Cream Albert Hall 2005 Full Concert
Trinidad Baltzell
Farewell Concert is the live recording of the band Cream's final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 November 1968. Aside from the band's reunion concert in 2005 it is Cream's only official full concert release on video. It was originally broadcast by the BBC on 5 January 1969. It was not released on video in the US until 1977. The opening acts for the concert were future progressive rock stars Yes, who were just starting out, and Taste, an Irish trio led by Rory Gallagher.
In 2005, a special extended edition of the concert appeared featuring full versions of all songs separated from the narration and interviews. Lasting 80 minutes, it was released on the official DVD reissue. The new version featured digitally remastered sound and video including three bonus songs. A short clip of White Room from the second set (the film used the version from the first show), together with D.J. John Peel introducing the band onstage, was shown on the BBC1 programme "The Rock And Roll Years" in the late 1980s.[1]
Album releaseIn March 2020, the concert was released as part of the live album Goodbye Tour - Live 1968, being the first time the Royal Albert Hall concert was officially released via audio format.[2]Sadly the sound of this Royal Albert hall concert is much worse than the sound of the other 3 shows of this box set.
The audio is a turgid sonic sludge. The visuals are even worse, with director Tony Palmer jerking the camera around as if this were an episode of NYPD Blue, layering the picture with dated and distracting psychedelic light effects, and providing far too many close-ups of Bruce's teeth (and almost no wide shots of the entire band).[3]
Ginger Baker himself has lashed out in an interview against the Farewell Concert video, stating: "Cream was so much better than that." Nonetheless, most Cream fans regard the actual performance with great enthusiasm, disregarding the poor quality of the video.
Ever since it opened its doors were opened by Queen Victoria in 1871, Royal Albert Hall has welcomed millions of visitors each year with a pre-COVID calendar of hosting just shy of 400 events annually including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. It is the premiere venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.
The result is A Circle of Sound, a multi-media spectacular that evokes the spirit and history of the Hall. The 10-movement work will be performed by a full orchestra, joined by singers from the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and a cavalcade of guest stars from the worlds of stage and screen.
While my first memory of attending a concert at Royal Albert Hall occurred some 15+ years ago in 2005 to see the Cream Reunion Concert as part of the filming for the PBS series Great Performances, there has been little else from a concert-going experience that has lived up to the priceless opportunity to be present to see the brilliance that was Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, a.k.a. Cream, on the hallowed stage of the Royal Albert Hall.
The Oakdale was a summer theatre in-the-round with a circular stage and a canvas roof. Where the theatre stood is now the lobby of the new Oakdale (now named the Chevrolet Theater, sacrilege!). It booked mostly summer stock, traveling Broadway musical companies and shows of that ilk along with traditional singers from Tony Bennett and Engelbert Humperdink to Ray Charles and many more. I even saw the figure skater Perry Fleming perform there once, when they flooded the stage area with ice. She was actually quite good.
They played a fairly standard set, which included N.S.U., Spoonful, Sunshine Of Your Love and Sweet Wine. From there it was the long solos by Bruce and Baker. This was one of the last shows I remember at Oakdale before a revolving stage was installed. This came about for a number of reasons, but certainly at rock concerts during which many groups were using Marshall stacks for amps, nearly half the audience was cut off from a clear view of the band. I believe the Led Zeppelin show about a year later was one of the first with the moving stage, which by the way mucked up the sound terribly.
The Wheels Of Fire album was released in August, quite a sensation, first double LP to go platinum and instantly No. 1. Strange, it took them two years to make it to the top as the first true power trio, but were now planning a Farewell Tour in the fall.
With the exception of playing three songs at their 1993 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the performances from 'Live at Royal Albert Hall' feature Cream's first time touring together since their 1968 break-up. Despite not having toured together in 37 years, the trio of 60-somethings demonstrated that they sure still had what it takes to put on a strong live show.
Based on the music alone, Cream purists may feel let down and betrayed by 'Live at Royal Albert Hall.' (Average Cream listeners need not worry). Sure, they show reunites all three original members of the band - but they don't play like they used to. No, during Cream's reunion tour, each band member played his instrument the way he played it in 2005, not 1965. They no longer play with their loud Marshall stacks. Eric Clapton long since ditched his deep, rich and bluesy Gibson electric guitars for the standard Fender Stratocaster. The players, lyrics, and riffs may be the same, but they don't quite have the ring to them.
'Live at Royal Albert Hall' is a pretty impressive show for a trio of old guys - the oldest being drummer Ginger Baker, then 68-years-old. It's amazing how much sound can come from a three-member band. They may have weathered faces and rusty voices, but their instrumental skills haven't diminished one bit. Bass player Jack Bruce can still slap a bass better than most of today's young bass players. Clapton is still blues god on the guitar. And Baker's 5+ minute drum solo near the show's finale proves that wisdom is not the only thing that comes with age.
Cream's reunion tour consisted of four shows at London's Royal Albert Hall and three in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Instead of showing one continuous performance out of the four in London, the Blu-ray jumps around between all four dates, showing you the best from each night. Whenever the Blu-ray shifts to a different night's performance, the date appears on screen.
I'm quite a big fan of concert Blu-rays. There's a small list of requirements that I expect from a concert Blu-ray: first, cameras and cameramen should rarely appear on screen. Nothing pulls you out of the concert experience more than seeing cameras and cameramen everywhere. They remind you that you're sitting in your home, not in the arena. The makers of 'Live at Royal Albert Hall' understand this and hide them as best as possible. That's not to say you never see them, you're eyes are simply focused on something else.
Second, it shouldn't feature fast, jumpy cuts. Again, that "MTV" style pulls you right out of the home-viewing concert experience. Cream's Blu-ray doesn't do that either, but where it does lack is in the use of transitions. Too many times, instead of jump cutting or dissolving to another shot, it cuts to black, then fades into another camera shot. I could see why this technique would be useful when changing over to another night's performance, but as used on this Blu-ray, it occurs mid-song during the same night's performance. This poor decision doesn't kill the show, but it sure takes you out for a minute.
The only other small-but-annoying decision is the use of split screen. Once during each song, the screen splits into three smaller side-by-side boxes that show what each member of the band is doing during that moment. While not a tragic decision, it's a little too "MTV" for me.
'Cream: Live at Royal Albert Hall 2005' arrives on a Region A/1 BD-50 in a standard blue keepcase. The back of the cover art paper contains a stage shot that becomes visible when you remove the psychedelic inserted booklet and disc. Upon inserting the disc into your Blu-ray player, a quick unskippable promo runs for Eagle Vision HD before taking you to the main menu.
'Live at Royal Albert Hall' looks pristine, with a 1080i/AVC MPEG-4 transfer with a 1.78:1 aspect ration. Cream fans will laud this Blu-ray for making the band look better than they ever have or ever will.
The sharpness of the video is noticeable from the very first shot of the film. As the camera walks you through the halls of the historical London venue, you will notice every single pit in the painted white brick walls backstage. Each follicle of Eric Clapton's thin beard and Ginger Baker's stubble is high defined. Faces of individual fans in the audience are distinguishable. If you were ever to find yourself in a seas of faces on a concert Blu-ray, this would be the one.
The video is clean and relatively noiseless. There are only two times when the filmmakers decided that a shot was worth sacrificing via noise - the first shows a long, zoomed-in shot of old folks dancing in one of the upper balconies, the second is another distant zoomed-in shot showing Jude Law, Sienna Miller and Sean Penn in attendance. Aside from those two flawed shots, the concert is relatively flawless.
At times, the white balance of certain cameras isn't properly adjusted, washing out the faces of the band. Shadows can also For this same reason, contrast and black levels aren't always consistent. Slight aliasing appears on mesh speakers, microphones, and guitar strings and straps. And one shot contains barely noticeable artifacting featured in the black void behind Jack Bruce - but you really have to be looking for it to notice it.
Without a doubt, Cream has never sounded so good. 'Live at Royal Albert Hall' gives you three listening options: DTS HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 and LPCM Stereo. While I flipped around between tracks, I found the Master Audio to be clean and all-encompassing. It's rich sound distribution evenly spreads the rocking concert audio to all channels of your home theater. A perfect amount of echo is present in the surround and rear speakers to create a genuine concert-going feel.
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