News
Clapton Concert Details: Frankfurt 8 April 2004
9 Apr 04
On 8 April 2004, Eric Clapton performed at the Festhalle in Frankfurt Germany. The complete set list was:
- Let It Rain
- Hoochie Coochie Man
- Bell Bottom Blues
- I Shot The Sheriff
- Milkcow’s Calf Blues
- When You Got A Good Friend
- They’re Red Hot
- Kind Hearted Woman
- Got To Get Better In A Little While
- I Wanna Little Girl
- Change The World
- Have You Ever Loved A Woman
- Badge
- Wonderful Tonight
- Layla
- Cocaine
- Sunshine Of Your Love (encore with Robert Randolph)
- I Got My Mojo Workin’ (encore with Robert Randolph)
Ekkehard Mueller (of ectours.de), sent this review to Where’s Eric!:
When having attended my last Eric Clapton concert during his world tour in 2001, I thought that this has been the best performance I had ever seen since 1992. Now I know that I was wrong! The concert on 8th April 2004 at the Festhalle in Frankfurt exceeded all my expectations. It was a show of the superlative, performed with an enormous power and intensity. Of course, due to the knowledge from the recent concerts of the European tour, the set list was no surprise, but the performance was outstanding. Eric and his first-class band were in top form. Eric performed numerous solos, always allowing the opportunity for the band members to cramp their style. Especially I shot the sheriff, Kind hearted woman blues, Got to get better in a little while, and Have you ever loved a woman highlighted with incredible solos, showing Eric still being God of the guitar!
The opening act was the first highlight of the show. Robert Randolph & the Family Band started on time at 8:00 PM performing six tracks for about 35′. They played high tempo songs, including an incredible version of Jimi Hendrix’ Voodoo chile. The instrumental opening song was fantastic, as well. Their performance culminated in Nobody with outstanding solos and the – quasi soprano – singing of the bassist, Danyel Morgan. He bewitched the whole audience with his funky bass and his substantial voice. The sound was extremely good throughout the entire performance, which is absolutely unusual for an opening act. Robert Randolph is playing his 13-string pedal steel guitar with great passion, one time laughing cordially, the other time lost in mediation during his solos. Although Robert Randolph received rousing applause – some people even demanded for a "Zugabe" ("we want more"), the audience didn’t seem to be ripe for such a passionate musician. I’ve been absolutely amazed. Robert, you won a new fan!
After a little pause, when the equipment was arranged, Eric and his band appeared on stage at about 9:00 PM, accompanied by the frenetic applause of more than 12.000 people. They started with Let it rain, and Hoochie coochie man. During these songs, Eric seemed to warm up for an amazing concert. The audience appreciated still restrainedly, when Eric intoned Bell bottom blues. It’s great to hear more than one "Derek & the Dominos" tracks in the set list. Walk out in the rain followed. Well, a surprise to most of the audience. While "Bell bottom blues" had been my favorite song during the 2001 tour, it was overwhelmed by I shot the sheriff, performed powerfully with never ending solos. That was just about the limit! The whole song seemed to consist of a single solo. Incredible! The audience got on fire!
Having perfectly warmed up the audience, Eric announced playing some of the Robert Johnson songs. He started with Milkcow’s calf blues, a great number with some solo parts, followed by When you got a good friend, again with Eric’s solos filling the audience with enthusiasm. The "Red Hot Tamales" (aka They’re red hot) immersed the stage into fiery red light, and inspired the audience with its funky rhythm. Kind hearted woman blues was overwhelming, performed in triple length, including some incredible guitar solos, as well as solos by Chris Stainton on piano, and by Billy Preston on organ. The Robert Johnson songs were performed with much more passion than on the album "Me and Mr. Johnson", with Eric playing the blues par excellence.
Got to get better in a little while was the next one. Whow!! Eric fought a duel with Doyle Bramhall II who definitely added a surplus value to the band. The following I wanna little girl was a good tune to cool down the feelings. Eric started a superb version of Change the world on the acoustic guitar, performing an excellent solo, and then changed to electric again during this number. The band excelled itself on Have you ever loved a woman. Again, numerous solos on guitar, piano, and organ.
Without hesitation, Eric started the "classical section" with Badge, including some fascinating guitar duets between Eric and Doyle. This was a wonderful version with powerful vocals. The audience calmed down on Wonderful tonight, with the obligatory lightning of sparklers. The finale of the show was announced by the classical intro of Layla. There have been much better versions in the past, as the otherwise perfect sound management suddenly started to overdrive, resulting in persistent earaches. Due to the "noise" it was impossible to enjoy the guitar solos, which seemed to be performed by Doyle Bramhall II, but the song was saved due to the excellent piano and organ solos performed by Chris Stainton and Billy Preston. When hearing "Layla", I was afraid that "Cocaine" was left out, but Eric immediately continued with a powerful Cocaine, unfortunately with overdriving sounds again. Nonetheless, a great version.
Accompanied by a roaring applause, the band left the stage for the encore, and Robert Randolph’s equipment was installed by the engineers. Eric and his band appeared again to the delight of the audience. Eric started the tunes of "Willie and the hand jive" while introducing the band members. He even introduced himself: "… on guitar, your’s truly!" The first encore was the evergreen from Cream’s era, Sunshine of your love. In the middle of this song, Robert Randolph entered the stage and joined in, performing excellent solos on his steel guitar in a "battle" with Eric. The second encore, Got my mojo working, was absolutely powerful, loud, muddy, or whatever you imagine… It was a worthy completion of a wonderful tonight.
It was an outstanding concert with an excellent band seeming to enjoy making wonderful music. Eric was delighting with his glorious guitar playing, presenting us unforgettable moments of his genius. If you have the chance to attend one of the concerts of this tour, don’t miss it. I have enjoyed it so much that I decided spontaneously to attend another show. See you again in Copenhagen.