Eric Clapton Tour 2011 – Rogers Arena (formerly known as General Motors Place), Vancouver BC, Canada – Friday 25 February 2011
Setlist
01. Key To The Highway
02. Going Down Slow
03. Hoochie Coochie Man
04. Old Love
05. I Shot The Sheriff
06. Driftin’
07. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
08. River Runs Deep.
09. Same Old Blues
10. When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful
11. Layla – seated Gibson ES 335
12. Badge
13. Wonderful Tonight
14. Before You Accuse Me
15. Little Queen Of Spades
16. Cocaine
17. Further On Up The Road
The band
Guitar, Vocals – Eric Clapton
Bass Guitar – Willie Weeks
Keyboards – Chris Stainton
Drums – Steve Gadd
Backing Vocals – Sharon White
Backing Vocals – Michelle John
Keyboards – Tim Carmon
Support
Los Lobos
Videos
Reviews
Here are some fantastic reviews of the show!
Clapton was in fine form, his fingers the centre of attention on the big screen during Going Down Slow, sliding up and down his Stratocaster’s neck with pitch-perfect precision.
A good chunk of the evening would be spent revisiting a blues catalogue Clapton not only helped bring into the spotlight in the ‘60s and ‘70s but also helped make incredibly popular throughout his entire career.
There was Muddy Waters’ Hoochie Coochie Man and its slow-grind swing and Old Love, where Carmon would have a moment to shine soloing on the keys as well.
Clapton’s cover of Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff (the song that became his first and only No. 1 hit in 1974) felt speedier and more upbeat than it originally was conceived to be, which felt a bit strange. Somehow this way it had lost a bit of its dramatic undertones, but it gave Clapton the opportunity to retrofit it with a solid soloing section.
Throughout the show, the crowd looked transfixed, waiting until the end of the songs to explode in applause and then resume not flinching while taking in every single note. Clapton deserves your full attention, after all.
In a way, the show felt warmest when Clapton picked up his acoustic Gibson 335 and took a seat to play songs like Driftin’ or Nobody Knows You When You’re Down.
It all sounded pretty amazing. However, the show’s lighting setup, a mix of light curtains and white glowstick-looking things meant to accentuate the electric portion of the show, was sometimes a bit of a distraction.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case when Clapton was comfortably seated on his chair onstage, hammering out a little acoustic Layla, looking as sharp and laid-back as could be.
Before people could go home content to have seen their guitar idol, there would be a bit of Cream (Badge), Wonderful Tonight, covers of Bo Diddley’s Before You Accuse Me and of Robert Johnson’s A Little Queen of Spades — where Stainton and Carmon manhandled their keys like crazy — and a jammy version of J.J. Cale’s Cocaine.
To top it off, a spirited Further Up on the Road encore that had the show clock in pretty close to two hours.
No, Clapton isn’t literally God, but he sure can be close to pure gold.
Read more: Vancouver Sun
Eric Clapton 2011 Tour Opener Amazes
Highlights:
‘Old Love’, in which his masterly solo leading into a sublime wah-wah organ supported by some very creative lighting effects.
‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ with a powerfully controlled solo and some dazzling piano work. Gadd’s drumming on this tune was nothing short of amazing.
‘I Shot The Sheriff’ arrived in an uptempo version which was a good 50% faster than the recorded one, containing a new solo, long and fluid leading to a frenzied cascading purity of emotion.
A rollicking ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’ – a rollicking take with a tasty piano interlude – this was a crowd singalong face.
‘River Runs Deep’ – a JJ Cale tune from the early 1970s covered on Eric’s latest; this was an exquisite performance with some marvellous bending of notes – a laid-back scorcher never imagined by Cale.
‘Same Old Blues’ sounding like a Cale composition again but with a jumped up solo and a stinging sound with a tremendous performance from Steve Gadd on drums.
Then came ‘Layla’ with an impossibly imaginative intro that sounded like an electric version of the acoustic take; this was swinging, soft, and intoxicating, no longer as fiery as the original but no less passionate either. Totally re-created.
‘Badge’ – the tune he wrote with George Harrison and performed with Cream. A terrific solo that shows Clapton still has all his speed but now with more fluidity and taste. Better than the original, which was one of the best songs of the late 1960s.
‘Before You Accuse Me’ and ‘Queen of Spades’ – very raunchy, bluesy and burnished to a sheen seldom seen in raw blues. Unforgettable in their dynamics, urgency, and potency. Gadd’s drumming again was a standout. Eric’s vocals were a revelation, proof that his singing has become the equal of his fretwork. Have to mention as well the organ solo from Tim Carmon in ‘Queen of Spades’ that would have made the legendary genius Jimmy Smith cry with pleasure.
The closer ‘Cocaine’ was hard-driving, with a great new chorus and some amazing upper fretboard work from Clapton that was a textbook example of how to play fast slowly. Not to mention why live music is better; here they deliver a punch you simply cannot replicate in any recording studio, a punch in the gut with a groove and a rolling piano you could listen to all night and never tire of.
The crowd demanded an encore, and Clapton returned with ‘Further On Up The Road’, an impassioned growl in his voice and a brilliant snarl in his guitar. Just when you think you’ve really heard Clapton he proceeds to rock the joint much harder than anyone might imagine possible. He says to his beautiful blue Fender Stratocaster ‘let’s show ‘em all we’ve got’ and he leaves every other guitar player on the planet with glue between their fingers and a whimper in their throats.
All in all, Vancouver heard maybe the best guitar player ever on maybe the best night of his life, playing with a band that other artists would kill to have.
Amazing, Eric, just f***king amazing!
Read more: Vivo Scene
North Shore News: Eric Clapton plays blues like butter at Rogers Arena
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