Blind Faith's concert performances can be placed into three distinct phases: The Hyde Park free concert in early June 1969, the Scandinavian concert tour of mid June 1969, and the North American concert tour of July and August 1969. A short description of each concert phase is presented below.
June 1969:
The Hyde Park Concert, London, England UK
Blind Faith's Hyde Park concert was performed on a pleasant Saturday, 7 June 1969. It was a free concert weekend, where people of the 'counter-culture' generation congregated to celebrate a fine springtime in the most beautiful semi-wooded park in central London. Blind Faith was one of several performing groups that weekend; Several performers made the scene on Friday afternoon without fanfare, including Julie Driscoll, Long John Baldry, and LuLu. The opening acts that Sunday were regular free concert performers from London, The Third Ear Band, and Edgar Broughton, followed by an acoustic set by Richie Havens, and a solo performance from Donovan. All this happening in the park, yet Blind Faith was the talk of the city that weekend, with anticipation rising for the newly formed group to succeed. Rumors of a unique new sound performed by four virtuoso musicians was an intriguing prospect to the progressive music world.
The fans were looking for an awesome perfomance. That, together with the reputation and appeal of being pop stars, placed them upon a pedestal of near-godliness. Blind Faith's debut concert was met with mixed reaction from fans and curious congregators at Hyde Park that day. The group was clearly unprepared to perform confidently before the throng of more than 100,000 in the audience.
Yet, the atmosphere was said to be magical, because of the circumstances and the general harmony of most individuals who came to have a good time listening to the music.
It was a brash awakening for the boys, who came across afterwards as somewhat dismayed by their own conduct and performance. Stevie and Eric particularly commented defensively about their outcome that day:
Stevie Winwood - "It was our first gig, and to do that in front of 100,000 people was not the best situation to be in. Nerves were showing and it was very daunting. We couldn't relax like you can on tour."
Eric Clapton - "I came offstage at the Hyde Park concert shaking like a leaf, because I felt once again that I'd let people down. What could we do though........"
Ginger and Ric were more subdued and cautious in their assessment:
Ginger Baker - "It wasn't a brilliant start, obviously."
Rick Grech - "We were nervous."
We can agree from limited recordings, that it was a steady and somewhat moving performance, but as defined by Winwood, Clapton, and Baker, hardly an auspicious beginning for a supergroup.
Performance Playlist - Well All Right; Sea Of Joy; Sleeping In The Ground; Under My Thumb; Can't Find My Way Home; Do What You Like; In The Presence Of The Lord; Means To An End; Had To Cry Today.
The Scandinavian Tour Concerts:
Curiously, very little is known about the Blind Faith Scandinavian tour. We do have documented that a short tour occurred during the weeks immediately after the Hyde Park free concert, and our latest information identifies that seven (possibly eight) performances were made during an eight day timeframe. Concert gigs were made in Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Göteborg (Gothenburg), and København (Copenhagen). Double-billed concerts were likely given in Helsinki, Stockholm, and København.
These were smaller concert venues, probably holding less than 2 or 3 thousand individuals for each performance. Definately more intimate atmosphere than at Hyde Park, or the forthcoming concert rock stadium gigs in North America!
A bit of research is currently being done by Blind Faith enthusiasts in Norway, and Denmark, and through fortunate correspondences I have a probable schedule of the performance locations and dates:
06/12/69 - Kulttuuritalo/Helsinki, Finland (2 performances)
06/14/69 - Njaardhallen/Oslo, Norway (1 performance)
06/16/69 - Kungliga Tennishallen/Stockholm, Sweden (2 performances?)
06/18/69 - Konserthallen/Liseberg, Nöjespark/Göteborg, Sweden (1 performance)
06/19/69 - KB Hallen/København, Denmark (2 performances?)
Selected BF Scandinavian Tour Info & Photos
The performance playlist from the Göteborg, Sweden concert is probably characteristic of the remaining Scandinavian performances, although sources from Finland suggest that the initial performances of the tour were lacking the Traffic tune, "Means To An End". Having such a limited rapport of viable music, the boys probably decided to add that bluesy song into their forthcoming Scandinavian gigs, and the concert playlist continued to evolve by the North American tour during July and August (more on the North American tour performance encores in the next section).
So, the typical Scandinavian tour playlist is presumed to have been:
Well All Right; Sleeping In The Ground; Sea Of Joy; Under My Thumb; Can't Find My Way Home; In The Presence Of The Lord; Means To An End; Do What You Like; Had To Cry Today.
Readers / Scholars - Kindly inform me if you have information that will substantiate or correct the venues/dates of these Scandinavian performances.
The North American Tour Concerts:
Plans for a brief overview of the North American tour will be coming soon.... - KJP
July 1969:
07/11/69 - Newport, RI (cancelled)
07/12/69 - Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY
07/13/69 - Bridgeport, CT
07/16/69 - Philadelphia, PA
07/18/69 - Toronto, Canada
07/20/69 - Baltimore, MD
07/26/69 - West Allis, WI
07/27/69 - Chicago, IL
August 1969:
08/01/69 - Detroit, MI
08/03/69 - St. Louis, MO
08/08/69 - Seattle, WA
08/09/69 - Vancouver, Canada
08/10/69 - Portland, OR
08/14/69 - Oakland, CA
08/15/69 - Los Angeles, CA
08/16/69 - Santa Barbara, CA
08/19/69 - Houston, TX
08/20/69 - San Antonio, TX
08/22/69 - Salt Lake City, UT
08/23/69 - Phoenix, AZ
08/24/69 - Honolulu, HI
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Supplemental Information:
Blind Faith Concert Performance Histories
Blind Faith Concerts/Tourography
The Hyde Park Concert Performance, London, England UK.
7 June 1969.
Hyde Park Free Concert webpages
Hyde Park Free Concert advert
Music from the Hyde Park Free Concert
A glimpse of BF's visit to Helsinki!!!
Blind Faith in Oslo!!!
A piece of history from Stockholm
Inner Sanctum Blind Faith ~ From a Rolling Stone Magazine article, 9/69
Background about BF at MSG
Incident at MSG
Bridgeport performance ticket stub & newsie review
Ticket stub for Philadelphia Spectrum performance
Photos of BF at Philadelphia's Spectrum Arena
Ticket stub and poster advert for Varsity Stadium performance
Midwest Rock Festival, West Allis, WI
Poster advert for Olympia Stadium performance
Blind Faith onstage at Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI
Poster advert for Seattle Center Coliseum performanceHandbill advert for Pacific Coliseum performancePoster advert for Oakland Coliseum performance
Photos from BF's Honolulu, HI performance
Clarification - Some say that there was one additional concert, supposedly the final concert, on 26 August 1969 in Los Angeles (Pauley Pavillion at the UCLA campus). That is highly doubtful from the information I've found. Logically, it must have been difficult to travel from the continent to Hawaii to perform in less than 48 hours, and to return back to Los Angeles to do one more gig is really beyond the limit! Several BF scholars "in-the-know" have concluded that this is a bogus venue used by bootlegg sellers to entice unknowing collectors. If you listen closely to that recording, you will discover that the music matches the BF Santa Barbara performance. The known facts lead to the conclusion that the UCLA/Pauley Pavillion gig never occurred. HIC Arena in Honolulu, HI was the final BF live performance.
More info on the BF - West Allis, WI performance
Selected North American tour photos
Concert performance recordings information
A few more extra photos coming, plus several concert reviews scavenged from old archived newspapers in the North American cities on the tour! Send your recollections and newspaper clips/adverts for inclusion.
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