Cream

Not I. Hugely overrated, in my opinion. Two sorts of music, as follows.

In the studio, some quite good poppy singles, although with a strange inclination to go for falsetto harmony vocals (later perfected by BeeGees).

Live, interminable threesome jamming (bad enough) or (much worse) soloing, enough to make you wish for the world to end.

But impressively loud, as the occasion demanded.

In summary, a group of incredibly talented musicians who didn't know how to go about making music.

(Retreats to bunker.)

Graham

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quote:

Originally posted by TomK:
Anybody going to see them this week?

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Spent four hours on the net and phone trying to get tickets without any joy. Scummy touts snapped them up and immediately stuck them on Ebay where they went for ridiculous money.

I don't think they will be going in for extended soloing now. They admit themselves that their earlier incarnation was a bit long-winded and self indulgent.

The studio stuff was great.

Take your ear plugs.

They weren't as loud as Led Zep though.

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
Not I. Hugely overrated, in my opinion.

And mine, just another racket from that era.

I've got mixed feelings about them too. They were incredibly cool when I was at school but I didn't get into them in any way until well after they had split. I find their albums patchy but love stuff like Tales of Brave Ulysses, White Room, and Deserted Cities of the Heart. I think they still sound great today. Crossroads is just about my all time favourite rock/blues performance.

It seems as though most of the tickets went on to the black market and there's no way I'd pay anything like the prices being quoted to see anybody. I'll buy the DVD though.

If I had known about it earlier I would have had free tickets; but I didn't, so I don't. Nothing is worth £800 a ticket.
I'm off to see Girl's Aloud tonight instead.

quote:

I'm off to see Girl's Aloud tonight instead.

My daughters off to see them to-night(Thurs) in Brighton. Not sure is too keen on it though.
This is a series of 21st birthday trips for lots of her girls friends. They have done Brighton by Limo, Billy Elliot in London. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Chicago to come.

Howard

I'm not really going. I got tickets this morning for my daughter (7) and she doesn't know about it. My wife will take her. We are going to say that we have to go out to get some shopping to get her in the car. Can't wait to see her face though. She adores them. I'm off to see Elvis Presley tomorrow night at Hammersmith. Yes, really!!
I'll be interested to hear what Cream are like. I saw BBM at Brixton a few years ago, and that was pretty good. Jack Bruce has got some terrible trousers though.

As I live in Newcastle (and not the English one), here's hoping a live DVD will be filmed.

BBM was, until now, the closest we ever came to having a Cream reunion, and good value to boot; Gary Moore was on fire in a way Clapton hasn't been since 1969.

Bhazen,
All the reviews I've seen talk about the DVD being filmed and I suppose given the way of the world at the moment it's inconceivable this could happen without umpteen spin-offs like DVD, CD, tee-shirts, etc etc. I'm personally waiting for the action figures and possible reality TV show. Given their history I think locking the three of them in a house for a week might be quite interesting. "Sour Cream" perhaps?

Incidentally I'm listening to BBM's CD at the moment. I think it's the best album Cream never made.

sorry for being thick, but I hadn't heard of the BBM album. Is that the actual name they used? I will have to go see if I can track it down. Have any of you heard of an album that Baker did called Masters of Reality, sunrise on the sufferbus? has some very nice creaminess to it in my opinion.

Tim,
It's called "Around the Next Dream" and it was released in 1994. The first time I heard it thought it was a Cream album I hadn't heard before (I was never an expert on their music). Not surprising really since it's two thirds of Cream, including the lead vocalist.

thanks Tom,
they even have some samples on amazon. Will keep my eye out for it.

quote:

Originally posted by TomK:
Bhazen,
All the reviews I've seen talk about the DVD being filmed and I suppose given the way of the world at the moment it's inconceivable this could happen without umpteen spin-offs like DVD, CD, tee-shirts, etc etc. I'm personally waiting for the action figures and possible reality TV show. Given their history I think locking the three of them in a house for a week might be quite interesting. "Sour Cream" perhaps?

Incidentally I'm listening to BBM's CD at the moment. I think it's the best album Cream never made.

Hooray! re: the DVD

Reality show - that's funny! Actually, it would be pretty good, because Baker is a notoriously caustic fellow, and Bruces' personality gets him going.

Baker, Bruce & Moore is certainly a much better recording than Cream were ever favoured with....

So, if we're not to get a review of Cream at the RAH (as everyone's saving up for that next black box and won't pay a tout upwards of £800), what about a review of the chavette sex on ten legs concerts mentioned above?

G

The Girls Aloud concert was "Pretty good" and "they sang live" this from my daughter. The girl for whom the tickets were bought really enjoyed it. So Mission accomplished. My daughters other quote "not as good as The Levellers" but that's another story.

Howard

I was at the RAH last Thursday. Was lucky enough to get front row tickets at face value on the day they went on sale. Heaven only knows what those around us had spent!
From the first notes of "I'm so glad" to the last of "Sunshine of your love" which topped and tailed the concert, it was utterly spellbinding. Age and illness have not diminished their musical prowess one iota, and it was wonderful to see and hear these three guys playing their hearts out. I saw Eric at the same venue this time last year and he was awesome then, but in the context of a trio he was even more amazing since, other than for "Toad", he was playing virtually every bar.Other than a wahwah pedal he seemed to have very little in the way of F/X boxes - he got all the sounds through sheer technique.
Despite all the gossip, they seemed to enjoy playing together.
Undoubtedly one of the best concerts I have attended - ever.
And yes, I bought a teeshirt! And a program! And the film crew were wandering up and down in front of us with their Sony Steady cam, so a DVD is inevitable.
Girls Aloud? Give me a break! It's an age thing!

quote:

I was at the RAH last Thursday.

Lucky sod!!

Tom
I do know it! If you "get" Cream it was a fantastic night.

Seems be a lot of sour grapes in this thread.
I got tickets (via official box-office) for the Friday show (Cream's final Farewell Concert?).

They started off well, excellent all round, and then when they got to 'Stormy Monday' they just took off - big time. Jaws were dropping all around me. I've always rated Clapton as one of the all time great guitarists, but ****, this was phenomenal.

I had to go as I was a fan in the mid-sixties, but I hadn't expected to find that they can still wipe the floor with all of today's heavy bands. Original and best.

Well said Jez
Ironic wasn't it that Stormy Monday was just so awesome, seeing as it was the only song they played, on the Thursday at least, which wasn't from their back catalogue!
I thought all 3 played out of their skins right from the first notes of I'm So Glad. Jack looks frail but played and sang like a man possessed.
What was so great was that, on stage at least, they seemed to be really enjoying playing together again.

I just got this last night. It's not brilliant sound quality but gives a reasonable indication of how much on fire they must have been. It'll have to do until the DVD in autumn!

PS If you're going to make a CD it needs a bit of cleaning up. A few tracks have a gap and/or loud crack at the start. Once these are taken out it actually sounds not too bad.

Tom
They wereon fire! The playing was tremendous. This was not 3 old guys going through the motions. Can't download the file as I'm at work. Will listen at home tonight.