To make a long story short, my girlfriend was given two tickets to a suite at the next Eric Clapton concert, and since there is free food and presumably good music there’s no way we’re missing this. (Sadly I’ve given up alcohol for lent, so my beverage consumption will be limited to Diet Coke, my gf on the other hand can get wasted).
Neither one of us is at all familiar with Clapton’s music, and we’d like to to prepare by listening to some of his stuff before the concert (really it’s just me that wants to prepare, I’m obsessive like that). So if you can suggest some of his important albums or songs I’d really appreciate it.
It seems Roger Daltrey is also part of the tour, but I don’t think they play together.
You literally don’t need to worry about it. I’ve been to two Clapton shows in the past few years, and while I don’t want to say they’ve been a disappointment, exactly, I will say that I won’t be fooled again. I mean, he’s an amazing performer. There’s no doubt about his ability! But he doesn’t interact with the crowd at all (maybe you like musicians who don’t speak or have any stage presence) and he very, very rarely plays his old stuff. When he goes on tour, it’s to promote whatever album he just released and that’s it. The 2nd time I saw him, he played Crossroads and Cocaine as part of the encore (I think he only had 1 encore) and the rest of the songs were ones I didn’t recognize at all. So by not being familiar with his music, you probably have the advantage.
According to lalenin, Daltry won’t be performing with Clapton.
That’s too bad to learn that Clapton hasn’t been playing his older music on recent tours. Based on what I’ve seen of Clapton from concert videos, I’m not surprised to learn he doesn’t have much stage presence.
I’ve never seen him but a buddy of mine who is (was?) a huge fan said that the Clapton show he went to maybe five or six years ago was the worst concert he’d ever been to.
I’m not surprised. I’d say the same thing, honestly. The 2nd concert I went to, I was transfixed by his bassist. Clapton himself was on the stage and all I could think was “Wow, that bassist is awesome.”
I’ve seen Eric a couple of times, and he is pretty boring to watch. You pretty much have to get your enjoyment from just his playing. He’s really a lot more “fun” when he has someone to play off of, trade licks with, etc.
Whatever you thought of The Who’s halftime gig, you should definitely try to catch Daltrey’s set. Roger has a great band and he’s changed the arrangements to accomodate his voice pretty well. (Happy 66th, Rog!)
Haven’t seen him live myself, but I’ve listened to plenty of his live material. The biggest difference ( traditionally - may or may no longer be the case ) between listening to his studio albums and the live stuff is he tends to stretch out/elaborate on the guitar solos in live shows.
Therefore I’d agree with the above - if you are a big fan of his guitar playing it might be worth it just to immerse yourself in his guitar work, as you’ll actually get more of it per pound than from his studio stuff. Otherwise, yeah, he doesn’t seem the type to try to engage with the audience. Think of it more as the rock/blues equivalent of a string quartet performance.
There are some DVDs available through Netflix that should give a reasonable idea. At least comparing those to the couple times I saw him in the 1980s…mostly new stuff, a couple oldies, some jamming, professional but not the type to make you feel “Clapton is God” as the 1960s graffiti had it.
Actually f the most interesting time I saw Clapton was in the early 1980s when he decided to play and tour on Roger Waters (“Pink Floyd”) “Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking”. A dreadful, typically Waters rant of the evil of the world but the first half was old Pink Floyd stuff.
I’ve seen Eric before and yeah… he’s not Buddy guy… Suggestions would be whatever he’s come out with lately… I think the last i listened to him was the BB King album…
Now if he were to come to town with Ginger and Jack… that might get me standing out in the rain to see that…
I’m there, dude!
And, if eric and Ginger can’t make it, so much the better!
I think that jack bruce made cream, I don’t care what anybody else says, and that Jack is the greatest singer, bassist ever.
I saw Clapton in 2001, and the concert was embarrassing - not because of the musicians (he really had an excellent lineup which even overshadowed Eric), but because of the way the crowd was acting. His first set was all material from his new album Reptile, and he was on the verge of getting booed off stage (it probably went in one ear and out the other, due to his lack of interaction). There was a guy in front of me who was screaming for him to play Cocaine as if he was on cocaine himself.
And $50 for tshirts. What the CHRIST???
That concert still remains memorable mainly because it was when I asked out one of my friends,and she said YES!
I can’t remember how many EC concerts I’ve been to or seen on video. You have to just love the music. He’s not a showman.
He does play mostly just stuff off whatever his latest album is, plus usually Cocaine and maybe Layla. He’s at his best when he’s not doing a “latest album” tour but instead an “I’ve got an amazing band together” tour, because he can get very, very good people to play with him, and he sparks off them.
Here’s the setlist from Pittsburgh 2-25-10…it’s all older material:
Going Down Slow
Key To The Highway
Tell The Truth
Old Love
I Shot The Sheriff
Driftin’ Blues
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
Running On Faith
I’ve Got A Rock 'N Roll Heart
Badge
Little Queen Of Spades
Before You Accuse Me
Wonderful Tonight
Cocaine
I saw him this past Sunday night and I’ll pretty much echo everything here. It was a bit of a strange show.
His guitar playing is fantastic but he was rooted to one spot pretty much the whole show. I dink around with a guitar a little bit and I came away awed at his playing but he really didn’t show any ‘front man’ skills.
There was some kind of area rug on center stage and he almost never left it. Midway through, he did an acoustic set and sat down in a chair. As far as crowd interaction goes, he’d say ‘thank you’ between songs and nothing else. He didn’t even introduce his band.
Roger Daltry on the other hand was a riot. He even got into some of his mic twirling antics, played a couple ‘Who’ songs and did a Johnny Cash medley that was really good.
I would disagree with this - you should listen to good Clapton, like John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton (aka, The Beano Album), Cream’s Disraeli Gears and Layla by Derek and the Dominos. There are others, but those three give you the high points of the Clapton legend - his breakout with Mayall; his innovation with Cream and his show of depth and maturity with Layla. They are essential CD’s for a solid electric blues/rock education…
As for the concerts - I just saw him with Beck at Madison Square Garden - I find the other posts to be accurate. He “found it” in a couple of songs where he really stretched out, but not a lot of oomph to the playing…
Daltry was amazing. Backed by Simon Townshend (Pete’s Bro), a young drummer and Bass player his set was vintage WHO at its best.
Clapton came out and and showed his skills. Not much interaction but the craftsmanship was flawless. If you want to party with him and whoop it up then its not gonna happen. But if you want to see a master quietly display his skills its worth it.
