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89-579: The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert was a benefit concert held in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegun at the O2 Arena in London on 10 December 2007. The headline act was the English rock band Led Zeppelin , who performed their first full-length concert in almost three decades, since the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, in a one-off reunion. Bonham's son Jason Bonham played drums during

178-467: A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to, and influence upon, modern music. That same month, a "Classic Albums" DVD was released detailing the story behind the creation and recording of Disraeli Gears . On the day prior to the Grammy ceremony, Bruce made a public statement that more one-off performances of Cream had been planned: multiple dates in a few cities, similar to

267-406: A 2006 interview with Music Mart magazine, "It just got to the point where Eric said to me: 'I've had enough of this', and I said so have I. I couldn't stand it. The last year with Cream was just agony. It damaged my hearing permanently, and today I've still got a hearing problem because of the sheer volume throughout the last year of Cream. But it didn't start off like that. In 1966, it was great. It

356-516: A Cream reunion later in the year. It was later revealed that the potential performance was to be November 2007 in London as a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun . The band decided against it and this was confirmed by Bruce in a letter to the editor of the Jack Bruce fanzine, The Cuicoland Express , dated 26 September 2007: Dear Marc, We were going to do this tribute concert for Ahmet when it was to be at

445-408: A benefit concert is of a large-scale, popular event put on to support a charitable or political cause. In the modern era , the first benefit concert is generally seen as the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh . Comprising two shows on the same day at Madison Square Garden , it was organized by and starred George Harrison and Ravi Shankar . The format of most modern benefit concerts, involving many acts,

534-448: A cause that celebrities do not contribute by only donating their money, but by participating in event like benefit concerts. That way stars can inspire hundreds of thousands of others to give. The presence of celebrities can draw criticism, but that is outweighed by the benefits. Some argue that pop stars only take part in charity to improve their public image. That, arguably, may be a motivation, but their participation can be essential to

623-542: A concert at The Forum in Los Angeles, California, on 19 October, and three new studio recordings (including "Badge", which was written by Clapton and George Harrison , who also played rhythm guitar and was credited as "L'Angelo Misterioso"). "I'm So Glad" was included among the live tracks. Cream's farewell tour consisted of 22 shows at 19 venues in the US from 4 October to 4 November 1968, and two final farewell concerts at

712-472: A fall in his garden and the reunion show was postponed to 10 December 2007. The show opened with a band consisting of Keith Emerson , Chris Squire , Alan White and Simon Kirke with the brass section from Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings . They played Emerson, Lake & Palmer 's version of " Fanfare for the Common Man ", including sections from Yes ' " The Fish " and Led Zeppelin's " Kashmir ". Initially

801-418: A farewell tour of the US and after playing two concerts in London. Jack Bruce was quoted as saying "Travel can kill a group. It becomes boring, tiring and very depressing." Cream were eventually persuaded to do one final album, appropriately titled Goodbye . The album was recorded in late 1968 and released in early 1969, after the band had broken up. It comprised six songs: three live recordings dating from

890-454: A favourite celebrity support a cause can influence fans to support the same cause—not because the cause is significant to the fans, but because it seems significant to the artist. To feel connected to a celebrity, fans are likely to participate in activities the celebrity considers important. For example, if a benefit concert starred unknown musicians performing songs for unknown people in Africa,

979-527: A home video, Farewell Concert . Bruce died in 2014 followed by Baker in 2019, leaving Clapton as the only surviving member of the group. In 1993, Cream were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . They were included in both Rolling Stone and VH1 's lists of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", at number 67 and 61 respectively. They were also ranked number 16 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". By July 1966, Eric Clapton 's career with

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1068-908: A landmark occasion. As the concert was expected to be Led Zeppelin's last, a number of celebrities attended the gig, including Joe Elliott , Chad Smith , Dave Grohl , BBC Radio 1 DJs Chris Moyles & Fearne Cotton , Mark Butler , Brett Hull , Chris Evans , Bob Harris , Ilan Rubin , Paul McCartney , Jeff Beck , Brian May , David Gilmour , Lulu , Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher , Ann Wilson , Arctic Monkeys , The Edge , Bernard Sumner , Dave Mustaine , Peter Gabriel , John Squire , Mick Jagger , Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark , Matt Morgan , Juliette Lewis , James Dean Bradfield , Richard Hammond , Jeremy Clarkson , Richard Ashcroft , Marilyn Manson , Warren Haynes , Kate Moss , Naomi Campbell , David Boreanaz , W. Earl Brown , Jerry Hall , Priscilla Presley , Paris Hilton , Neil Finn and Mark Kermode (Kermode applied for tickets via

1157-873: A natural disaster rather than as a political issue". Benefit concerts are an effective form of gaining support and raising funds for a cause because of the large media coverage that they usually receive. In addition to the results they generate themselves, benefit concerts also generate a kind of cascading effect. That is, larger benefit concert motivate smaller concerts and other kinds of charity initiatives. Large-scale benefit concerts attract millions of viewers and are usually broadcast internationally. As powerful means of mass communication, they can be highly effective at raising funds and awareness for humanitarian causes. Media scholars Dayan and Katz classify benefit concerts as "media events": shared experiences that unite viewers with one another and their societies. In fact, in their book Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History ,

1246-449: A particular cause or occasion. They argue that media events interrupt the flow people's daily lives, and that such events create a rise of interpersonal communication or "fellow feeling". Furthermore, they propose that media events transform the ordinary role of the viewer into something more interactive where they adhere to the script of the event. All these principles of media events are true of benefit concerts. Benefit concerts interrupt

1335-467: A random drawing. Eight thousand fans were selected and allowed to purchase the 16,000 tickets that were made available to the public. To combat fears of ticket scalping, lottery winners had to be present in London with ID to pick up their tickets and wristbands for entry. Hundreds of fans with General Admission tickets arrived at the O2 Arena days in advance with the hopes of being front and center for such

1424-406: A social agenda or fund-raising focus. Cream (band) Cream were a British rock supergroup formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce , guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker . Bruce was the primary songwriter and vocalist, although Clapton and Baker contributed to songs. Formed by members of previously successful bands, they are widely considered

1513-460: A welcome breath of fresh air to Clapton in comparison to the psychedelia and volume that had defined Cream. Furthermore, he had read a scathing Cream review in Rolling Stone , a publication he had much admired, in which the reviewer, Jon Landau , called him a "master of the blues cliché". In the wake of that article, Clapton wanted to end Cream and pursue a different musical direction. At

1602-411: Is often considered to be the band's defining effort, successfully blending psychedelic British rock with American blues. Disraeli Gears also included "Sunshine of Your Love", which became the group's unofficial anthem, and is probably their best-known song today. Bruce and Pete Brown came upon the idea in a state of near desperation in the wee hours. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage something from

1691-602: Is the first platinum-selling double album . They scored international hits with singles such as " Sunshine of Your Love " (1967) and " White Room " (1968). Tensions between Bruce and Baker led to their decision in May 1968 to break up, although the band were persuaded to make a final album, Goodbye , and to tour, culminating in two final farewell concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 25 and 26 November 1968 which were filmed and shown in theatres, then in 1977 released as

1780-522: Is the right word. But it was as real as you're going to get. And Jimmy was on fire at times. In an interview he gave to The Times in January 2010, Page recalled: We played really, really well. But we played with a totally different urgency, if you like, from how we played in the rehearsals — although the rehearsals were pretty damn good, too. I suppose in retrospect the fact there was only one gig then it's great that everyone afterwards would say that it

1869-417: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and re-formed to perform at the induction ceremony . Initially, the trio were wary about performing, until encouraging words from Robbie Robertson inspired them to try. The set consisted of "Sunshine of Your Love", "Crossroads", and "Born Under a Bad Sign", a song they had previously played live just three times. Clapton mentioned in his acceptance speech that their rehearsal

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1958-574: The Royal Albert Hall on 25 and 26 November 1968. The final US gig was at the Rhode Island Auditorium on 4 November. The band arrived late, and due to local restrictions, were able to perform only two songs, "Toad" and a 20+ minute version of "Spoonful". The two Royal Albert Hall concerts were filmed for a BBC documentary and released on video (and later DVD) as Farewell Concert . Both shows were sold out and attracted more attention than any other Cream concert, but their performance

2047-603: The UK , US and Turkey . Tickets were made available via a lottery system through the website Ahmettribute.com, costing £ 125 / $ 250, with all proceeds going to Ahmet's own charity. The website exceeded its bandwidth allowance and crashed almost immediately following the announcement, with the promoter predicting that the gig would cause the "largest demand for one show in history". The promoter claimed that one million people registered for fewer than 20,000 available tickets. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page later commented: I knew it

2136-406: The "power of the people" to change the world. Benefit concerts, therefore, have the potential to raise enormous sums of money for a cause because of the para-social interaction that occurs between the performing celebrities (the leaders) and the spectating fans (the people). Dan Laughey describes para-social interaction as "the apparent familiarity between media personalities and audiences". Seeing

2225-613: The Bluesbreakers in November 1965; the two also had recorded together as part of an ad hoc group dubbed Powerhouse (which also included Steve Winwood and Paul Jones ). Impressed with Bruce's vocals and technical prowess, Clapton wanted to work with him on an ongoing basis. In contrast, while Bruce was in Bond's band, he and Baker had been notorious for their quarrelling. Their volatile relationship included on-stage fights and

2314-708: The Dominos , and in his own long and varied solo career. Bruce began a varied and successful solo career with the 1969 release of Songs for a Tailor , while Baker formed a jazz-fusion ensemble, Ginger Baker's Air Force , from the remnants of Blind Faith, with Winwood, Blind Faith bassist Rick Grech , Graham Bond on saxophone, and guitarist Denny Laine of the Moody Blues and (later) Wings . All three members continued to explore new musical ideas and partnerships, play concerts and record music for over four decades after ending Cream. In 1993, Cream were inducted into

2403-496: The Graham Bond Organisation and had grown tired of Graham Bond 's drug addictions and bouts of mental instability. "I had always liked Ginger", explained Clapton. "Ginger had come to see me play with the Bluesbreakers. After the gig he drove me back to London in his Rover. I was very impressed with his car and driving. He was telling me that he wanted to start a band, and I had been thinking about it too." Each

2492-569: The Live 8 and the Live Earth events, which both attracted billions of spectators. Scholars theorize that the observed increase on concert size since the Live Aid is happening because organizers strive to make their events as big as the tragedy at hand, thus hoping to gain legitimization that way. Examples exist in musical history of concerts being staged for philanthropic purposes. In 1749,

2581-574: The Royal Albert Hall and Madison Square Garden shows. However, this story was denied by both Clapton and Baker, first by Clapton in The Times in April 2006. When asked about Cream, Clapton said: "No. Not for me. We did it and it was fun. But life is too short. I've got lots of other things I would rather do, including staying at home with my kids. The thing about that band was that it

2670-521: The Royal Albert Hall but decided to pass when it was moved to the O2 Arena and seemed to be becoming overly commercial. The headlining act for the O2 Arena Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert (postponed to December 2007) turned out to be from another reunited English hard-rock act, Led Zeppelin . In an interview with BBC 6 Music in April 2010, Bruce confirmed that there would be no more Cream shows, stating simply, "Cream

2759-482: The Sixth Annual Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival. Being new and with few original songs to its credit, they performed blues reworkings that thrilled the large crowd and earned it a warm reception. In October the band also got a chance to jam with Jimi Hendrix , who had recently arrived in London. Hendrix was a fan of Clapton's music, and wanted a chance to play with him onstage. It was during

Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-561: The UK charts and number 39 in the US. It was evenly split between self-penned originals and blues covers, including "Four Until Late", " Rollin' and Tumblin' ", "Spoonful", " I'm So Glad " and "Cat's Squirrel". The rest of the songs were written by either Jack Bruce or Ginger Baker. ("I Feel Free", a UK hit single, was included on only the American edition of the LP.) The track " Toad " contained one of

2937-478: The World" and "Toad". From its creation, Cream was faced with some fundamental problems that would later lead to its dissolution in November 1968. The antagonism between Bruce and Baker created tensions in the band. Clapton also felt that the members of the band did not listen to each other enough. Equipment during these years had also improved; new Marshall amplifier stacks produced more power, and Jack Bruce pushed

3026-539: The Yardbirds and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers had earned him a reputation as the premier blues guitarist in Britain. Clapton, however, found the environment of Mayall's band confining, and sought to expand his playing in a new band. In 1966, Clapton met Ginger Baker , then the drummer of the Graham Bond Organisation , for which Jack Bruce had played bass guitar, harmonica and piano. Baker felt stifled in

3115-420: The authors suggest that the song synonymous with the Live Aid benefit concert, " We Are the World ", might as well be the theme song for media events, as it nicely encompasses the tone of such occasions: "these ceremonies (media events) are so all-encompassing that there is nobody left to serve-as out-group". Dayan and Katz define media events as shared experiences that unite viewers and call their attention to

3204-399: The band did record Howlin' Wolf 's " Sitting on Top of the World " and Albert King 's "Born Under a Bad Sign". According to a BBC interview with Clapton, the record company, Atco Records , also handling Albert King, asked the band to cover "Born Under a Bad Sign", which became a popular track off the record. The opening song, "White Room", became a radio staple. Another song, "Politician",

3293-685: The band members themselves. Before deciding upon "Cream", the band considered calling themselves "Sweet 'n' Sour Rock 'n' Roll". Of the trio, Clapton had the biggest reputation in England; however, he was unknown in the United States, having left the Yardbirds before " For Your Love " hit the American Top Ten . The band made its unofficial debut at the Twisted Wheel on 29 July 1966. Its official debut came two nights later at

3382-615: The band to one song per concert. They returned to record Disraeli Gears in New York between 11 and 15 May 1967. This, the band's second album, was released in November 1967 and reached the top five in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Produced by Felix Pappalardi (who later co-founded the Cream-influenced quartet Mountain ) and engineer Tom Dowd , it was recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York. Disraeli Gears

3471-432: The band was getting worse by the minute. Blind Faith , a band that included both Clapton and Baker, was formed after the demise of Cream, following an attempt by Clapton to recruit Steve Winwood into Cream in the hope that he would help act as a buffer between Bruce and Baker. Inspired by more song-based acts, Clapton went on to perform very different, less improvisational material with Delaney & Bonnie , Derek and

3560-600: The band's live sets. Although they consistently played "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Sunshine of Your Love", several songs from Disraeli Gears were quickly dropped from performances in mid-1967, favouring longer jams instead of short pop songs . "We're Going Wrong" was the only additional song from the album the group performed live. In fact, at their 2005 reunion shows in London , the band played only three songs from Disraeli Gears : "Outside Woman Blues", " We're Going Wrong ", and "Sunshine of Your Love"; at their three October 2005 performances in New York, "Tales of Brave Ulysses"

3649-455: The band's set, and also provided backing vocals on two songs. According to Guinness World Records 2009, the concert holds the world record for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert" as 20 million requests for the reunion show were rendered online. In October 2012, Celebration Day , a concert film documenting the event, was released. Both the film and performance by Led Zeppelin have been highly acclaimed. A shortened version of

Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-474: The band's third release, Wheels of Fire , which topped the American charts. The album was recorded in a spate of short sessions from July 1967 to June 1968. Still a relative novelty, the double album of two LP records was well-suited to extended solos. The Wheels of Fire studio recordings showcased the band moving away from the blues and more towards a semi- progressive rock style highlighted by odd time signatures and various orchestral instruments. However,

3827-578: The beginning of the band's farewell tour on 4 October 1968, in Oakland, California, nearly the entire set consisted of songs from Wheels of Fire : "White Room", "Politician", "Crossroads", "Spoonful", and "Deserted Cities of the Heart", with "Passing the Time" taking the place of "Toad" for a drum solo. "Passing the Time" and "Deserted Cities" were quickly removed from the setlist and replaced by "Sitting on Top of

3916-461: The best part of two hours. There's no way I can take on playing three-and-a-half-hour sets now, flying against the winds and the storms, because I just don't have that energy anymore. But I've still got enough to get me through a two-hour set. Coming back to Led Zeppelin's music after all these years, the challenge is to post as much of it as we can. And the question is, Which ones can we actually play?" Two numbers were played live in their entirety for

4005-499: The composer George Frideric Handel wrote his Foundling Hospital Anthem , and put on annual performances of Messiah , to support an orphans' charity in London. While many composers and performers took part in concerts to raise donations for charitable causes, it was also not unusual in the 18th and 19th centuries for musicians to stage performances to raise funds for their own professional work, such as Ludwig van Beethoven 's 1808 Akademie concert . The modern understanding of

4094-590: The concert was broadcast by the BBC in the UK on 8 December 2012. On 12 September 2007, it was confirmed during a press conference by promoter Harvey Goldsmith that the surviving members of Led Zeppelin would reunite for the show, with Jason Bonham filling in on drums. The concert was originally scheduled to take place on 26 November 2007. It was to help raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which pays for university scholarships in

4183-408: The concert wrote, "The failed gigs of the nineteen-eighties and nineties have been supplanted by a triumph, and the band should be pleased to have done Ertegun proud with such a spirited performance." Members of the band have also expressed their satisfaction with the concert. Page commented that "it was a wonderful celebration of the music, a celebration of the fact that the essence of it, the energy,

4272-403: The day before the ceremony had marked the first time they had played together in 25 years. This performance spurred rumours of a reunion tour. Bruce and Baker said in later interviews that they were, indeed, interested in touring as Cream. A formal reunion did not take place immediately, as Clapton, Bruce and Baker continued to pursue solo projects, although the latter two worked together again in

4361-614: The earliest examples of a drum solo in rock music as Ginger Baker expanded upon his early composition "Camels and Elephants", written in 1965 with the Graham Bond Organisation . The band first visited the US in March 1967 to play nine dates at the RKO 58th Street Theatre in New York City. There was little impact, as impresario Murray the K placed them at the bottom of a six-act bill that performed three times per date, eventually reducing

4450-447: The early organisation that they decided Bruce would serve as the group's lead vocalist. While Clapton was shy about singing, he occasionally harmonised with Bruce, and in time, took lead vocals on several Cream tracks including " Four Until Late ", " Strange Brew ", "World of Pain", " Outside Woman Blues ", "Crossroads", and " Badge ". The band's debut album, Fresh Cream , was recorded and released in 1966. The album reached number 6 in

4539-462: The event's success. Celebrities not only promote catalytic philanthropy, they can produce an effect some call Geldofism : "The mobilization of pop stars and their fans behind a cause." Therefore, because of their visibility, celebrities are used by organizers as a mean to gain support to the cause in hand. Furthermore, the success of benefit concerts is tightly related to the quality of entertainment offered by them. To gain space and legitimization in

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4628-447: The familiar face of their beloved artist on stage endorsing a cause, fans feel more compelled to support the cause. Criticisms against benefit concerts go further than just criticizing the intentions of the celebrities involved. Some argue that benefit concerts are a wrong response for tragedies because the atmosphere involved on them is not one of mourning. Further criticism comes from those who argue that Geldofism turns celebrities into

4717-618: The first supergroup. Cream were highly regarded for the instrumental proficiency of each of their members. During their brief three-year career, the band released four albums: Fresh Cream (1966), Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels of Fire (1968), and Goodbye (1969). Beginning with Disraeli Gears , the band was joined in the studio by producer and multi-instrumentalist Felix Pappalardi . Their music spanned rock styles such as blues rock , psychedelia , and hard rock . Throughout their career, they sold more than 15 million records worldwide. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire (1968),

4806-410: The first time ever by Led Zeppelin: " Ramble On " and " For Your Life ". During rehearsals, John Paul Jones commented, "'For Your Life' feels good, mainly because we've never played it much. It all feels quite fresh to me because I haven't played any of this stuff for years and I never listen to the records at home… Jason makes it more interesting too, because he's not trying to reassemble things exactly

4895-551: The first time the band had played "Badge" and "Pressed Rat and Warthog" live. Inspired by the success of the reunion, the band agreed to an additional set of three shows at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, from 24 to 26 October 2005. According to Clapton, these concerts did not live up to the Royal Albert Hall performances due to, among other reasons, lack of rehearsal and the resurgence of old grudges among band members. In February 2006, Cream received

4984-439: The idea, I said no, and then he phoned me up and eventually convinced me to do it. I was on my best behaviour and I did everything I could to make things go as smooth as possible, and I was really pleasant to Jack. Baker and Bruce appeared on stage in London when Baker was awarded a lifetime achievement award by legendary cymbal manufacturer Zildjian . Bruce told Detroit's WCSX radio station in May 2007 that there were plans for

5073-487: The incentive for viewers to donate would be minimal. Bob Geldof, the founder of Live Aid, is aware of the need of familiarity and para-social interaction on behalf of the viewer. When criticised for not inviting enough African performers to play at Live Aid (of which the main purpose was famine relief for Africa), Geldof commented that only popular musicians were invited to play at the show because unfamiliar artists would cause viewers to lose interest and "switch off". In seeing

5162-433: The long and fruitless night at his apartment, the bleary-eyed Bruce pulled out his double bass again and played a riff. At that point, Brown looked out the window and saw the sun was about to rise: "It's getting near dawn", he said to himself. Brown put the words on paper then thought some more: "When lights close their tired eyes". Later on, Eric Clapton added the song's refrain. The album was originally slated for release in

5251-421: The lottery system on the website). Music critics in attendance were unanimous in their praise for Led Zeppelin's performance. New Musical Express proclaimed, "what they have done here tonight is proof that they can still perform to the level that originally earned them their legendary reputation...We can only hope this isn't the last we see of them." The New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones , who attended

5340-416: The media, benefit concerts must have a large audience, the kind of large crowd attracted by famous music stars. Bob Geldof himself responded to criticisms about the lack of African artists on the Live 8 by stating that, although those musicians produce great works, they do not sell many albums—and, for the sake of reaching as many people as possible, his concert had to include only popular artists. Finally,

5429-440: The mid-1990s as two-thirds of the power trio BBM with Irish blues rock guitarist Gary Moore . At Clapton's request, Cream reunited for a series of four shows, on 2, 3, 5, and 6 May 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the venue of their final concerts in 1968. Although the three musicians chose not to speak publicly about the shows, Clapton would later state that he had become more "generous" in regard to his past, and that

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5518-710: The only legitimate spokespeople for a cause, robbing the NGOs of the possibilities to speak up for a cause. In chronological order, beginning with the earliest date: The following is an incomplete list of benefit concerts with their own Misplaced Pages page. For a more descriptive and inclusive list focusing on historically notable events, see the list above . Note that while some of the listed concerts feature only one headliner and several supporting acts, other benefit concerts feature diverse lineups and are also considered music festivals . This list may have some overlap with list of free festivals , which are rock festivals that often have

5607-528: The openers should have been Squire, White and Rick Wakeman but Wakeman was unavailable for the rescheduled date due to prior commitments and Emerson was called in as a last-minute replacement. The show also featured Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Paul Rodgers , Paolo Nutini , and Foreigner as supporting acts. The majority of the performance was by the Rhythm Kings, with Nutini and Rodgers both guesting on two songs each. The performance billed as "Foreigner"

5696-479: The physical health of Bruce and Baker was a major factor: Bruce had recently undergone a transplant for liver cancer in 2003, and had almost lost his life, while Baker had severe arthritis. Tickets for all four shows sold out in under an hour. The performances were recorded for a live CD and DVD. Among those in attendance were Bill Wyman , Steve Winwood , Paul McCartney , Ringo Starr , Roger Waters , Brian May , Jimmy Page , and Mick Taylor . The reunion marked

5785-531: The planet. And at our worst, we were better than most of them." Benefit concert Benefit concerts can have both subjective and concrete objectives. Subjective objectives include raising awareness about an issue such as misery in Africa (such as Live 8 ) and uplifting a nation after a disaster (such as America: A Tribute to Heroes ). Concrete objectives include raising funds (such as Live Aid ) and influencing legislation (such as Live 8 or Farm Aid ). The two largest benefit concerts of all time, in size, were

5874-428: The presence of other people, and that happens in benefit concerts, they become connected to each other and are more likely to work together towards a goal. Critics also say that benefit concerts are just a way for the rich West to forgive itself by helping the poor and distressed. These critiques argue that concerts like the Live Aid "rob Africans of agency, reinforces Western ethnocentrism and racisms and see famine as

5963-438: The quality of entertainment is key to the creation of a public sphere where discussions about the concert's cause can occur. The better the entertainment, the more people watch the concert, and thus the more people become aware of the cause. Furthermore, the music played in the concerts can lead spectators to interconnect and become more likely to act towards the cause. According to a theory, by Jane Bennett , when people sing in

6052-673: The routine of people's lives because they occur (in most cases) for only for one night or for one week-end. Furthermore, they are broadcast as television spectacles that interrupt the regular scheduled programming on a given television network. Often, this kind of announced interruption has television viewers discussing the event with others beforehand, generating excitement around the event. Moreover, benefit concerts encourage audiences to adhere to their script, such as by phoning in donations or signing an online pledge. As media events, benefit concerts are widely broadcast and seen by millions of people. (The Live Aid charity concert in 1985, for example,

6141-404: The sabotage of one another's instruments. After Baker fired Bruce from the band, Bruce continued to arrive for gigs; ultimately, Bruce was driven away from the band after Baker threatened him at knifepoint. Baker and Bruce tried to put aside their differences for the good of Baker's new trio, which he envisioned as collaborative, with each of the members contributing to music and lyrics. The band

6230-412: The same. I tell you this – there won't ever be any more Cream gigs, because he did Mr. Hyde in New York last year." When asked to elaborate, Baker replied: Oh, he shouted at me on stage, he turned his bass up so loud that he deafened me on the first gig. What he does is that he apologises and apologises, but I'm afraid, to do it on a Cream reunion gig, that was the end. He killed the magic, and New York

6319-543: The show included a reunited Cream . The band performed 16 songs—including two encores—from across their career, excluding their final studio album, In Through the Out Door . "We were asked to play a forty-minute set," Jimmy Page remarked during rehearsals. "And we soon realised we couldn't. If we go out and play ' No Quarter ', ' Moby Dick ' and ' Dazed and Confused ' with all the solos, you're already talking over an hour. We've gone from seventy-five minutes to ninety, to

6408-491: The summer of 1967, but the record label opted to scrap the planned cover and repackage it with a new psychedelic cover, designed by artist Martin Sharp , and the resulting changes delayed its release for several months. The cover was remarkable for the time, with a psychedelic design patterned over a publicity photo of the trio. Although the album is considered one of Cream's finest efforts, it has never been well represented in

6497-497: The volume levels higher, creating tension for Baker, who would have trouble competing with roaring stacks. Clapton spoke of a concert during which he stopped playing and neither Baker nor Bruce noticed. Clapton has also commented that Cream's later gigs mainly consisted of its members showing off. Cream decided that they would break up in May 1968 during a tour of the US. Later, in July, the band announced that they would break up after

6586-423: The way his father did." Without Bonham, said Robert Plant, "it would've been a totally different thing because his enthusiasm and points of reference were spectacular – his knowledge of shows that had been performed when he was a tot." First Encore: Second Encore: The concert sound was mixed by Metallica 's FOH engineer Big Mick . In 2012 an album and film were released as Celebration Day . The concert

6675-678: Was all to do with its limits ... it was an experiment." In an interview in the UK magazine Music Mart , about the release of a DVD about the Blind Faith concert in Hyde Park 1969, Baker commented about his unwillingness to continue the Cream reunion. These comments were far more specific and explosive than Clapton's, as they were centred around his relationship with Jack Bruce. Ginger said, "When he's Dr. Jekyll, he's fine ... It's when he's Mr. Hyde that he's not. And I'm afraid he's still

6764-813: Was also included in the setlist. In August 1967, the band played their first headlining dates in the US, first at The Fillmore in San Francisco and later at The Pinnacle in Los Angeles. The concerts were a great success and proved very influential on both the band itself and the flourishing hippie scene surrounding them. Upon discovering a growing listening audience, the band began to stretch out on stage, incorporating more time in their repertoire, some songs reaching jams of twenty minutes. Long, drawn-out jams in numbers like "Spoonful", "N.S.U.", "I'm So Glad", and "Sweet Wine" became live favourites, while songs like "Sunshine of Your Love", "Crossroads", and "Tales of Brave Ulysses" remained reasonably short. In 1968 came

6853-476: Was also recorded by many fans. Sophisticated bootleg versions of the show are available on the Internet, including a wide-screen DVD with a surround sound audio track mixed from 10 different audience recordings of the show. The historic concert attracted nearly 20 million fans from all corners of the globe. Because of the enormous demand for tickets, an online lottery system was implemented in which fans entered

6942-411: Was an historic and inspiring gig for people to hear. It is a shame that there weren't any more that followed on and now we got to two years later and everyone's doing their own thing and that's how that is at this point of time or certainly into next year. So that's it. "There was a Zeppelin swagger, definitely," Jones said. "We knew we were good. At our best, we thought we could be a match for any band on

7031-426: Was going to sell out quickly, but the tidal wave of euphoria that preceded the gig—the anticipation—went beyond what I could possibly have imagined. We'd had a few shambolic appearances in the past, like Live Aid , so if we were ever going to come back together, we were going to do it properly and stand up and be counted. On 1 November 2007, it was announced that Page fractured the little finger on his left hand after

7120-431: Was impressed with the other's playing abilities, prompting Baker to ask Clapton to join his new, then-unnamed group. Clapton immediately agreed, on the condition that Baker hire Bruce, who had joined Manfred Mann since leaving Graham Bond, as the group's bassist; according to Clapton, Baker was so surprised at the suggestion that he almost crashed the car. Clapton had met Bruce when the bassist/vocalist briefly played with

7209-522: Was in fact only Mick Jones performing " I Want to Know What Love Is " with St. Lukes C of E secondary school as the choir and former Foreigner drummer Brian Tichy and the Rhythm Kings as the backing band. Other guests on the Rhythm Kings set included Maggie Bell and Alvin Lee . Pete Townshend was scheduled to perform as a supporting act, but he pulled out when he heard Led Zeppelin was performing, saying, "They really don't need me." Other acts considered for

7298-444: Was like 1968 ... It was just a get through the gig, get the money sort of deal. I was absolutely amazed. I mean, he demonstrated why he got the sack from Graham Bond and why Cream didn't last very long on stage in New York. I didn't want to do it in the first place simply because of how Jack was. I have worked with him several times since Cream, and I promised myself that I would never work with him again. When Eric first came up with

7387-458: Was named "Cream", as Clapton, Bruce, and Baker were already considered the "cream of the crop" amongst blues and jazz musicians in the exploding British music scene . Initially, the group were referred to and billed as "The Cream", but starting officially with its first record releases, the trio came to be known as "Cream". Despite this, the band was referred to as "The Cream" on several occasions by promoters and disc jockeys, and even on occasion by

7476-413: Was pioneered in 1985 with Bob Geldof's Live Aid. Benefit concerts are a major example of celebrity charity for they involve popular musicians; actors and actresses; and other kinds of entertainment figures volunteering to a greater cause. The efficiency of celebrity charity is explained by the theory of Catalytic Philanthropy designed by Paul Schervish . His thesis explains that it is more beneficial to

7565-511: Was really a wonderful experience musically, and it just went into the realms of stupidity." Bruce and Baker's combustible relationship proved even worse as a result of the strain put upon the band by non-stop touring, forcing Clapton to play the perpetual role of peacekeeper. Clapton had also become interested in the music of Bob Dylan 's former backing group, now known as the Band , and their debut album, Music from Big Pink , which proved to be

7654-438: Was regarded by many as below standard. Baker himself said of the concerts: "It wasn't a good gig ... Cream was better than that ... We knew it was all over. We knew we were just finishing it off, getting it over with." Bruce had three Marshall stacks on stage for the farewell shows but one acted only as a spare, and he only used one or two, depending on the song. In an interview from Cream: Classic Artists , he added that

7743-471: Was seen by an estimated 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.) However, this mass dissemination is only one of the factors that contribute to the success of benefit concerts. The people who send the message for collective action are essential to a benefit concert's effectiveness. Dayan and Katz suggest that media events are an expression of a "neo-romantic desire for heroic action", meaning that media events produce leaders who inspire collective action with belief in

7832-426: Was still there". He also reflected that "It's great that we did it. I look back on that night with a great amount of fondness, but Jason was the hero. For me that gig was about him." Plant has stated: On a musical level, we've had sublime moments and there were several on December 10. Bear in mind that we're old guys now and we're not supposed to be hip-shrugging teenage idols. It was pretty ... I'm not sure 'sincere'

7921-625: Was written by the band while waiting to perform live at the BBC. The album's second disc included three live recordings from the Winterland Ballroom and one from the Fillmore. Clapton's second solo from "Crossroads" has made it to the top 20 in multiple "greatest guitar solo" lists. After the completion of Wheels of Fire in mid-1968, the band members had grown tired of their exhausting touring schedule and increasingly loud jamming, and wanted to go their separate ways. Baker stated in

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