From the Exchange website: “The band Cream were one of the first supergroups, blending their beloved blues with powerful rock licks and rhythms. Now, nearly 60 years after the trio of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce burst onto the scene, North Tyneside welcomes the new generation – Sons of Cream. Kofi Baker and Malcolm Bruce both have deep roots going back to the birth of the 60’s British Blues R&B Rock Explosion. Here they honour the incredible legacy of their fathers Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce alongside their bandmate Eric Clapton in an exciting show featuring the music of Cream and beyond through their project Sons of Cream.”
“But this isn’t your typical tribute act, these men have a strange multidimensional pedigree. It is purely second nature as they dive inside the music, bringing it alive, like a living organism, like a second skin, all constantly morphing into something new. They have big shoes to fill. And through some kind of genetic imprint, and intuitive sense, they arrive at the true heart of what Cream’s music stands for and are truly making it their own. Together they are bringing to light the spirit and pure energy and audacity of the music of their fathers.”
Malcolm Bruce, son of Jack Bruce, said: “We are excited to be coming to North Shields and The Exchange 1856 to play the music of Cream. It’s a new venue for us. I have great formative memories of visiting Chas Chandler in the general area as I grew up with his son Steffan…..We are comfortable playing the music as we have been playing together for a while, but also because we are not approaching this as a tribute act per se. As we are all actually related to the original band members and grew up performing with our dads, we are essentially an extension of the whole thing. Although of course we play all the songs that people know and love, we understand and approach the music from the point of view that it is based on improvisation, so it is fresh and new every time we perform.”
“So, we go off on a musical journey with the material in an organic way. This is what the original band did and how we understand it ourselves. And this gives us the freedom to let ourselves discover our own way of playing, and that to some degree takes the pressure off! We are not pretending to be Jack, Ginger, and Eric, that would be impossible anyway. So, we use the material as a vehicle for self-expression rather than simply playing it note for note. All the songs get a great reaction depending on the night, of course the best known songs like ‘White Room’ and ‘Sunshine of your Love’ are crowd favourites but also less well known songs such as ‘We’re Going Wrong’ are a joy to play because they are so direct and expressive and go off into uncharted territory every time we play them. It’s all about the journey for us.”
So, would the sons do their fathers justice? I was really looking forward to this concert as I was lucky enough to see Cream at their reunion concert at The Royal Albert Hall London in 2005 which was a big gig for me. I’d watched the Cream farewell concert on TV in the late 60s and was just mesmerised by Clapton. His hair, the psychedelic painted SG, the “woman” tone he described in the film, it all seemed just sensational to me, as a kid at the time. I so wished that I’d had the chance to see Cream. I remember older boys at school talking about seeing them at a gig in Newcastle and saying how great they were. I was so jealous of them. I bought Goodbye Cream and played it repeatedly. I saw Clapton many times in the 70s and 80s, and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker with their solo projects. But to see Cream was a great dream, an ambition.
So, when the rumours of a reunion came to fruition, and it was announced that the three legends would come together for a series of shows in London I was determined to go. I was nervous about getting tickets and stressed about it for days before they went on sale. On the morning that they did go on sale I had two phones and a computer to hand and got straight through to the Albert Hall box office on one of the phones, managing to my joy to buy tickets some ten rows from the stage. I then waited in anticipation for the gig. Would it be as good as I hoped?
Marie came with me, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Judging by the American accents in evidence, the Albert Hall was full of fans who had travelled a long way for the honour of seeing this legendary band play for one more time. The atmosphere was strange, everyone was quiet in anticipation. It was as if the crowd couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Quiet, almost religious. The set covered everything I could have wished for with a selection from all of the albums. Clapton was God again; Jack sang beautifully, and Ginger pounded away on his drums.
The crowd stayed in their seats until almost the end. For “Sunshine of Your Love”, which was the encore, we were all up and we managed to get right to the front. Marie was leaning on the stage directly in front of Jack Bruce and I was just behind her. You can even see us on the DVD if you look closely. A night that I will remember for ever. Sometimes your dreams do come true, and sometimes they are as good as you dreamed, they would be. Happy days.
Back to today and The Exchange. The songs of the 60s resonated through the hall. Jackie, Norm, and I really enjoyed the concert. As the set list shows, the band chose an eclectic mixture of tracks from Cream’s back catalogue, including some I had forgotten, such as the wonderful “We’re Going Wrong”. They even threw in a magnificent attempt at “Toad”, the Ginger Baker drum solo, and a couple of Blind Faith songs which were no longer familiar to me. The performance was note perfect, including the understated opener “NSU” and the magnificent “White Room”. These guys are immersed in the music of their parents, who I am sure would approve. “Sunshine of your Love” Happy days are here again! Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and to Chris for manipulating the site as usual. The last picture of the band is from the Exchange website
S
et 1:N.S.U.; Politician; Outside Woman Blues; Sleepy Time Time; Can’t Find My Way Home; Pressed Rat and Warthog; Tales of Brave Ulysses; Toad.
Set 2: I’m So Glad; Cross Road Blues; Sitting on Top of the World; Had to Cry Today; Sunshine of Your Love; We’re Going Wrong; White Room; Sweet Wine.
Encore: Spoonful.
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Prof_Alistair on September 9, 2024 at 6:31 am
Sounds good! Had the pleasure of seeing Cream once quite early on (another time I turned up for a club gig they were booked for only to find it had been cancelled – a real pain as I’d convinced a couple of friends they’d be worth seeing and had dragged them along).
You’re on quite a roll of gigs at the moment. Long may it last!
Posted by vintagerock on September 9, 2024 at 12:07 pm
You make me so jealous Alistair! Happy days Peter
Posted by vintagerock on September 9, 2024 at 12:11 pm
Sorry my mistake. Sorry to hear that the concert was cancelled! I pressed send before reading the message correctly. Wish you had seen them in those days they would have been class. Happy days Peter
Posted by Prof_Alistair on September 9, 2024 at 12:24 pm
No worries Peter. Both your replies were correct! I did see them at the NME Poll Winners Concert 1967 (one of those mega-events that also had The Beach Boys, Small Faces, and a raft of others.)
However, earlier I’d tried to see them when, as a 16-year old bank clerk, I persuaded a couple of friends from the YMCA where I was living that Cream would be worth watching as I’d invested in their first album (Fresh Cream) and so along we trogged to Wheels Discotheque in Reading, Berkshire where they were due to play a gig.
Just idling on t’Internet and found this which confirmed to me that I wasn’t having false memories (I’d never seen reference to the gig before and had started to doubt my memory).
https://whereseric.com/tour/1967-0-6/
You’ll note that there is no set list or any other detail and (here comes the sad part) I suspect the reason for that may be that the gig didn’t take place! I arrived with the friends only to find the club empty with open doors and an employee who told us the gig was off. One of the great disappointments of my music life!
Posted by vintagerock on September 9, 2024 at 12:38 pm
You have a great memory my friend! Peter
Posted by Peter L on September 9, 2024 at 10:38 am
Hi Pete, A nice write up on Sons of Cream, I wish I had known about the show, I would have gone. Way back in the canyons of my mind, 1971 to be precise, we went to The Mayfair to see the newly formed Derek and the Dominoes, actually we went to see the support band – Writing on the Wall who we had previously seen a few months before at the City Hall together with Matthews Southern Comfort and the headline band Ten Years After. What a night that was, everyone was so impressed by the crazy antics of Scottish band Writing on the Wall and their front man Linnie Paterson, we talked about them for ages ! So we then saw them again at the Mayfair together with Derek and the D’s, however, as it often happens, we were only 15 year old lads so we had to run for our last bus back to Blyth which was 11.10 pm, so we only got to see one song by Derek !…ha ha…happy day’s ! Then in, the early 2000’s (I think). we saw at The Cellar Club, South Shields. the power trio of Jack Bruce, Gary Moore and a drummer whose name I forget, and WoW !…that was a night to remember, one of the best ! So I’ve seen Cream in bits and pieces, but not actually together !…by the way, you didn’t mention who the guitarist was in Sons of, it would be nice to know. All the best Pete, one day I’ll see you at a gig and we’ll have a good crack ! Pete Lambert, Blyth.
Posted by vintagerock on September 9, 2024 at 11:33 am
Many thanks Peter for sharing a great story. I am so jealous. I would love to have seen Clapton in those days, even if it was only for one song! Was George Harrison with him? And the Cellar Club concert sounds great as well. You are correct. I should have mentioned the guitarist who was excellent. I think he was a nephew of Clapton. Anyway he played the part very well. Happy days and thanks again for your contribution. Yes I am sure we should meet up at some point which would be great Peter
Posted by Peter Barry Lambert on September 9, 2024 at 11:58 pm
Pete,
No, George Harrison was not there, I believe other members were mostly American, some from Delaney and Bonnie, remember them ? Bobby Whitlock is a name I remember, and I believe Dave Mason was also on guitar. I also remember it took them a while to get started because they all seemed to be…er…..shall we say…way up on another height !
Pete Lambert.
Posted by vintagerock on September 10, 2024 at 10:53 am
Thanks Pete. Yes I do remember Delaney and Bonnie. In fact I bought a single which was out at the time. Dave Mason. Traffic. There’s another blast from the past. Happy days Peter
Posted by ciarant1step on September 16, 2024 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for a nice account, including some great stories from the Cream Reunion concert.
So Sons of Cream really are the sons of Cream! I can’t think of any similar band, but it seems to work well.
Posted by vintagerock on September 16, 2024 at 1:49 pm
It was certainly fun Ciaran and it was great to hear those classic songs played live again. There are parallels in Zappa plays Zappa in which Frank Zappa’s son Dweezil, plays his father’s music and does a great job of it. They may be others but I can’t think of any at the moment Peter