News
“An Evening With Eric Clapton” Launches US Tour in Columbus
6 Sep 25
Eric Clapton’s 2025 U.S. Tour got underway on Friday, September 5, with a special “Evening With” performance at Mershon Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio. The sold-out concert benefitted Crossroads Centre Antigua, the treatment and education facility he founded in 1998 to help individuals, their families and significant others affected by chemical and alcohol dependency.
Eric first performed in Columbus with Cream in 1968 and returned in 1974 for his first solo concert in the city. He didn’t appear again until 2001, but additional tour stops followed in 2004 and 2007. In 2009, Eric and Steve Winwood brought their tour to the Jerome Schottenstein Center. His most recent solo performance in Columbus took place in 2022, at the same venue.
Eric has also surprised audiences as a guest performer. In 2006, he made an unannounced appearance at Cooper Stadium, joining Jimmie Vaughan, who was support for Bob Dylan that evening. Then, in August 2018, Eric reunited with Vaughan at a benefit concert for the Columbus Cancer Clinic.
The evening’s set list at Mershon Auditorium was a seamless mix of Eric’s signature songs and blues standards:
01. White Room
02. Hoochie Coochie Man
03. Key To The Highway
04. Sunshine Of Your Love
05. Bell Bottom Blues
06. Kindhearted Woman
07. Golden Ring
08. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
09. Layla
10. Can’t Find My Way Home (Nathan East – vocals)
11. Tears In Heaven
12. Tell The Truth
13. Old Love
14. Crossroads
15. Little Queen Of Spades
16. Cocaine
17. Before You Accuse Me
With a seating capacity just shy of 2,500, Mershon Auditorium is about a tenth the size of the arenas Eric will play on the rest of the tour. Major stops like Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, Boston’s TD Garden, and New York’s Madison Square Garden each hold around 20,000 for concerts, dwarfing Mershon in scale. For those lucky enough to attend, the intimate setting felt like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience Eric’s music up close—more like witnessing a private rehearsal than attending a full-scale arena concert.
Eric was joined on stage by his longtime band: Nathan East (bass/vocals), Doyle Bramhall II (guitar/vocals), Sonny Emory (drums), Chris Stainton (keyboards), Tim Carmon (Hammond organ/keyboards), and backing vocalists Sharon White and Katie Kissoon. There was no support act at this special performance.
The tour continues on September 8, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wallflowers will appear as special guests in Nashville and all subsequent cities. Ticketmaster is the official ticket partner for all dates except Cleveland, where the partner is SeatGeek.
Eric Clapton – 2025 U.S. Tour Dates
Monday, September 8 – Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Thursday, September 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
Saturday, September 13 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Tuesday, September 16 – TD Garden, Boston, MA
Friday, September 19 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Saturday, September 20 – Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
About Crossroads Centre Antigua
Founded in 1998, the Crossroads Centre Antigua was created to provide treatment and education to chemically and alcohol dependent persons, their families and their significant others. Treatment is provided through residential care, family and aftercare programs. The pathway to recovery is founded on the 12 steps and a change in lifestyle. The Crossroads Centre Antigua also operates a halfway house in Antigua called Bevon House and facilitates various ongoing recovery initiatives on the island of Antigua and in the Caribbean. For more information visit crossroadsantigua.org