Thursday, October 27, 2005
Cream Live @ Madison Square Garden
Pic by Robert Caplin/New York Times
Every now and then, one feels extraordinarily grateful to be living in New York. This Monday, Cream, the extraordinary super-group consisting of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce came together one last time to do 3 nights at Madison Sq Garden. Age has not been very kind to Jack Bruce, but boy, can he still sing and play mean bass!! To me, Eric Clapton proved yet again that his best work was created during his stint with Cream, especially on songs like "Sweet Wine", "Born under a Bad Sign" and "Stormy Monday." The band also performed "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (featuring Clapton's first use of the wah-wah in a song) on stage for the very first time. My favourite song of the night though was the bass-free version of Muddy Waters' "Rollin and Tumbin" with Jack Bruce on vocals and harmonica jamming with Clapton and Baker. The blues never sounded better than it did this stormy New York monday!
