Eric Clapton, SECC. 12.5.2011

Well, since my last account was deleted (still waiting for an explanation on that, still), all my concert reviews have been deleted with it, which is kinda crap as my memory is hazy, so time to start again.

Last Thursday night I saw a guitar player you may all have heard of: Eric Clapton

The venue was the same as the last time, Hall 4 of the famous (or infamous) SECC in Glasgow.

The opening act was someone I'd been wanting to see for a while and, suprisingly, I was quite disappointed. Andy Fairweather Low. I've heard/seen Andy on various Clapton live albums/DVD's and he always looked like quite a good guitarist, but I am suprised at just how terrible he sounded, and it was a real shame. I couldn't understand a word he said into the microphone for two reasons: He spoke really fast and quietly, and to top it off, I think the sound guys were out having a smoke or something and had forgot to turn him up. Quite gutted that he wasn't as good as I'd hoped.

However,

At around 20:40 the lights dimmed, and the crowd began cheering. Clapton and the band walked on, picked up their gear and after a quick "Good evening", started a blistering version of Key To The Highway ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNIqurbfFlQ ), an old favourite of mine from the Dominos' days. This was followed quickly by a up beat/slightly funky version of Going Down Slow with some great solos. Following this was the classic Hoochie Coochie Man
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDLcVBfa1E ) and a fantastic version of Old Love.

Following a 10 minute rendition of I Shot The Sheriff ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YBY9hAHAw ) saw the sit down set, with a nice version of Driftin' and a cover of Gary Moore's Still Got The Blue's. I feel this may benefit more with Clapton being plugged in, but it was still a nice touch! An acoustic Layla followed ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h428Y3cV … re=related ), and then it was time for the hits: Badge, Wonderful Tonight, Before You Accuse Me, and a scorching Little Queen of Spades, and rounding off with Cocaine. After that the band walked off, and returned a few moments later straight into the encore of Crossroads ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJyiZOs8K1s )

At the end, the band simply walked off, no thank you or anything, not even a bow. At time's Clapton looked like he didn't want to be there, and maybe he didn't. The solos seem to be triangular, going from Eric, to Chris and then Tim, or vice versa. Not to take anything away from Chris Stainton, but I was hoping to hear more Clapton. Tim Carmon just annoyed me, and may put me off seeing Clapton in the future if he's in the band.

Overall, perhaps not as good as the 2006 show, but it's still Clapton, proving he has the fire that made him famous in the first place! And on a personal note, I'm quite pleased to see I've seen him twice by the time I'm 21. Hopefully get to see him again in the near future, just don't leave it five years!

P.S. All credit/thanks goes to whoever filmed those videos, and if you can't be bothered watching them all, check this one out. I like the uploaders name:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1h4mmjzsLY

Next up, Simon McBride at Stero