Eric Clapton - Live Review

Eric Clapton
The Mark of the Quad Cities
April 4, 2007

The last time I saw Eric Clapton was April 20, 1990. The reason I know this is because I saved the ticket stub for the show. The show wasn’t very good. The reason I know this is because I wrote “yawn” on the ticket stub for the show.
Admittedly, the 80’s almost completely eliminated E.C. from my vocabulary, thanks to some worthless Phil Collins-produced albums and, what I felt, was a blatant attempt at trading in his guitar virtuosity for mainstream appeal.
The show was filled with an immaculate band that played Clapton’s notable history to boring perfection. I’m not sure how others perceived their experience with the rest of the tour supporting the Journeyman album, but for me it was bad enough to deface the ticket stub (something I don’t normally do) and bad enough for me to write off Clapton completely until he redeemed himself with the blues album From The Cradle several years later.
I should add that I ingested a large amount of psilocybin mushrooms on the way to the concert, so even the sound of amplifier feedback would’ve sounded like angelic voices. Instead, my psychedelic nirvana was hampered by live versions of “Bad Love,” a bald headed percussionist who mugged for the crowd the entire evening, and a legendary guitarist who seemed content on going through the motions while most of the sold out crowd failed to even notice it. But for me, even the mushrooms couldn’t prevent me from seeing how completely devoid of soul his solos were on that spring evening.
Four months later, Eric Clapton was scheduled to perform at Alpine Valley with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Several friends encouraged me to go with them to this formidable blues summit but since I had seen Clapton just months prior, and since I didn’t enjoy his performance, I declined. It was a decision I regret now; the Alpine Valley shows were the last ones that Stevie Ray Vaughn ever performed. Immediately after the final show, Vaughn died in a helicopter crash on the ski slope as it lifted off to take him to Chicago.
So now you’re up to speed on my disappointment with live Clapton.
Fast forward to nearly seventeen years later and another chance to witness Slowhand’s greatness. Or would it be another disappointment worthy enough to deface another ticket stub.
With just a few weeks left to go on his current tour, Clapton brought his latest band to a (nearly) sold out show at The Mark in Moline, Illinois. Strike one came at the expense of some fairly shitty acoustics as The Mark is one of those concrete arenas in which the sound literally bounces off the cavernous walls regardless of who’s performing.
Robert Cray opened up with a fairly inspired short set; it’s, admittedly, been years since I’ve even thought about Cray, but judging from the number of filled seats throughout his set, there was a large Robert contingency present and they were fully appreciative of his efforts.
After a quick set change, complete with a Persian rug for the headliner’s 62 year old feet, the sparse stage was ready for Slowhand.
Amazingly powered by some fairly small Fender Custom Shop Tweed Twin Amps (at least from my vantage point), Eric arrived with only five musicians backing him.
Five?!
Strike two: this phase of the ’07 tour is without guitar wunderkind Derek Trucks who left a few weeks prior to return to the Allman Brothers fold. That left six string duties to be shared by Clapton and Doyle Bramhall II.
Bramhall, who befriended the Vaughn brothers when he was a teenager back in Austin, also shared some lead vocal duties throughout the evening and he seemed fairly comfortable in all of his roles.
For some, the very idea of Clapton sharing lead guitar work with someone else may seem like a sign of him growing old or getting lazy. The truth is: Clapton has always worked best in the presence of other great guitar players. Some of his best soloing on Layla…And Other Assorted Love Songs came because he was working with Duane Allman in the studio, and a lot of the show’s material was (thankfully) pulled from that landmark album.
It was a real treat to watch Clapton work with an unconventional guitarist like Bramhall, who fails to change his own, more rock-derived style to accommodate one of the greatest blues guitarists ever. The interplay between them was respectful, unique, and a real joy to behold. The best way to describe it is to compare it to an almost highbrow jam band feel; neither of the guitarists went beyond into “the noodle,” but both appeared to be having fun with their extended soloing.
It wasn’t until later that I realized that if Derek Trucks happened to be present with these two guitarists, we may have seen less of Clapton’s own soloing. As it was, Eric stepped up accordingly and dished out some masterstrokes throughout the evening.
Some of the evening’s most rewarding songs came during the “sit down set” where Eric and the band pulled out the acoustic instruments and treated to the crowd to some organic blues material.
But the evening’s highlight came with a stunning rendition of “Little Wing” in which Clapton’s solo seemed to be channeling the ghost of both Hendrix and Vaughn in the guise of his own distinctive style.
Part of the reason why the evening was so enjoyable had to do with the blues-oriented material chosen for this tour. This was not a set that catered to the people who wanted to hear a rundown of Eric’s greatest hits. Obviously, there were a lot of disappointed people who, as my friend overheard one woman state, wanted to hear more material from Time Pieces, his best-of compilation from 1982.
It seems that, in light of his recent studio stiffs (Back Home and the collaboration with J.J. Cale The Road To Escondido both failed to sell as good as expected) that Eric may be settling on the idea to enter into his twilight years as a true journeyman. Rather than cater to the demands of what a few fringe fans may want to hear, he’s chosen to travel down a road that provides him with his own musical fulfillment.
If he continues to do this, I won’t wait another seventeen years before I see him again.

Setlist
Tell The Truth
Key To The Highway
Got to Get Better in A Little While
Little Wing
Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
Sit Down Set
-Driftin' (EC Solo)
-Outside Woman Blues
-Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
-Running On Faith
Motherless Children
Little Queen of Spades
Further On Up The Road
Wonderful Tonight
Layla
Encore
Cocaine
Crossroads (with Robert Cray)