Here in the Northeast this summer, we were going to be lucky enough to see the outstanding blues-rock guitarist Mick Taylor on a small club tour. He rarely plays in the States but Taylor was scheduled to be at four venues in or near Connecticut: Toad’s Place in New Haven, Black-Eyed Sally’s in Hartford, the … Continue reading Illness postpones Taylor’s tour
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood began their 2009 tour together in New Jersey at the Izod Center Thursday night. A reprise of their three-night performance in February, 2008, which produced the CD and DVD Live From Madison Square Garden released last month, the two legends stuck to a similar set as in the MSG shows. … Continue reading On the road again
Wolfgang’s Vault just posted two must-listen-to concerts: Delaney & Bonnie and Friends from a February, 1970 date at the Fillmore West and Derek and the Dominoes later that same year at the Fillmore East. The Delaney & Bonnie show features an all-star band with Eric Clapton, who sings I Don’t Know Why from his first solo album, along with … Continue reading Over at Wolfgang’s
A little more than two months after seeing Cream at Yale’s Woolsey Hall in New Haven, the second time I had seen them live in about six months, the group was booked to play two shows — afternoon and evening — at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut on June 15. It was the next-to-last show of an exhausting … Continue reading Concerts, Vol. 5: Farewell Cream
So many times, directors just get it wrong when making a concert film. Too many quick cuts, MTV-style editing, no focus on the performers, annoying special effects. It’s not only in recent years either. The effects problem started way back when Tony Palmer documented Cream playing its Farewell concert at Royal Albert Hall in 1968. … Continue reading Seeing Beck play is believing
The top two photos are from the Blind Faith tour programme for their one and only tour in 1969. The first is the back cover, the second the cover and perhaps a much more controversial photo than the infamous album photo of an 11-year-old nude girl holding a silver space ship (actually fashioned after a car hood … Continue reading Blind Faith Photos
In Concerts Vol. 3, I wrote about the single concert performance that was probably the best out of hundreds I’ve attended and certainly the most influential: Cream at the Psychedelic Supermarket in Boston, September, 1967. That wouldn’t be the only time I would see this amazing trio. I was lucky enough to see them three … Continue reading Concerts Vol. 4: Heavy Cream
For years, the album Fiends & Angels has been one of the best kept secrets from the late 1960s blues-rock scene. Finally in 2008, the independent CD label Wounded Bird, which specializes in albums that the majors refuse to reissue, released this Martha Velez gem. Until then, it had fetched rather pricey numbers on auction sites despite … Continue reading Hidden treasure
The first in a series that will focus on concerts I’ve seen and serve as companion pieces to the Connecticut rock ‘n roll scene posts I started with Connecticut’s Own and Pulse, Part 2. I’ve been to quite a few concerts over the years, many influential, some inspiring. The earliest big venue shows were in the … Continue reading Concerts Vol. 1