 | On Thursday, May 5, Cream took to the stage for the third of their four sold out concerts. Some have said that this was the best of the four. I wouldn't know, not having seen any of the others. What I do know is that it was a great show. The eight thousand people who packed the hall that night were not there to relive their lost youth or revive nostalgic memories of better days. Who says they were better days anyhow? We were there for the music! We were there, not to see some lip syncing, choreographed circus sideshow. We were there to see three musicians, all of them masters of their instruments, who had literally changed the course of music. Just as Elvis had changed the music of the Fifties and The Beatles had brought it into the Sixties, Cream brought it into the Seventies, and beyond. Their influence is undeniable. They paved the way for a legion of imitators, most of them being far inferior to the original. The band played the same set list all four nights. The times below are from the Thursday, May 5 concert, but they are representative of the times for all four shows. There were a few pleasant surprises! |
| Copyright © Ed Uzenko |
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As the years went by stories of Cream's legendary solos tended to become exaggerated. To this day, message boards are filled with comments such as 'Ginger played his solo for a half hour' and 'They played Spoonful for forty minutes'. Just as the band's success had seemed to gain a life of it's own, so too did the legend it would become. They would routinely play a few selected numbers for between fifteen and twenty minutes. At the Grande Ballroom, in '67, they did play Spoonful for about twenty minutes and forty-five seconds, which may well be the longest they ever played one song. The standard set list in those days would run anywhere from six to nine numbers. When the band took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in November of '68, they played nine songs. Upon their return, thirty-six years later, they played nineteen! Clearly, there were no fifteen minute solos! Instead, fans, many of whom had travelled thousands of miles to be there, were treated to a little more than two hours of classic Cream. |
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The crowd roared it's approval upon hearing the opening notes of I'm So Glad. That was followed by Spoonful, and it was a preview of what was to come. I'm So Glad typically ran for eight to ten minutes in the sixties, on this night it ran for about a minute and a half longer than the studio recording. Spoonful was one of the numbers that rarely lasted less than fifteen minutes. Again, on this night, while being one of the longer numbers, it went on for less than ten. Still, the opening night jitters were gone and it was clear that they were ready to play. They were all on the same page, and looked as if they were having fun! Then came the first big surprise of the evening, Outside Woman Blues! Sunshine of Your Love and Tales of Brave Ulysses had been the two most popular songs from Disraeli Gears, with Strange Brew and SWLABR not far behind. Any one of those songs might have been expected, but Outside Woman Blues came straight out of left field! As far as I am aware, it is a number that they had never performed live on any of their tours. It occurred to me, at the time, that since the group really didn't have enough time to work out any new material, they may have decided to throw in a lost classic. And it worked! The basic blues progression of the song was a perfect fit to their set. The next big suprise quickly followed. Cream launched into Pressed Rat and Wart Hog! Many people had always thought of this number as being little more than "filler" for the Wheels of Fire album, though I've always kinda liked it. Still, it wasn't the sort of number that lent itself to a live performance, and honestly, it could have used the trumpet. Nevertheless, I'm glad they did it. This was Ginger's song, and the sound of his voice calmly reciting the poem, (it is, essentially, a poem), was oddly soothing. It also gave Ginger the opportunity to do his part for the marketing effort. At the end of it he said, much to the delight and amusement of the crowd, "Pressed Rat and Wart Hog have finally reopened their shop, and they're selling T-shirts and hats and jackets and cups all with Cream written on it". Sleepy Time Time was next, followed by NSU. Both songs were very much as we might have expected, though, once again, NSU was not quite as long as they had played it in the sixties. |
| Copyright © Ed Uzenko |
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Badge followed NSU. This was, for me at least, not a great surprise. Although Cream had never actually played the number on stage, (they had, in fact, disbanded before it was even released), it had become one of their most popular songs, and a staple of Eric's concerts. Politician, Sweet Wine and Rollin' & Tumblin' were to follow. Rollin' & Tumblin' was, in my mind at least, the closest the band got to the "sixties" sound of Cream. Eric and Ginger laid down the freight train rhythm and left the rest to Jack's voice and harmonica. Jack lit into the song with an energy that can only be attributed to the love of his music, and fellow bandmates. Although Spoonful is my all time favorite song, Rollin' & Tumblin' was my favorite on this night. The biggest surprise of the night was to follow. Cream launched into Stormy Monday! This is a number that Eric and Jack had done many years ago with John Mayall, (Duane Allman made good use of Eric's phrasing when the Allman Brothers recorded it at the Fillmore), and Clapton has played it from time to time throughout his career, but the band never recorded it. Once again, they had found a way to give us something new. Deserted Cities of the Heart, Born Under a Bad Sign and We're Going Wrong, were to follow. Deserted Cities of the Heart and We're Going Wrong are a couple of Jack's songs that the group would occasionally add to their set while touring, yet oddly enough, Theme for an Imaginary Western had been rejected because it wasn't deemed to be suitable for Cream. Surprisingly, We're Going Wrong was one of the longer songs of the night, at just under eight minutes. Jack's vocals and Eric's tasteful playing made it one of the better selections of the night as well. It was as good as, perhaps even better than, they had played it at the Fillmore those many years ago. It was vintage Cream! Born Under a Bad Sign, a perfect fit for Cream, was a song they had never played on tour, though it was one of the three songs the band had played at their Hall of Fame induction. Crossroads followed We're Going Wrong. It was not quite as energetic as the Wheels of Fire version, but more so than the Derek and the Dominoes rendition. Sitting on Top of the World was next, with Jack playing harmonica! This was most definitely a new twist to the song. For about a minute or so Eric played rhythm to Jack's harmonica before the two exchanged the lead. White Room followed, with Jack and Eric sharing the vocals. Toad was next, and after a brief intro, featuring a nice bit of feedback by Clapton, Jack and Eric wandered offstage, leaving the spotlight to Ginger. The crowd stood and roared it's approval, in anticipation of what was to come! Ginger lit into his solo with an energy that belied his age. The whirling dervish was magnificent, but still, I was a little disappointed that the bass drum pattern that distinguished Toad from all of the other drum solos out there was missing. Many in the audience had moved toward the stage during Ginger's solo. I was a little confused by this, but it became clear to me as, at the end, he tossed his drumsticks, not at Jack's head, but into the crowd! |
| Copyright © Ed Uzenko |
| Copyright © Ed Uzenko |
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When Eric, Jack and Ginger returned to the stage for their encore I couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness. This would be it! One last song! I wasn't ready for it to be over yet. But, it was one hell of a finish! Ginger played as if it would be the last time he would ever play again! The song finished with a frenzy that some critics would have referred to as self indulgent, back in the days when it was in vogue to put down Cream. But, they played as if they didn't want to stop. |
| Copyright © Ed Uzenko |
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I’ve wondered, since that night, if we couldn't have coaxed them back for one more. What if we had simply refused to leave! What if we had pushed them to do more! Would they have returned to play Tales of Brave Ulysses? Had they discussed the possibility? Had they rehearsed the song? But, we didn't demand more of them. We rose to our feet as one, and thanked them. We thanked them just for being there at all! |
Photo Credits; Royal Albert Hall; Photographer Unknown
All others; Ed Uzenko