Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by Marco Albanese / Como – Italy
It was my 4th Clapton show and sure it was the strongest. The new group with 12 elements on stage was powerful and perfectly mixed. The show started at 9.20 p.m. with Pretending that opened a sort of suite with So tired and a beautiful Got to get better.

Then Robert Cray joined the band for a rock rendition of his Old Love. I didn’t like very much the Tim Carmon solo, anyway it was the only one in the evening…As usual Clapton continued with Everybody oughta make a change & Motherless Children, really vibrant, less known by the audience but well received. A ’70 rock mood was the red line of the show with some great guitar solos, the marvellous Derek Trucks slide work and the bass&drums section that really pushed the band.

After Motherless Children Eric started a beautiful acoustic set that was, in my opinion, the highlight of the show with a touchin’ Back home, a wonderful Nobody knows you… and a growin’ up version of Running on faith that was the prelude to a fast and powerful After midnight. Then a long Little queen of spades with an outstanding Stainton solo and Let it Rain.

Wonderful tonight and the Layla/Cocaine suite ended the show, with another beautiful Stainton solo on piano. The only encore was a funny and fast version of Crossroads, with Eric & Robert Cray on vocals, a verse for each one and the last together. It was a powerful show, full of energy, with some material Eric didn’t sing in years. He seemed really happy. His solos were inspiring as usual and he was generous with all the members of the band. Another wonderful night!

Review by Mikko Mensonen, Weinfelden – Switzerland
After my pilgrimage to the Royal Albert Hall on May 23rd, I headed to southern Switzerland to relive the unforgettable experience in slightly different settings.
My head pounding from the heat of the day, I stood among the hundreds of Clapton fans, feeling the excitement rise as Robert Cray played his usual "warm-up"-set. The band’s playing being as great as ever, only "Twenty" losing some of its impact when compared to the version played in the more intimate atmosphere of the Royal Albert Hall.

After a short (not short enough!) waiting, we got to the best part of the evening as Chris Stainton started the intro to "Pretending" and the stage just burst into life! From this point on everything just got better and better, following exactly the same setlist as the night before in Italy. By the time the band got to playing "Motherless Children", the audience was already dancing along, even though some of the songs in the first section might have been less known to a casual Clapton listener.

The sit down set was slightly different from the one at Royal Albert Hall. Leaving "Milkcow Blues" out made the section shorter and more "unplugged", but also made "After Midnight" cause a lot stronger impact when played straight after "Running on Faith".

Compared to the playful "stealing" of solos between the three guitarists at RAH, Eric was clearly in the central position tonight as Doyle Bramhall and Derek Trucks took more of a supporting role. All in all, Doyle seemed to lay it unusually low, while Derek kept serving his blistering slide solos whenever given a chance, the absolute highlight being once again in "Little Queen of Spades".
The show was coming to an end with brilliant, powerful versions of "Let it Rain", "Layla" and "Cocaine". The audience joined the chorus and brought the concert to an end with a loud "COCAINE!". The encore was a refreshingly different version of "Crossroads", Eric and Robert Cray singing it together. Towards the end of the evening, Eric seemed to have caught Robert on surprise as he gave him a nod for a solo. Despite looking unprepared, he delivered a performance that was left in shadow only by Eric’s own.

The concert was a very neat package, musically almost perfect. Indoors or outdoors, Clapton always delivers an amazing experience. All that was missing was the special atmosphere of RAH that turns a perfect Clapton concert into a truly spectacular event.

Review by Sandra, David & Tony, Geneva CH
Inspiring to the point of almost being in tears by the closing of Crossroads, "It Hurts Me Too" would have pushed me over the edge. An eclectic mix of electric and acoustic kept the pace of the set interesting. It was energetic, emotional and full of passion evident by the reaction of the band and audience after Crossroads. The harmony and coherence of the 12 hard working musical elements on stage (13 with Cray) was immense, full of layers blended into continuous waves of joy. Eric allowed others time to share the main spotlight with phenomenal guitar solos from Derek and particularly Doyle adding to the texture of this musical tapestry.

Pretending kicked the whole experience off at a relentless pace through 6 songs, including an awesome version of Old Love (Sandra’s favourite), to the acoustic set. The acoustic set was a beautiful 4 song oasis giving all time to refresh and recover, with Tony’s favourite Nobody Knows You When Your Down And Out. After Midnight launched us into the second electric set with Layla, Cocaine and Crossroads building to a crescendo that sent everyone home happy.

It is difficult to pick out highlights of the set given the consistent high standard of song selection and execution. The only low point was the instantly forgettable pseudo electric guitar keyboard solo. I’m all for creativity, trying new things out and I admire anyone who can get on a stage and play but this was not the right thing to do.

The Robert Cray Band was excellent. A pity he could not have played longer but great to see him feature in Eric’s set. I’ve seen Robert on TV a number of times but certainly having now seen him live I appreciated him more – more CDs to add to the collection. It is always difficult when warming up for the main act as you think everyone wants your set over quickly. Robert, for me another 30 minutes would have been perfect.

More than worth the 10 hours of driving from Geneva and back and yes we got back After Midnight. Thanks to Sandra and David for doing all the driving.