Clapton Summer Tour

[Jim Boylston]

I caught the first date of the Clapton summer tour Saturday night in Tampa. He's only doing about 8 US dates.
I've seen EC 9 or 10 times, and the Tampa show might have been the best I've ever heard him play. The set leaned heavily on blues, was sparse on hits, and featured inspired playing throughout.
He played a couple of tunes he's never recorded, "Rockin' Chair" (Hoagy Carmichael) and "Don't Knock My Love", a Wilson Picket number, but EC's version was closer to the Diana Ross/Marvin Gaye cover.
Even show staples like "Key to the Highway" were rearranged and sounded new and fresh.
The band was somewhat smaller than the last few tours, which was a good thing, I think. Doyle Bramhall was back as the second guitarist, as was Chris Stainton on keys, and the new rhythm section of Pino Palladino and Ian Thomas was very tight.
If you have a chance to catch him on this mini-tour, do yourself a favor and do so.

Review here:
blogcritics.org/archives/2008/05/04/222041.php
Jim

[TRK]

To this day I haven't seen EC in concert, and I've been a fan since '66.

When I was a senior in high school, I threw away a chance to see Derek and the Dominoes in favor of going to see the Mothers of Invention. At that point in the Mothers' career, I'd have been much better off opting for the alternative.

A few years later, EC played in Buffalo once or twice while I was going to school there, but by that point, for some reason or other, I couldn't be bothered.

Chalk those episodes up to "If I could do it over again..."

On the current Tour, Toronto is the closest date, but I don't feel like filing for a passport and making the 9-hour round trip drive.

[Paul Sylvain]

Just read this. Very interesting. Some people seem to get better with age (not that they were ever bad, to start with).

I caught Eric in Austin, Texas, on his "Cradles ... " tour in the fall of '95, I think. Gatemouth Brown opened for him. No hits, juts solid blues. In fact, he basically gave you a history of blues starting with just him and second guitarist doing acoustic Delta-style blues, and slowly builr it up to the end, where he had a full Chicago blues band, with horns and all, pumping behind him. Fantastic show.