Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by Dick Westcott
Wow! What a show. The best version of Pretending I have ever heard, great opener. Blistering guitar solos throughout the show with some great slide work by DT, Pretending, Running On Faith, Milkcow Blues, Little Queen Of Spades & Motherless Children standing out for me. The power of Milkcow Blues was immense. What makes this series of concerts stand out from others is the presence of three outstanding guitarists, DB, DT & EC, who couple ferocity with terrific playing ability to the performances. I just hope an official recording is released!!

Review by Tony Rees-Williams / Jersey C.I.
AWESOME is the only way to describe the evening. I’ve been waiting 40 years to see EC since the early Cream days. The backing band were a great support for Eric with some elecyifying solos by all members of the band. I certainly won’t wait as long to see him again. Outstanding numbers for me were Pretending, I Shot The Serriff, Cocaine, Layla (of course) and Crossroads. We could have had more Cream numbers but what we did have was sensational. Once again Eric ,thanks for making it a night that I will never forget.

Review by Antonis Karydis / Athens, Greece
I flew all the way from Athens,Greece especially for this concert and it was worth the cost, time and trouble! EC was relaxed, confident and seemed happy to assume rhythm gutarist duties to let the two young and talented guitarists pick up soloing. After a while it seemed to develop into a patern, DB would go first, with a restrained and economical still powerful style, then DT would take over firing away impressive slide work before handing over the duties to EC himself. And what difference he made! His phrasing was impressive, his walkabouts on the fretboard as comfident and surefooted as ever and his melodic solos way above anybody else’s. His music seemed to flow effortlesly, still, at the end of the evening, after the encore he realy looked tired. Every song played was immaculate. The Kick Horns seemed underpowered though and I also feel that Chris Stainton was not given enough space and time to express himself as I know he can and has on other occasions.

I also must comment on the powerful style of Robert Cray who seemed to play his strat to the limits of its constructual strength. His band was also poweful and the jazzy feeling on the blues songs was very satisfactory. Overall, a concert that stood out and that I will remember.

Review by Herbert Paul
What more can I say that I havent said so already about this tour? Well this was another great evening at Eric Claptons spiritual home, the Royal Albert Hall in London. There was a buzzing atmosphere in the auditorium last night with Robert Cray opening up the show with a great set and really getting the crowd going with his blues set. Robert Cray can really get his guitar to talk with his clean, snappy tone and played some great versions of `Phone Booth, `Poor Johnny and a really fantastic `Im Walkin… to name but a few.

It was good to catch up with Tony Edser again from the WE magazine for the first time since the Cream shows last year. And so resisting the temptation to peek at the set list prior to the show starting I took my seat and waited for the main man to stroll out for his penultimate evening at the RAH. Observations from last nights gig… Well yet again Eric and Band rocked the Albert Hall with a great concert from start to finish. Eric was looking relaxed in an Orange shirt, blue jeans and tanned Visvims. I thought that Derek Trucks had his best gig in all the shows that I’ve seen during the UK tour so far. His playing was fantastic and at times Eric was watching him with a big smile on his face and the odd shake of the head.

Steve Jordan was at his most inspired and energetic best with a really driven performance during which I don’t know how he stayed on his stool. Comedy moment of last night – Steve Jordan losing/snapping a stick during some over zealous drumming in GTGBIALW causing Michelle John to duck for cover from the stray missile.

The set-list was the same as Tuesday with `Old Love’ and `Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad’ replacing `Lost & Found` and `Let it Rain’ with `Running On Faith’ and `Milkcow’ switching places during the sit down set. `Old Love’ featured a beautiful haunting vocal from Eric and a fantastic emotional solo, surprisingly half played using the wah-wah pedal to great effect. For me, the only low point of this number and entire gig, was Tim Carmon’s organ solo as it just seemed out of place and intrusive.

`WDLGTBSS’ was played with great energy and showcased how strong Eric’s voice is these days. Doyle also played a great little solo on this song with a Gibson Les Paul. The number lost it’s impetuous toward the end with EC and Derek playing over each other a little but I think that `WDLGTBSS’ will get better and better the more it’s played on this tour. I’ve been lucky enough gig-wise to catch all the Dominos numbers on the UK leg in `Bell Bottom Blues’, `Anyday’, `GTGBIALW’, `I Am Yours’ and now `WDLGTBSS’… Rock on!!!! The rest of the set remained the same as previous nights with great playing from everyone. Highlights of the set were an awesome `GTGBIALW’ and `I Shot The Sheriff’. `Milkcow’ is getting better and better. `After Midnight’ in the words of Buddy Guy was `so funky you could smell it’. The opening riff and slide playing on `Motherless Children’ gave me goosebumps and `Crossroads’ nearly lifted the roof of the RAH.
Tonight is my last gig and the final night of the UK tour – I suspect we can expect a great evening with EC heading off to Europe and the rest of the world with a bang… You lucky sods!!!

Review by Barry Beaven /Fareham
The venue once again effected the enjoyment, the baffles in the ceiling did little to stop the echo effect for those in the cheap seats. That said the dexterity, subtly and power of the performance overcame the Victoriana. Steve Jordan has changed so much since I first saw him with the Blues Brothers that I barely recognised him, although the look he was given as he discarded a broken stick which hit Sharon White leads me to think that his looks may have changed after the show! The show was tight and the band was obviously in the groove with a nice selection of material which highlighted all their talents, but they were not helped by the mix especially on Cocaine where the electric piano was more dominant than anything else. That said great gig and I need to get better tickets next time.