Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Where’s Eric’s very-own TE (The Editor) was at the concert. Here’s his review:
A beautiful balmy evening in Stockholm at the golf ball shaped, ice hockey arena that is Globen. It may look like Epcot but Disney it aint!

Eric’s first visit here since 2006 has prompted a sizeable, good natured and appreciative crowd to witness the closing stages of the European Tour 2011.

Having a financial background, local warm up act, Big Bang, were not for this writer’s ears and it was a relief to hear the familiar strains of Key to the Highway lift the spirits

following a cheery "good evening!" from our host.

There was a slightly more raspy tone from Eric’s Strat tonight which is particularly pleasing on the frenetic closing stanza of Going Down Slow but the sound demons of

this venue kick in with a horrible echo off the upper rear seats during Hoochie Coochie Man.

Crisp rimshots from Mr Gadd and a loud cheer from the knowledgeable crowd see in Old Love. Now I’ve heard Eric solo on this song many many times but tonight was top

drawer, original and inventive – lots of low end octaves and high end twiddly bits to satisfy any old rocker.

Never been a big fan of Tearing Us Apart, less so the one guitar version, despite fantastic rhythm from Messrs Gadd and Weeks.

The acoustic section is much shortened from the recently completed London concerts, but Tim Carmon now adds some subtle Hammomd to Driftin’, Nobody Knows You

is slowed right down and a mellow Layla closes this section.

Badge, Wonderful Tonight and Before You Accuse Me lead into "Little Queen of Stainton" – well it is his showpiece despite being the vehicle for all band solos – followed by

Cocaine which draws the show to a close (the audience completely missing their cue on the final shout of Cocaine). An encore of Crossroads wrapped it up.

10.15 finish, still broad daylight outside. Love Scandinavia! Next stop Norway and the Norwegian Wood Festival.

Review by Goran Dahlgren / Nockeby
Despite a rather dull audience Eric rocked Stockholm tonight being the true professional he is. Highlights beside great singing, were brilliant guitar solos on Old Love,

Before You Accuse Me, Little Queen Of Spades and the Crossroads solo which was reminiscent of the Wheels of Fire version! My son and daughter saw EC live for their

first time and were absolutely thrilled. Thanks Eric for a great night and see you next time!

Review by Gene Oberto / Stockholm
With a chord strum, Eric Clapton and his band walked onto the stage of the Ericsson Globan Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. With a polite "Good Evening!", Clapton proceeded to give the Swedish fans a study of what makes Eric Clapton the best, bar none!

Clapton, who is on a short trip through Scandinavia before an extended summer hiatus, seemed energized to be on stage by himself. Starting with "Keys to the Highway", your writer knew that this night would be special. An absolutely blistering "Going Down Slow", only the second song into the set, sealed the deal.

With minimal staging, the focus became the music and, more importantly, the musicianship. Bolstered by excellent video displays, there was ample opportunity to watch and appreciate one of the best doing what he does best-singing and playing the blues.

Clapton was absolutely in the zone this night. His playing was powerful, confidant and, most importantly, joyful. His constant rocking and little two-step dance during his solos showed his intensity. For whatever reason, you sensed that tonight, this night, he wanted to, no, needed to play. And play he did.

Each song’s grateful applause was given a short "Thank you." Clapton was all business tonight, even to the point of not introducing the band members. Stage patter was not necessary as E.C. was letting his fingers do the talking.

The final number was fan favorite, "Cocaine", which at the end of the song, the fans were so enraptured by what they were witnessing that they missed the cue to shout the title at the end. Clapton put down the Fender and walked off with a little wave. It took the audience a few seconds to realize that the set was over. It was then that they broke into applause which built into the call for more. With an encore of "Crossroads", Clapton left the building.

One wonders what it might be like to have watched Picasso paint or read the handwritten words of Shakespeare. What is it like to watch true artists do what they do, while they are doing it? Last night, Stockholm got the rare treat to watch an artist at work. Eric Clapton gave more than the fan’s money worth. Last night, Stockholm saw an artist at his best, and Eric Clapton was happy to let them.

Review by Gösta Kylsberg
On his tour, Eric and his band played in Stockholm (Ericsson Globe) on 8 June. It was an enjoyable evening, and interesting to compare with the Royal Albert Hall concerts I saw some weeks ago. You get a different feeling sitting in the Globe, compared with the more intimate atmosphere in London. Eric was in a good mood and gave a great performance. Unfortunately the sound was not as good as expected, with a disturbing echo, especially during the first songs. Anyhway, a fiery start with Key to the Highway, was followed by a great version of Going Down Slow and then Hoochie Coochie Man played in the more “conventional style” had some really great solos and was absolutely one of the highlights of the evening. But I must admit, Old Love was the song of the evening with Eric varying the solo in a most remarkable way. This song, together with Hoochie Coochie Man, Little Queen of Spades and a great version of Crossroads as the encore were outstanding performances. Also Tearing Us Apart was played with great energy.

The sit-down session was shorter than in RAH, with four songs (Driftin’, Nobody Knows You When Your’e Down and Out, J.J. Cale’ s Same Old Blues and Layla). Driftin’ was great, and I really like the J.J. Cale song. But I pity the Stockholm audience that they didn’t get the opportunity to hear Erics tribute to Gary Moore and Still Got The Blues.

The third part of the concert included classics like Badge, Wonderful tonight, and Before You Accuse Me. Eric continues to put in some rough sounds in Badge, turning up the volume, pausing, and then going back to what I call the George Harrison part (typical Harrison sound), George being a co-writer to this song. Little Queen of Spades is always one of the top items at Eric’s concerts, and the classic ending of the concert with Cocaine, gave Chris Stainton one of his great solo opportunities.

All in all, a concert to remember, Eric playing some really great solos, but I still think there is too much keyboard solos in some of the songs. It would be better to have one of the keyboard players (Tim Carmon and Chris Stainton) playing solo, not both in the same song. I also would have liked some more Derek & the Dominos songs, but hopefully they come back on the next tour.

Review by Kjello-Arne Tilley
’ve been a huge fan of EC since I first heard him back in the early 1960’, when he was hanging around with John Mayall as a “Bluesbreaker". I’ve been at half a dozen Clapton live performances over the years, and I also have a background as a old style blues guitar player myself.

The support in Stockholm was Big Bang from Norway. They did a great job after all. A band well known in Norway with Øystein Greni as the primus motor.

Eric Clapton entered the carpet with his “mintblue” Fender Stratocaster, and he did play well this evening. Globen Arena is not the best place to play this kind of megadynamic music, as it is mainly a ice-hockey rink. The sound bounces around in the dome, but the band did not seem to take any notice of this at all. The set-list this evening had a huge span from the “way down in Mississippi” sound, to more funky stuff. Last time I heard EC was in Bergen, Norway back in August 8th 2009. At that time I thought that this was the ultimate concert that I was going to hear from anybody, anywhere,- anymore in this life. But not so. Clapton played extraordinary well in Sweden.

His fingers was at the right place at the right time, if you hear what I mean. The semi acoustic part on his Martin OM28EC signature model was brilliant. The good old “Driftin’ Blues” is as close as a white man from England can penetrate the magic of the afro American heritage. Eric has respect for traditions, even if he has played this piece over and over again. The band did a great job backing “Slowhand” throughout the warm summer night in the southern part of the capital of Scandinavia. Some 5 long years since they last visited this town. The crew supporting the band on this tour seems to be the right kind. Besides the band, the sound engineering and the man behind the consol did a fantastic job. To get this sweet sounding music to a fully booked capitol is a masterpiece. Eric Clapton did deliver to his fans. I was sitting at row 7 with tears in my eyes. I’m grateful for the gift EC is sharing.

Review by Jorgen W.
The concert on The Globe-arena was very tight and full of wonderful blues. All the musicians played at a very high level, it’s impressing that Eric and his friends can keep this high standard year after year.

Review by Sebastian Hosby / Stockholm
This was my third Clapton concert. I was at his previous performances in Stockholm 06′ and the only show in Scandinavia last year in Malmö. To grade these shows, I like to think the latest here in Stockholm was the best. It felt and looked like EC had fun on the stage and did his best, which is what matters the most. And all the blues that he played gave me goosebumps. He puts so much feeling in it.

Not to talk about the acoustic section which was mad good. The audience clapped along to Driftin’ which to I can’t find words, how good it is and to Nobody knows you when you’re down and out, which is also a great groovy song.

The show with Winwood (in 2009) was of course nice when they played Blind Faith material such as Presence of The Lord, Had To Cry Today and Can’t find my way home. But there was some songs that I had slightly forgotten how they sounded from EC’s solo performance in Stockholm 06′ such as Old love, Little Queen of Spades and Wonderful Tonight. It was also nice to hear songs like Badge and Before you Accuse Me for the first time at the concert this year.

But the moments that made this most recent concert so amazing were his intros into Old Love, Driftin’ and the effect changes in Badge. They were mindblowing to say the least.

The show was a bit short and he could have been a bit more talkative with the audience but I don’t blame him. He’s been touring all over the world for a couple of months now after all. The age difference of the audience was wide and surprisingly young which is amazing since I’m only eighteen myself.