News

Eric Clapton At Vector Arena, Auckland

4 Mar 09

After 11 dates in Japan – of which two were with co-headliner Jeff Beck – Eric Clapton & His Band have traveled "down under" for a series of dates.

The only concert in New Zealand during Clapton’s "Winter" jaunt took place 4 March, in the balmy late summer weather of Auckland, New Zealand. The venue was the Vector Arena. Support was the Danny McCrum Band.

The set list in Auckland was identical to that performed on the final Japan dates. As always, it included the immensely popular "Wonderful Tonight" and some songs new to Eric’s live repertoire like, "Travelin’ Alone" and "That’s Alright."

One fan in attendance reported that, The highlights were "Hoochie Coochie" and "I Shot the Sheriff" with decent, if short, solos by Eric along with the only extended number, "Queen of Spades." All other numbers were the standard studio version length.

Another fan emailed Where’s Eric! and said, EC ripped through a no- nonsense event. Superb playing by the whole team, but EC was on fire on a couple of numbers especially, "I Shot the Sherriff" and "Hoochie Coochie Man". I took my 15 year old son (his first concert) and he was absolutely blown away.

Matt Greenop, The New Zealand Herald’s entertainment reporter wrote in his review that, The first real stormer was Hoochie Coochie Man, giving his dream-team band a chance to flex and giving a first taste of Doyle Bramhall’s more-than-capable guitar work. Next up, monster hit number one, I Shot the Sheriff, which showed how easily Clapton can build and turn a crowd, twisting the song from a mere whisper and back up as only a well-seasoned frontman can do.

Eric’s band for these dates features Doyle Bramhall II (guitars / vocals), Chris Stainton (keyboards), Willie Weeks (bass), Abe Laboriel Jr. (drums), Sharon White (backing vocals) and Michelle John (backing vocals).

Eric Clapton last performed in New Zealand in 2007. They now head off to Australia for three concerts. The tour wraps on 10 March in Melbourne.

Set List:

01. Tell The Truth
02. Key To The Highway
03. Hoochie Coochie Man
04. I Shot The Sheriff
05. Here But I’m Gone
06. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
07. Driftin’ (EC Solo Blues)
08. Travelin’ Alone
09. That’s Alright
10. Motherless Child
11. Running On Faith
12. Motherless Children
13. Little Queen of Spades
14. Before You Accuse Me
15. Wonderful Tonight
16. Layla
17. Cocaine

Encore:
18. Crossroads