News
Royal Albert Hall Roundup: Nights 3, 4 & 5
21 May 15
Eric Clapton has been playing a blinder this season at the Royal Albert Hall during his seven-show 70th Birthday Concert Celebration at the London venue. He’s been chatting and cracking jokes to the audience even keeping them up-to-date with scores from the Hawthorns during the West Bromwich Albion match against Chelsea on Monday evening (Baggies won 3-0, much to Eric’s delight). That same evening, he shouted out “B.B. King, B.B. King, B.B. King” during an emotional version of Little Queen of Spades.
Eric has made some slight adjustments to the set list over the course of the run. He has been hitting the strings so hard, he has snapped a top E string at more than half the concerts so far, which is quite unusual.
Stand out numbers according to concert-goers have been I Shot The Sheriff (particularly Monday, 18 May), Pretending, Let It Rain Little Queen of Spades. Each night, Andy Fairweather Low has stepped out to join Eric and the band for the encore, High Time We Went.
There has even been quite a bit of crowd participation as the stage is readied for the acoustic set with the audience singing “Happy Birthday” or chanting “Happy Birthday Eric” at each show.
The concert on Wednesday, 20 May was filmed and recorded. Keep your eye on whereseric.com in the coming months for news about a potential DVD/Blu-Ray/Audio release.
Eric’s 70th Birthday Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall continue tonight (21 May) and wrap Saturday, 23 May. Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders open.
REVIEWS AND PHOTOS STILL NEEDED FROM ALL SHOWS! If you were lucky enough to be at one of these special concerts, send your review and / or photos (original, uncropped photo files please) to info@whereseric.com. Check out what fans have said so far about the shows. All reviews sent in so far have been published in the 2015 Tour Archive for each performance date. The WE! Team is already hard at work on a 70th Birthday Concert Photo Gallery and will be presenting that soon.
2015 BAND LINEUP
Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
Chris Stainton – piano, keyboards
Paul Carrack – organ, keyboards, vocals
Nathan East – bass
Steve Gadd – drums
Michelle John – backing vocals
Sharon White – backing vocals
SET LIST – 17 MAY 2015 (NIGHT 3)
01. SOMEBODY KNOCKING
02. KEY TO THE HIGHWAY
03. PRETENDING
04. HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN
05. TELL THE TRUTH
06. YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL – Paul Carrack (vocals)
07. CAN’T FIND MY WAY HOME – Nathan East (vocals)
08. DRIFTIN
09. NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT
10. TEARS IN HEAVEN
11. LAYLA
12. BEFORE YOU ACCUSE ME
13. LET IT RAIN
14. WONDERFUL TONIGHT
15. CROSSROADS
16. LITTLE QUEEN OF SPADES
17. COCAINE
18. HIGH TIME WE WENT (ENCORE) – Paul Carrack (vocals), with guest Andy Fairweather Low
SET LIST – 18 MAY 2015 (NIGHT 4)
01. SOMEBODY KNOCKING
02. KEY TO THE HIGHWAY
03. PRETENDING
04. HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN
05. YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL – Paul Carrack (vocals)
06. CAN’T FIND MY WAY HOME – Nathan East (vocals)
07. I SHOT THE SHERIFF
08. DRIFTIN
09. NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT
10. TEARS IN HEAVEN
11. LAYLA
12. LET IT RAIN
13. WONDERFUL TONIGHT
14. CROSSROADS
15. LITTLE QUEEN OF SPADES
16. COCAINE
17. HIGH TIME WE WENT (ENCORE) – Paul Carrack (vocals), with guest Andy Fairweather Low
SET LIST – 20 MAY 2015 (NIGHT 5)
01. SOMEBODY KNOCKING
02. KEY TO THE HIGHWAY
03. TELL THE TRUTH
04. HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN
05. YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL – Paul Carrack (vocals)
06. CAN’T FIND MY WAY HOME – Nathan East (vocals)
07. I SHOT THE SHERIFF
08. DRIFTIN
09. NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT
10. TEARS IN HEAVEN
11. LAYLA
12. LET IT RAIN
13. WONDERFUL TONIGHT
14. CROSSROADS
15. LITTLE QUEEN OF SPADES
16. COCAINE
17. HIGH TIME WE WENT (ENCORE) – Paul Carrack (vocals), with guest Andy Fairweather Low
Find daily facts about Eric Clapton’s career with EC Rewind // On This Day. Click the red circle with white arrow at upper right on any page of whereseric.com