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Rating: On May 2, 3, 5, and 6, 2005, a historic event occurred: after 37 years, Cream reunited to perform full concerts. Twelve years prior, they had reunited in Cleveland for their induction into the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame, but only for a few songs. Now, the time had come for a true reunion; and what better place than the Royal Albert Hall in London, the scene of their last concert in '68?
Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, and Ginger Baker, after a lifetime, were together again on the same stage. 37 years is a long time, and in the meantime, everything and more happened in the lives of the three: from Clapton's triumphs in the world charts to the even enormous dramas of all three members. Artistically and socially, they have traversed genuine temporal eras, and now for this event, they reunite for four concerts, and the anticipation is intense.
The atmosphere is a mix of magical emotion that can only be felt in such cases, a classic reunion of old friends, and an equally classic: "but who made us do this?" The three have never been great friends, to put it mildly, especially Bruce and Baker never hid their profound hatred, and even in this case, they probably didn't feel any different. "Bruce played at full volume and told me, on stage in front of everyone, that I was playing too loudly. I think even Clapton figured out which of us was the jerk," said the eloquent words of the old surly drummer. But on those nights, what matters is the music, and it is always divine when played by performers of this caliber. In over two hours of this double album commemorating the event, all the classics of a band that has been one of the most innovative and important of all time are played.
In just under 3 years of activity, Cream managed to combine rock, blues, and an accommodating pop-rock, becoming, in fact, among the absolute pioneers of rock blues. They were also protagonists of the psychedelic era and initiated the phenomenon of supergroups.
Even in this case, the three veterans somehow started the trend of spectacular reunions of historic bands lost in time and circumstances. Just two months later, Pink Floyd would reunite, and two and a half years after, Led Zeppelin would follow, completing the trio of sensational musical events of the decade. Perhaps this event, in particular, was less exciting than that of Roger Waters' band and less spectacular than that of Page and Plant, but the magic remains: despite the relentless passing of time and the historical animosity among the three, the classics are lost in the nights and leave attendees transfixed, unflinching during the performances. The covers of "I'm So Glad," "Spoonful," "Rollin And Tumblin," "Stormy Monday," "Crossroads"... The band's original classics "Sleepy Time Time," "Badge" (written by Clapton with George Harrison), the lengthy drum solo "Toad," the immense "We're Going Wrong" (the absolute peak of the event and the double album) up to the closing with the famous "Sunshine Of Your Love". Thus concludes this historic event. After almost 40 years, these three historic, touchy, irritable, surly, and unlikeable virtuosos found themselves together again to pay tribute to their history, a history brief yet intense in those 3 years of the '60s when everything was changing.
"The reunion was ridiculous," said Baker again, it wasn't so, but it was right that it did not go further, thus a great story was closed in a worthy manner, the story of Cream, the first supergroup in rock history.
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