News

Clapton At The Budokan: Night Four

18 Apr 16

The fourth concert of Eric Clapton’s Tokyo residency was “typical Clapton”, with EC taking the audience on a musical journey. It’s not a nostalgia driven show filled with “hear them everyday on the radio” hits. Despite being a septuagenerian, Eric is still experimenting with music while stamping each song with the guitar solos that made him famous. The set list for this run of shows is heavy on blues, with a handful of songs from his upcoming album, I Still Do, along with a deep cut – “Circus Left Town” – and a reggae-style re-fashioning of the radio and wedding staple, “Wonderful Tonight”. “Key To The Highway” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” continue to evolve in the live arena and are far different than the versions recorded in 1970 with The Dominos or first performed in pubs on acoustic as a teenager. The only nod to Cream on this outing is “Crossroads.”

Newcomer Dirk Powell has added a new dimension to the band’s sound on a variety of instruments. Guitarist Andy Fairweather Low steps up to the mic for lead vocals on “Gin House”. Paul Carrack is the featured vocalist on “Next Time You See Me” and the encore, “High Time We Went”. Henry Spinetti – who first toured Japan with Eric in 1979 – keeps the beat behind the kit. The rhythm section is rounded out by Dave Bronze on bass.  Chris Stainton on keys is EC’s longest-serving bandmember and is featured on several songs, with monster solos during “Cocaine” and “Little Queen of Spades.”  Backing vocalists Michelle John and Sharon White “turn it up to 11” round out the band. 

Eric, the band and crew have only one concert left on their 2016 itinerary. It happens tomorrow night, 19 April, at the Nippon Budokan.

Fan reviews will be added to the tour archive for this date as they arrive. If you were at this show, or went on any of the previous evenings, share your opnion with fans around the world! Send your review to info@whereseric.com. Photos welcome too!

Eric Clapton & His Band
18 April 2016 Set List
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Night 401. Somebody’s Knockin’ *
02. Key To The Highway
03. Hoochie Coochie Man
04. Next Time You See Me
05. I Shot The Sheriff
06. Circus Left Town
07. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
08. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine *
09. I Will Be There *
10. Cypress Grove *
11. Sunshine State
12. Gin House
13. Wonderful Tonight
14. Crossroads
15. Little Queen Of Spades
16. Cocaine
17. High Time We Went (encore)

* From EC’s forthcoming album, I Still Do, available 20 May.

The Band:
Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
Andy Fairweather Low – guitar, vocals
Chris Stainton – piano, keyboards
Paul Carrack – organ, keyboards, vocals
Dave Bronze – bass
Henry Spinetti – drums
Dirk Powell – multi-instrumentalist
Michelle John – backing vocals
Sharon White – backing vocals