Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by Andrew Percy
‘Wow’ was all I can say while driving back to Maine from the Boston gig tonight. EC was on fire tonight and he was having a blast on stage. It was clear that he is having so much fun this tour. Tonight was an "on night" for both Clapton and Derek Trucks. Trucks absolutely nailed the end of GTGBIALW with a short 15 or 20 second solo that just took the breath out of everyone in the Garden. Trucks came back in Little Queen of Spades with a phenomenal solo in his traditional "building up" style. I think the Derek Trucks Concert in Boston at the end of the month just sold some more tickets after tonight’s show. Chris Stainton was dead on as well with a great solo during Old Love. The crowd was great and gave frequent standing ovations to Trucks. My one issue with this tour is the lack of diversity in the set list. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed every song and if the artists are bored playing the same songs for the 51st show then they are not showing it. But with the added talent of Derek Trucks, Clapton could really pull out new songs every night. It would be great to hear Tell the Truth or Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad. Aside from that, phenomenal concert. I’m still amazed and envious of everyone else who will be attending future shows in this tour.

Review by Justin Stygles – Oxford, ME
Decent show. This is my second EC show and it was better than the first on 6/11/01. I would have like to see longer more sophisticated solos by EC, but I felt he really tried to sing and make an impression. DB and DT are phenominal! It seemed as if every song had a planned solo by each guitarist which made every song better than the last.

Everybody Oughtta Make A CHange was brilliant when EC and DT dueled each other with synchronised solos and the lead in to three slide guitars for Motherless Child was incredible.

Kudos to Steve Jordan, no offense to Steve Gadd, but Jordan pushes the Tempo and makes the boys play.

You can tell the band is having fun, EC smiling at least twice during Got to Get Better bore the impression that all the guys knew they were making great music!

Review by Jimmy Peters / Taunton, MA
The fans in Boston got a fantastic display of music and lead guitar at the Eric Clapton show last night in Boston. The "warm up" act was Robert Cray. He was great! It’s not too often the warm up acts get a standing ovation. The crowd was primed when Eric Clapton and his amazing band took the stage.

The show started with two solid hit songs "Pretending" and "I Shot The Sheriff" but it was during the third song when I knew that this was going to be an amazing show. During the song "Got To Get Better In A Little While" each of the guitarists Doyle Bramhall, Derek Trucks,and Eric Clapton played brief but wicked intense guitar solos rapid fire one after the other. It just electrified the place.

The middle of the concert featured Eric on acoustic with Derek Trucks joining in to back him up on songs like "Running On Faith." The show went electric again with "After Midnight." I was thrilled to hear the song "Further On Up The Road" because I have worn out my copy of "The Last Waltz" DVD that has Eric playing the song with The Band. Doyle Bramhall II shined playing leads on the song.

Derek Trucks played slide like it was going out of style. Shunning a pick he used his fingers to wail out leads. Even Eric was smiling with a look that said "that boy can play" at the end of one of Derek’s solos. Both keyboard players Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon played impressive solos as did the bass player Willie Weeks. Robert Cray surprised the crowd by joining in on the jam more than once during the main act and even sang during the encore of Crossroads.

Do I have to say that Eric was amazing? That goes without saying. The show exceeded huge expectations and I want tickets for the next one.

Review by Brooks Young
What a show ! both Eric and Derek where smokin’ hot last night. The first half of the show was the best I belive , I wish on Layla Derek had a chance to finish the song, I didnt like the right into Cocaine from Layla that much. If you take a listen to Little Queen Of Spades from last night what it really was is "Have You Ever Loved A Women" with Litle Queen Lyrics !! with a smokin Derek solo. All together one of the best EC shows I have been seen.

Review by Sally N / MA
I have always appreciated the work of Eric and think that his blues endeavors are worthy. I enjoy listening to him on a regular basis. "Reptile" is currently one I have OD’d on. I was so glad that I finally got to see him in concert, as I have always wanted to, However, you can see that he is mellowing with age and the set list reflects the music that He prefers to play. I felt that though the music was excellent that the show lacked any dynamic qualities. I think that I would save the 100 dollars and just get a DVD because it is much more convenient to be home with all the comforts than to struggle to get to a show that can’t leave any remarkable memories. I still love him but, short of a personal encounter, I will have to support him by buying his work.

Review by Timothy O’Connor
This was my third time seeing Eric Clapton in concert. At the age of 16 I saw him for the first time at the Worcster Centrum. This was during the From the Cradle tour. He inspired me to learn how to play the blues. Through him I have learned about many different artists. The thing that I took away from last night’s show was that being a guitarist is not all about flash, it is about ensemble playing. Eric could have hogged the whole not to himself but he gracefully let Derek Trucks and the other musicians strut their stuff so to speak. The Willie Weeks bass solo on GTGBIALW was KILLER!!!! I wish he soloed more last night. If I had any suggestions to make it would be to play an instrumental to open up with, how about Slunky from Eric’s first album or even HIdeaway, that would be a great tune to suprise people with. On a side note if Eric every reads these posts I want to let him now how influential he has been to me indirectly through his music and life. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be clean and sober today.

Review by Josh
I’m not going to list the set list again, as I think its been mentioned enough. Incredible show as expected.

It was a life experience to see a legend like Eric live in person, and will be a story tell to my kids someday just as my Dad told me. Whatever it is Eric has, call it what you want…"GOD"…"Legend"…."Genious"….he’s still got it. He also needs to be given big credit for bringing these two other players into a broader spotlight with is vast audience. No doubt anyone that is at this tour will leave having been, "educated."
Doyle and Derek loosened up their fingers pre show with a few games of foosball, and if that’s what it was (somehow I doubt it)…sign me up to order new game table. The two of them were badass from beginning to end. Doyle changing up rom his normal strat lineup to his Gibson Les Paul at times seen in many of the newer photos, and Derek sticking to his red SG most of the show. They both seemed to be enjoying themselves, sharing private laughs all night long. What were you laughing at? I guess I’ll never know… Both guys brought the entire (Boston) Garden to its feet at separate times within their solos, which I realized also made me glance down at the goose bumps on my arms. Now that feeling pretty much sums it up…whats real and whats not.

Biggest point that needs to be made in my opinion from the past reviews? They’re three DIFFERENT guys. Three COMPLETELY different styles. No one "schooled" anyone. No one "melted anyone’s face off." All three guys on that stage have significantly recognizable styles OF THEIR OWN. All of which complimented each other greatly as a band. All three of which dropped jaws when the stage went dark and a spotlight lit them up to shine on their own.

Listen up fools. Check the schedule and bid, buy, beg, borrow, or steal your tickets when this threesome comes to town. Don’t be left out listening from the street thinkin’ "shoulda" "woulda""coulda"…How often do two geniuses and a legend take the stage together to play real music these days?

Review by M. Tangerini / Sherborn, MA
This was my fourth time seeing this legendary musician live. I’m always nervous that he might not tour again, so I sent 2nd row tickets to my kids figuring it was now or never for them. They were completely blown away, and are still thanking me. EC was EC at his most prolific, driving and working the music. D. Trucks was show-stopping, and Eric was classy and generous as usual in ensuring that his band (each one a marvelous talent) had time in the spotlight. Stainton was beyond description, but they were all great! Anyone who was able to sit down through this relentlessly energetic show had to be made of cement. "Motherless Children" and "After Midnight" alone were jaw-dropping. Clapton says he’s slowing down a bit. I just don’t see it. I’m just so glad I got my twenty-somethings in there so they could see for themselves what is so special about this musician. Positively unforgettable!