Eric Clapton and his music

"The Road To Escondido"

Eric Clapton once likened London's Royal Albert Hall to performing in his front room. That must mean that Madison Square Garden is Eric's "home away from home". Since the early 90s, New York City has been treated to three concerts during each US Tour. And, without fail, Eric and his band always kick it up a notch in New York. This tour is no different. Eric opened his three night residency at "The Garden" on 28 September. The band was in top-form and the concert went from strength to strength. Highlights were "I Shot The Sheriff", "Running On Faith" and "Little Queen Of Spades". Afterwards, the only question being asked by the Clapton cognoscenti was "will 'Anyday' and 'Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad' reappear in setlist in New York?" Night two happens Friday, 29 September.

The full set list for the first Madison Square Garden Concert was:

Pretending
I Shot The Sheriff
Got To Get Better In A Little While
Old Love (with Robert Cray)
Everybody Oughta Make A Change
Motherless Children

sit down set
Back Home
I Am Yours
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
Running On Faith

After Midnight
Little Queen Of Spades
Further On Up The Road
Wonderful Tonight
Layla
Cocaine

Encore
Crossroads (with Robert Cray)

Review #1

This represents about my 20th time seeing Eric Clapton and I am still amazed. Seeing the band back on opening night RAH May 16, 2006 now I have something to compare it to. What I see these are expert musicians, that know this material backwards and forwards and I guess its naturally a little less spontaneous than the earlier days of the tour in May. Eric and the band were tight, relaxed and worked hard. What's impressive is that some of the arrangements (which EC is classic for) had changed and that brought a bit of freshness for me.

However these days the EC leads are a riff shorter, than even back in May, as he proudly shares the stage with Doyle, Derek and Robert (2 songs) but EC's leads are a bit more compact, still strong and gets major applauds from the NYC crowd. (I guess it's my problem that I went to Europe to see this show already and I was hoping for some new material from EC since he has a huge catalogue.)

On a side note I think Willy Weeks and Tim Carmon actually got better (and I am not a huge Tim Carmon fan). On their solos within a song each (I forget which ones) they just fit better with some impressive playing. They both got major acknowledgement from the crowd and EC.

One funny thing happened that Eric got a big chuckle with, during the sit down set, he said this is part where you can whistle and the crowd started to whistle loudly! He thought it was funny and enjoyed how quick to respond to his comment the NY crowd was.

He's still the best, no flash, no stories about his life and his past, just plays amazingly and attempts to deliver perfection. I am still amazed. I'll be back for nights two and three as well! Thank you again Eric.

Review #2

This was the first time that I had seen Eric Clapton in concert since I saw him at the Capital Theater in Portchester NY with Derek and the Dominoes.

It was a treat to say the least. From the onset blasting off with Pretending to the Crossroads encore with Robert Cray I had a big %#@$ eating grin on my face. It was fantastic the way he made transitions from song to song- no wasted space, not chatting just pure music. He would knock your socks off with After Midnight then mellow things with some blues.

I thought it was great the way he let the band shine. Derek Trucks was fantastic; he does amazing things with slide guitar. The rest of the band just let their energy ooze (although the other guitar player Doyle Bramhall was a bit to raw for my taste- but maybe that's the point).

Review #3

Just a note form a fan who saw Eric back at The Concert for Bangladesh all the way to last years' Cream Reunion. All I can say is that last night was like being part of a Guitar Olympics!
The band he has on tour is great...only made better with EC.
The renditions of Got To Get Better In A Little While, Nobody Know You When You're Down and Out and Further On Down The Road put me back to the Filmore East. Derek Trucks (wonder where he his first name) was truly out of this world. The show is a fun time start to finish. Am trying to get tixs for Charlottesville, VA...got to get my 20 year old daughter top see The Master!

Review #4

Last night's show was a bit surreal. I say that because having Derek Trucks onstage next to E.C. was certainly eerie! If your eyes were closed, you'd swear it was Duane Allman doing all the brilliant slide work, especially on all of the Derek & The Dominoes songs. For me, the slide melded almost perfectly with all of the material presented, a thumbs up to E.C. for yet again producing a set that was nothing short of great! I was relieved when it became apparent that E.C. was not on auto-pilot mode, where he sleepwalks through a set. I thought he employed the right amount of subtlety and flash on both vocals and guitar. I think that this show was much better than opening night '04 @MSG. That show seemed quite lackluster for me as autopilot was the word of the evening!

I must say, however, that I thought that the sound was a bit low. I realize that I was sitting in section 403, more or less the rafters of MSG, but never the less, the sound just seemed kind of low. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the JBL set-up which has the monitors put up in an almost curved formation.

Looking forward to the new album.

Review #5

Having been fortunate enough to have seen three shows in the UK, I was interested to see how things have progressed and maybe compare. Some general thoughts rather than a song by song rundown...great sound in the venue? On the previous shows I saw EC was louder than the the other guys. As reported on other US gigs, Doyle was loudest for the first half of the show from where I was. Derek had the least volume. The first few songs were performed a little slower and EC seemed a little subdued to me. EOMAC needed Derek's slide higher in the mix. The sitdown set seemed to signal a beer break in my area which is a shame since I am Yours is one of the highlights of the show. Whistles from the crowd during Back home brought a comment from EC "nice whistles" only to be met by a barrage of whistles in return. This actually seemed to focus EC a little from then on and the show heated up a notch. Little Queen was indeed worth the price of admission alone, with Derek getting the biggest cheer of the night for his slide break. Big point for me here was that Doyle actually played the best solo I've ever seem him do. Overall he put in the best performance I've seen him as well. The show from then on in was a great romp of rock and roll with all the band getting a spot in the limelight as usual.

A very enjoyable opening show at the Garden...although I expect things to heat up even more through Saturday.

Review #6

I've seen every tour that Eric has brought to MSG since the 80's and this is the tightest band he's had. Doyle and Derek have helped Eric find the fountain of youth. Highlights for me were Motherless Children, Nobody Knows..., Little Queen of Spades and a terrific Layla.

Review #7

As an EC vet with more than 12 shows under my belt, I think I qualify to make a criticism. I enjoyed a great deal of this show, up until Wonderful. After that, the autopilot kicked in and the songs were very predictable, no ripping leads, though Crossroads was ok. The early part of the show kicked ass, and I loved most of the song selections. I thought Everybody Oughta...was a bit jumbled but saved by Derek. EC did rip off some smokers, especially Got To Get Better, Motherless, and Midnight. Doyle just doesnt seem like the right fit, while Derek is like a living ode to Duane, he is just amazing. The rest of the band smoked, Chris is a genius on piano. The sappy/easy ending left me hungering for more. When he played the Blues tour at MSG the 2nd time around and closed with Everyday I Have The Blues, that was the greatest guitar lead I have ever heard and I was in awe. Not so last night unfortunately - it will be hard for him to ever reach those heights again.

The Road to Escondido cover art

2Primal Scream:
Отличная обложка!

September 30, 2006 -- NOTHING makes an old man run faster, shoot straighter or, in the case of 61-year-old Eric Clapton, play guitar better than a little competition from a couple of bucks who know how to swing the ax.

At the opening performance of Clapton's three-show stand at Madison Square Garden, the gray guitar ace was pressed by young gun guitar slingers Doyle Bramhall II, 37, and baby blues boy Derek Trucks, 27.

The three men were a study in flash and finesse, velocity and virtuosity, as they cut heads during the two-hour set.

Leads and solos by the three men on blues classics such as "Everybody Oughta Make a Change" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" were wrought with surging guitar work that seemed impossible to anyone in the sold-out house who's ever tried to make steel strings and a wood box sing.

For Clapton and company, the barrage of notes was as natural as taking a breath.

In the end, after Trucks slipped across the night's songs with fluid bottleneck slides that would have made Duane Allman proud, and Bramhall laid down stinging Chicago-style blues leads that were reminiscent of young Buddy Guy, Clapton managed to keep his crown.

But the kids gave him a run for his money. Trucks outplayed him on "Layla" and Bramhall aced the master on "Little Queen of Spades." Still, you couldn't help but think he was letting these talented pups have some fun by allowing them to bite his tail.

Clapton was also in pretty fair voice. He reached deep and conjured Louie Armstrong gravel at one point during the cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff," and he seemed to melt every girl in the house when he sang the late-concert ballad "Wonderful Tonight."

Clapton has been the god of guitar for a long time, and still is, but he won't be that forever - and he seems to know it. This show was a reminder to everyone who witnessed it how the circle really is unbroken.