Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by ANDRE SALLES

This time it was a standing gig in Rio, it was scheduled for 20:30 hs and all I had to do was to arrive there soon to get a good place at the venue – and that`s what I did of course.

This time there were popular prices, not US$ 100,00 like the Sao Paulo concert but just US$18,00 , and one must admit that paying US$ 18,00 to watch God live in person from the very first row is definitely a good deal.

I was just in front of EC`s microphone – I guess I had the best place in the venue – Praca da Apoteose, the same one of the 90 concert. It has been an absolutely unique experience in my 33 years of life, it was my third time watching Clapton but the first one so close to him.

The concert again started with Reptile and went on following the same set of the previous Sao Paulo gig, except that this time Clapton changed the "slow blues" song, now we had "Have you ever loved a woman" instead of "Stormy Monday". At Reptile Clapton and Phillinganes were laughing a lot, but I couldn`t get the reason. Before the second song Clapton close his eyes and took a deep breathe of air, he seemed extremely tired and I was afraid he could indeed not be feeling very well, Rio is a hot city and it`s dificult for Europeans to support high temperatures. Anyway, there was a nice wind, it was not so hot and everything went on perfectly then;

As songs have followed each other, I realized why Clapton had to take such a breathe of air, it`s amazing to realize the way he gives himself to the music ! Every song he played seemed like it was the first time in his life he was playing that, deep heart feeling, eyes wide shut and taking the guitar to its limit – I remembered many times the "Bobfest" performance;

River of Tears and Layla – but specially the first one -were the highlights of the night, sound was very good and it touched us deep inside. At the end of the Concert, people were hugging each other as if a war had ended or something like that, what a good feeling in our hearts.
16 October 2001 – Estacionamiento Poliedro, Caracas, Venezuela
Review byGuillermo Cuellar

Eric Clapton and his band were impeccably smooth and impressive in Caracas on October 16. The Poliedro was packed. It was a mellow, mature crowd, willing to pay the Bolivares 40,000 for general admission ($50+) and Bs. 120,000 (approx. $160) for reserved seats. They started on time and just played, played, played…popular numbers, blues, some Cream and, of course, Layla, which was the crowd pleaser finale.

Eric was dressed in a guayavera, dark pants and sneakers. He was low key, saying, "Thank you and gracias," but nothing else. He just played nonstop for about 2 hours. Didn’t need to speak, didn’t need to impress anyone. His music did it all. Looking at the set list from Sao Paulo, I think it was pretty close if not the same songs.

I just imagine that all his concerts are of the same quality. Great musicians, great musicianship. I’ve been humming tunes ever since. It was fantastic!