OK, so it was 5 months ago (Royal Albert Hall, London), but I'm just seeing it now--at this very moment, actually--on my local PBS station. First, I'm amazed that Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker are all still alive. Next, the music is dated, but still pretty good. Not as good as I remember it (it was "mind-blowing" in its day), but still pretty good. The lyrics are either simple or pretentious (it seems to my 50-something self) but serves as a good excuse for the group to go on long jams. EC still has the chops; Ginger's drumming seems a little subdued; Jack's voice has survived the ravages of time. Sure takes me back.
I've actually been watching it during the commercials of the Duke-Indiana game. Very cool... I usually take any chance to watch a legend like Clapton in concert on TV, and the rest of the band is good too, of course.
Last edited by stlcard_25 : November 30th, 2005 at 11:07 PM.
It's good to hear that some young folks, like you, 'card, appreciate rock history (and I ain't talkin' geology). For my part, I keep a couple of radio presets on stations that play music preferred by "the younger set" (including the U of MN's college station), but I'm sure you know more about my generation's music than I know about yours.
Anyway, I noticed that Clapton was playing a black Strat. I doubt it was "Blackie," his main axe in the 1970s (after Cream broke up); that instrument sold at auction last year for nearly $1M. It would have been cooler had he been playing a Gibson SG, like he did in his Cream days. Still, by playing in overdrive using only the neck pickup (gratuitous tech info for any guitar-slingers here), he got a pretty good warm fuzzy tone. I don't know much about basses, but Jack Bruce was playing a fretless. I'm always impressed by a guy who can hit the notes on a fretless. Drums I know zero about. Ginger threw his sticks into the audience. Hope no one got hurt.
I watched this last night also, Cream first of the SUPER_GROUPS...i thought it was absolutly great. I also taped it so mama can watch it when she gets back from this trip....good stuff
...It looked like the years have not been too kind to Ginger.
I was surprised to see how he'd aged, too. I read online somewhere that he's now 65 years old. The item also said that the concert included a 5- or 6-minute drum solo (shorter than his usual, back in the day), during which an audience member yelled, "You go, old man!" Kind of a back-handed compliment.
I thought Ginger Baker looked pretty good considering his age(65) and the fact that even in his prime, he didn't exactly have matinee idol looks. After his history of alcholism and a 20-year heroin habit he's darn lucky to still be breathing much less playing as well as he is.
Last edited by wazmankg : December 9th, 2005 at 04:11 PM.
November 30th, 2005, 10:55 PM
I usually take any chance to watch a legend like Clapton in concert on TV, and the rest of the band is good too, of course.
The item also said that the concert included a 5- or 6-minute drum solo (shorter than his usual, back in the day), during which an audience member yelled, "You go, old man!" Kind of a back-handed compliment. 
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