Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by David form Guthrie OK
Dispite horror stories of how bad the Ford Center sounds, Eric and Friends were Great! The set list was the same as last 2 shows. Eric has still got the moves, but gave some of the heavy lifting to Derek and Doyle. It was worth every penny! His set lasted 1:40.
Robert Cray opened the night and to our dissapointment only played 35 mins. But he didn’t waste one minute. We enjoyed every second of the show and wish they would come back soon.

Review by Ervin Yen
Fantastic show last night. I especially enjoyed the dueling guitars by Eric & Derek at the end of Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad? I admire Clapton for putting on this current tour. It is obvious to me that he has picked the songs for people who truly know his history & music. This was not a show for the general public who only know his past "hits". I guess he did the same thing with his past "Blues" tour. I enjoyed every "guitar lick" last night — & there were certainly a lot of them from all four distinctive, top-drawer lead guitarists. Thank you EC & Company.

Review by Bradford Gurley
A night to remember for more reasons than just a "concert". Maybe I’m a little biased because of a family member being in the band,but over the years I’ve watched Derek Trucks grow up in age as well as a player. But it was a real treat to watch a master (EC) and the next generation of masters sharing licks,smiles and most of all the shear joy of playing real music in front of real people. What a show!!

Having not seen Eric since 1985 at Red Rocks (right before the Live Aid show), and even though the hair on both of us is graying and we just don’t have as much anymore, the crowd and Eric have continued to grow. I must say that at his age, Eric could easily rest on his laurels and go thru the motions of a show, but he doesn’t and I’m convinced that he never will. And just when you think that the well could be dry for a new lick, surprise, here comes a new one that just leaves the jaw on the floor and you realize, that one came out of left field or more true, it comes from outside the ball park.

A short but strong set by Robert Cray was really nice. Wow, seeing Robert in an arena sure is differant than Straight Johnson’s in Denver at $3.00 a person about every 6 weeks when he would come to town. But he still amazes me as a singer and a guitarist. My 18 year old son was really impressed with Robert’s singing. Highlights for me was "Phone Booth", "Twenty", and "Bad Influence". A big "Thank you" to Robert and his band.

Now the meat of the night. I love the way the band comes out first then Eric comes out just running thru a few scales and then we’re off. "Tell the Truth" opens with Derek handeling all the lead work. Nice job. "Key" is next, followed by "Got to Get Better In A Little While" was just played so smooth that, you couldn’t do anything but smile. The show took on another level for me next. "Little Wing" did what great music can and should do. Move the listener’s emotions. And yes, I’m not ashamed to say that I was moved to tears during this. Hats off to Doyle for the nice vocal harmony during this one, and the solos by all were just as good as it gets. I miss Derek’s slide on this (hey Derek, remember the studio tape of you way back when you did this with Buddy Miles singing?), but still his lea runs were just sweet. WDLGTBSS, just ripped in my opinion. I really love the way Eric just chunks away as a rhythm player during this one.

Sit down time, with the stand outs being "Outside Woman Blues" & "Running On Faith" with Derek just taking a solo that glistened and shone as bright as any star in the sky. This was GREAT!!! "Motherless Children" was way cool with all three guitars playing slide. "Little Queen of Spades" was next and this was surreal. Chris Stainton (looking more and more like Eric Idle of Monty Python, nudge, nudge, wink, wink) just tore up the keys. Derek must be doing something really right on this tour because EC let his solo just build and build until the Ford Center could not contain it anymore. A huge standing ovation for Derek on this and a smile while shaking his head from Eric as to say,"Wow, I’m so glad he took this gig." Then Eric just tore this one apart. I don’t care how old you are you have to be impressed and moved by his soloing here. I really wanted to hear the longer slower version of "Wonderful Tonight" because of all of the possibilities with Doyle and Derek, but this one was very nice. Even had the usher by us stand and sing along with one. And here’s a "small world" sideline. This usher was from a town in Kansas called Mount Hope. And she knows Derek’s uncle Bobby who lives there. Hmmmmm, back to the show. "Layla" just was,well what you would expect, a show stopper. The coda part showed that Eric & Derek work together like Eric & Duane did so long ago. Okay tear time number two. This was really really nice. "Cocaine" was really cool and the "Crossroads" with Robert was really a great way to end the evening. I did catch Robert & Derek kinda yuk it up during this. As the night was over, big smiles were on everyones face, both crowd and band.

Thank you EC for a night to remember,and a big thank you to the Ford Center staff. You guys couldn’t have been more nice.

Review by Billy – Ardmore, Oklahoma
Perfection as usual, is all I can say. I have been a fan of Eric’s for 30 years now and I have seen him perform live 10 times now. I must say that I enjoyed this one more than any other show that I have seen. The band is unbelievable and Derek Trucks live, truly is as good as advertised. The set list was the same as the Texas shows and is perfect for this group of musicians as it really showcases their ability to stretch out a good song and take it to a new level. I personally was happy to get a chance to hear some of the older songs that I have never had the chance to hear live. This was an especially gritty performance for Eric because it appeared that he was having some throat problems but he battled through with no obvious effects on the vocals. With all of the frenzied activity of the three guitarists on stage, most of the fans in attendance probably didn’t even notice Eric motioning to Lee to bring him a throat lozenge as Derek wailed away on another impressive solo during the last third of the set. Even though I have been listening to and watching Mr. Clapton for many years both live and on recorded media, you just can’t describe the feeling that you get when you get the chance to sit in the same building and can actually feel those solos rattle your bones as you witness another historic show. Our seats were up close and it was great to see the close personal relationship that Eric has with his band mates. The little head nods and the glances at one another during the show is obvious proof that these guys really do enjoy what they do for a living. This is as talented a group of musicians as you will see anywhere and is further testament to the talent recruiting prowess of Mr. Clapton. Derek Trucks appears to be capable of keeping the guitar god tradition alive and you can expect to hear great things from him in the future but make no mistake there is only one Eric Clapton and we are all fortunate indeed to share the planet with him.

Review by Brett Gardner and Brintha Jayapandian Gardner – Oklahoma City, OK
This concert was nothing short of spectacular. Every single artist on the stage that night was in a league on their own. The band was greeted with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes along with screams, "That’s him, over there, Eric Clapton, it’s really him!"

The performances on the instruments were phenomenal. The audience was thrilled and kept crying for more. An important point to mention was that besides the legend himself, the pinnacle of the ecstatic cheers was mainly for the guitar genius, Derek Trucks.

The band left at one point and later came back to the roaring crowd’s delectation. The only low point was when the lights came back on in the stadium disappointing so many as they felt their gargantuan appetite for this God of music was left unfulfilled.
We, however, were surpassingly content.

Review by Cheryl Richardson
This was the concert I’ve waited for my whole life. I became a lifelong fan of Eric Clapton in 1973–didn’t ever get to see him in concert til 2001. That concert was good, but this OKC show featured the music I did homework to and grew up with. When he started out with Tell the Truth, I knew we were in for a good time. I’m guessing that by having Derek Trucks on board he could probably have a chance to showcase the old songs he used to play with Duane Allman. To me, it looked like the guitarists were having an especially good time trading licks, especially on Little Wing. I nearly fainted, though, reading the Tulsa World review today. The fellow says it’s horrifying that OKC "booed Eric Clapton". Oh, get over it. When they didn’t come back for a 2nd encore, people booed for a minute cause they wanted him to keep playing all night. It was not at all a situation where people were booing over a disappointing show. It seemed like they’d been playing maybe 30 minutes, but it was really the better part of two hours. I just can’t get over him pulling out the tremenous oldies. It was wonderful.

Review by Tom Laster – Oklahoma City
Something like 38 years ago I bought a 1963 VW Beetle. Of course, the first thing I had to do was put an 8 track player under the dash. The first cassettes I bought were the double set of "Wheels of Fire – Live at the Fillmore East". I would sit in that car and listen to "Crossroads" over and over. Monday night at the Ford Center I was 19 again listening to Eric Clapton & Robert Cray do that song. Thanks Eric for a precious gift. I’ve been a fan for 40 years.

Review by Rajiv
In rock & roll there is good and then there is great. What the audience in OKC got to see was a great performance of a living legend of rock & roll. As EC ages, I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to tour and if rock music exists many years from now, we will be able to tell our grand children that we went to the performance of one of the best that ever was. It is also about time that the Queen of England grant EC Knighthood status.

It was a damn good show. Robert Cray warmed up for about 1/2 hour. He’s very clean and clinical on guitar with outstanding vocals and I thought he may now be as good as EC with of course a different style. The Ford Center acoustics aren’t that good on the floor, but the quality of the talent was so good; the acoustics never entered the mind. The crowd was generally polite & well behaved. There were lots of old fogies there, but a mixed crowd with many over 40.

Derek Trucks was very good. Derek and Doyle did solos as well as some heavy lifting for EC, but this was to showcase their talent. EC chuckled after "Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out," perhaps someone in the audience said something funny or he was thinking of something humorous. "Wonderful Tonight" and "Layla" was done with an electric guitar and was most excellent with the crowd getting up on their feet many times. I never thought EC would do "Cocaine" anymore, but it was done with a passion. EC’s solo in "Driftin’ Blues" was a real treat.

After going to the show I now see the need for EC to tour – and that is not for money. EC is doing the world a great public service in promoting new or up and coming talent to preserve what we know as rock & roll. Otherwise we will be left with the abomination of western music that will be dominated by country & western and rap.

The one thing that bothered me a bit was that EC didn’t talk much to the audience. He probably knew what they wanted and gave them a solid two hours. Not a minute was wasted during the performance and EC was very professional. He seemed like a business man who puts down his briefcase and immediately gets down to business. Total concert time was about 3 hours. At the end of the show, the crowd wanted EC for another encore, but that was not to be and the lights came on and some booed it was over. The people of OKC wanted more. I wanted more, but alas all good things must come to end.

Thank you very much EC & band for an unforgettable experience and OKC is honored to have hosted you.