Blind Faith Live in Detroit 1969: ‘Nothing Really Special’
Ginger Baker's drum solo was the only thing that saved this 1969 concert, according to a Detroit Free Press review.
Tough crowd; one of rock's premier supergroups gets a lukewarm review after show at the Olympia in Detroit. True, there was a lot of music to love in '69, especially in Michigan as on any given weekend, you could probably see the Amboy Dukes (with a hot young guitar slinger named Ted Nugent), the Bob Seger Sound System, The Stooges, Mitch Ryder, MC5 or Alice Cooper playing in a club somewhere around town. Motown was still thriving before the move to Los Angeles in 1972, so those cats were on the prowl in the Motor City too.
Perhaps it was the high expectations that disappointed this Detroit Free Press reviewer. All the top-notch ingredients were there as Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood had started jamming together after the breakup of Cream. Soon, Cream drummer Ginger Baker started coming 'round and once they added Ric Grech on bass, they had a new band.
Detroit found out that Blind Faith, although a good band, is nothing really special.
-Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press 8/5/1969
Gorrmley goes on to report,
There was very little reaction from the crowd until Ginger Baker went into a drum solo, but that was near the end of the program. The final song, a grand finale with all the other acts on stage- except The Frost was Cream's 'Sunshine of Your Love.' It was good because there was happiness on stage. Everybody was having a good time. Possibly, that's what Blind Faith lacks.
Although the band may not have impressed Detroit, 100,000 fans in London's Hyde Park loved their very first public concert, a free show on June 7, 1969.