"Clapton is God (Bruce and Baker too)"

Royal Albert Hall, London, 2005

Cream’s reunion concerts being held at the Royal Albert Hall this week have been very well received to say the least. Reams of pretentious copy have already been filed about the reformation of the world’s first supergroup; -I suspect in many cases by hacks who grew up listening to Duran Duran and other such lightweight ninnies. OK, I’m sure that back in 1968 Messrs Clapton, Bruce and Baker would have had apoplexy if they had been told that The Daily Telegraph would be writing ecstatic reviews about their performances. But things change. The boys from the 60s are now in their 60s. And not in the best of health either. Ginger Baker has osteoarthritis and Jack Bruce has had a liver transplant (hmm, I can imagine what that’s all about). Mercifully all are now apparently free of addictions to dangerous injectable substances. However despite age and infirmity it seems they can still play their backsides off. I’ve seen each member of the band perform as part of a separate group but I never saw Cream as a functioning unit. One of my classmates at Guildford Tech went to see the farewell concert and the rest of us were insanely jealous. I’d love to see them now but I can’t afford two thousand quid for a ticket and I somehow doubt this reunion will last for very long (but I’m going to keep my fingers crossed).

Fillmore, San Francisco, 1967

Four decades ago (where have they gone?) these guys changed the sound of “amplified popular guitar music” in the space of two years. Pure genius. Tony (if you get back in tomorrow) take heed. A few more knighthoods are in order here.