At the beginning of May, I wrote a diary about the first of four concerts that the 1960's rock band Cream performed at the Royal Albert Hall (their first such concerts in 37 years) that I was fortunate enough and - ouch - willing to pay enough to attend. Several readers responded with words to the effect of "dang, wish I could have attended".
Well, for those of you in that category: you may yet have another chance (and this time in the US).
While it should be emphasized that no official announcement has been made, there are increasing signs that there will be some further Cream concerts: this time at New York's Madison Square Garden in late October of this year (around the same time that a DVD version of the London shows is due to be released). The evidence so far:
1) This United Press International story: "Clapton said Thursday that the famed rock trio is "still planning on doing one more group of shows ... in the autumn" and acknowledged rumors that they'll take place in October at New York City's Madison Square Garden. "I think the plan is to come to America," he said, "but I don't know that it's 100 percent certain yet, so I don't want to create an expectation that might fall through." See the link for the entire article:
Monsters and Critics
2) On B.B. King's New York club website, there is a listing for an 11:30 PM show by guitarist Godfrey Townsend (who was the "God" in Cream bassist Jack Bruce's most recent solo album title "More Jack than God") on Wednesday, the 26th of October. By some coincidence, this time would be after the final show of three possible Cream reunion shows in New York (in much the same way that a performance by guitarist Saiichi Sugiyama/Cream lyricist Pete Brown at London's Hard Rock Café at 11:30 PM on the 6th of May just happened to follow the last of the four Cream concerts at the Royal Albert Hall). The listing reads:
GODFREY TOWNSEND & FRIENDS
POST-MSG CREAM PARTY
2005-10-26 - 11:30PM
See this link for the full listing:
B.B. King
3) And finally, one ticket broker has gone so far as to begin accepting orders (on speculation) for three shows. These appear to be at even greater broker's-premium prices (far higher than what will be the face value, it should be noted) than was the case for the Royal Albert Hall shows. And they, too, are listing specific dates, as per this website:
Platinum Entertainment
To repeat: this could fall apart....nothing official has been announced....but if these concerts do not materialize, it will not be for a lack of trying, that much seems certain. So for those who were unable to make it over to Europe for the shows this past May, you may yet have another chance. Stay tuned.
- Ed Tracey