailor-made for a band called Three Friends, even though it has six members, since troubadour-style arrangements are anything but foreign to them. Most music fans who don’t actively follow the turbulent world of prog rock will of course scratch their heads and wonder who the heck Three Friends even are. This is a band that is, for now, purely a live project, made up of two former members of the legendary prog rock innovators and eternal jokers Gentle Giant: original guitarist Gary Green and drummer Malcolm Mortimore. The latter played only on the third Gentle Giant album, the conceptual masterpiece »Three Friends«, which makes up the bulk of their live repertoire, yet on stage he looks like he was playing in that inimitable, far-too-soon-defunct band just yesterday.

Originally they performed under Green’s leadership as Rentle Giant, but after original keyboardist Kerry Minnear left (in 2009 he decided to stop taking part in the live project out of respect for the Shulman brothers), they changed the name. That didn’t bother the blues-rooted guitar innovator Green much when it came to carrying on with the music of the legendary prog rock innovators, whom, thanks to the Shulman brothers’ stubbornness, we will never see together on stage again. Besides Green and the cowboy-hat-crowned Mortimore, who left Gentle Giant in 1972 after a motorcycle accident, the Three Friends lineup also features cult bassist Lee Pomeroy (It Bites, ex-Steve Hackett, Rick Wakeman). On vocals, Mick Wilson, the current 10cc singer, stepped into Derek Shulman’s shoes with surprising success, while Gary Sanctuary filled in for Minnear with flying colors. The biggest surprise, though, was the presence of an extra guest member, multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Glasson, who played viola, flute, clarinet, saxophone and violin. The exceptionally talented Miss Glasson, with the figure and dress of a governess from the golden socialist-realist days, joined Three Friends as a guest exclusively for the Trieste show. Maybe it was her presence that made their set such a success as a whole, since her strings and winds were key to a much more organic sound in the orchestral arrangements than if they’d been covered, as is usual at their gigs, by keyboardist Sanctuary.

Opening the night were Ibrido Hot Six, a chamber ensemble from Rome who pleasantly surprised us with instrumental versions of some Gentle Giant classics. The most interesting part was that almost all the arrangements came from the second Gentle Giant album, »Acquiring the Taste« (1971), which is obviously the favorite of the members of this Italian outfit, with its emphasis on a whole battery of winds and strings. The guitarist went for an electric guitar approach and tone that was a bit reminiscent of Pat Metheny, which is to say he made no effort at all to be a copy of the blues-rooted Gary Green. On the whole, the covers came out very interesting, with some improvised bits, but the main themes were of course instantly recognizable. Jazz-tinged versions of unforgettable »Acquiring the Taste« standards »Plain Truth«, »Black Cat«, »Edge of Twilight« and »Wreck«, along with the »Octupus« (1973) classic »Think of Me With Kindness« and the »Three Friends« (1972) evergreen »Peel the Paint«, made for a fine warm-up ahead of the main event of the evening.

Three Friends opened their set in a powerful, spectacular way with an epic rendition of the »Three Friends« opener »Prologue«, which, with its unpredictable rhythmic meanders, unique Gentle Giant vocal harmonies and the spontaneity of multi-instrumental perfection, thoroughly stirred up the mood in the crowd right from the intro. That evening, to many people’s delight, they played a few »Octopus« classics, such as the anthemic »The Boys In The Band«, »Advent Of Panurge«, a lesson in innovation and unpredictability in miniature, and the gorgeous ballad »Think Of Me With Kindness«. The band members, as befits Gentle Giant’s reputation as eternal jokers with burlesque rhythms and socially critical lyrics about the adventures of clumsy giants like the unforgettable literary characters Gargantua and Pantagruel, cracked plenty of jokes, mostly at their own expense. They earned themselves a mischievous remark about keyboardist Gary Sanctuary and his stage position, since he had his back to the audience while playing the organ. The chemistry between all the members is outstanding, especially between Green and Pomeroy, who were simply glowing with vitality and spontaneity on stage, even though, especially at the start, they couldn’t avoid a few minor technical mishaps, at least where the guitar was concerned. Singer Mick Wilson, who in his physical appearance suspiciously resembled none other than the cult American singer and keyboardist Neal Morse (ex-Spock’s Beard), was unbelievably convincing the whole way through as the stand-in for the legendary Derek Shulman. The only slightly distracting thing about his performance was the occasional glance down at the lyrics stand.

It’s downright incredible how Gentle Giant’s music still sounds current and fresh after more than four decades, which is the best proof of how far ahead of their time they were with their sonic pioneering in the ‘distant’ seventies. Three Friends reminded us of that every single second of their set. They didn’t forget the aforementioned album »Acquiring the Taste« either, playing two songs that Ibrido Hot Six had ‘overlooked’, »The House, The Street, The Room« and »Pantagruel’s Nativity«. Although it was announced before the concert that Three Friends play works from every period of Gentle Giant history, as expected they played nothing from the last three GG studio releases, which, thanks to their ‘commercialization’, are still the least popular among the faithful. Still, they didn’t forget to play the standard »I Lost My Head«, from the ‘transitional’ classic »Interview« (1976). The concept album »Power And The Glory« (1974), on which they once satirized the abuse of power, was also represented that night, with an excellent version of the classic »Proclamation«. The masterpiece »Free Hand« (1975) was represented by the cataclysmic treat »Just The Same«, while the title classic from that cult album was played in the encore, which closed the show. You could argue the highlight of the night was the triumphant finish of the main set with the »Three Friends« concept trio »Scooldays«, »Mister Class And Quality« and the title track.

The Three Friends concert was a first-rate demonstration of pure musical brilliance and total stage spontaneity, delivered by top-class talents who are always up for a good joke. They gave us an unforgettable night and took us back to the golden days of prog rock adventure, when nothing stood in the way of discovering countless new sonic challenges. Throughout the show it often seemed that the ‘real’ Gentle Giant were up on stage, and not just an approximation of them, or the last remaining remnants of that far-too-soon-defunct legendary collective, which in ten years, without any commercial recognition, created some of the most innovative, intelligent, rhythmically rich and refined albums of all time.

Setlist

IBRIDO HOT SIX

1. Plain Truth
2. Black Cat
3. Edge Of Twilight
4. Wreck
5. Think Of Me With Kindness
6. Peel The Paint

THREE FRIENDS

1 Prologue
2. The Boys In The Band
3. Just The Same
4. The Advent Of Panurge
5. Think Of Me With Kindness
6. The House, The Street, The Room
7. Pantagruel’s Nativity
8. I Lost My Head
9. Proclamation
10. Schooldays
11. Mister Class And Quality
12. Three Friends
—encore—
13. Free Hand