Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by Jii Aoi

Naturally enough, there was an air of worry among the fans before the show on the third night. Some were even prepared for a possible cancellation. Others expected something special might come after a dissappointment. I was the latter–and I wasn’t wrong this time.

What we got tonight was a fabulous, fabulous, FABULOUS performance. Osaka is a place where Eric almost always, if not always, plays a great show everytime he visits to tour Japan. This was his thirty-first show in Osaka (counting five George Harison concerts) and another welcome addition to the great series of his concerts in this city over twenty-seven years. I saw all but one of his Osaka shows since his first Japanese visit in 1974, which means that this was my thirtieth Osaka show. What was more, this was to be my fiftieth Eric show in all–hurray! I was totally delighted with the fact that this commemorative day was honoured with such an incredible performance. I felt as if it was a invaluable present from Eric, a reward for my almost thirty years’ loyalty to him.

It was something of a slow starter. The accoustic set was a good to excellent performance, not necessarily of the out-of-this-world quality, but Eric looked enjoying the playing, nerves gone away, and the relaxed atomosphere on the stage gave me an enough ease to make me feel this would be a good show.

The Pilgrim mini-set started from "River of Tears", which further made for an impression of slow starting tonight. For the first time in this world tour, "My Father’s Eyes" was ommited from the set. A pity but no big problem.

While Sancious was playing a sax-sounding solo on keyboard during "Badge", Eric exchanged the new multicoloured Strat that he had used through the first two nights for that one we had seen on photos from abroad–the first ever appearance of the original multicoloured Strat in Japan. He kept playing it to "Sunshine", the first encore number tonight.

Todays’ blues choice was "Five Long Years". On soloing, Eric was literally possesed. He gave everything and then some, throwing the floor into one hell of a fire. Unquestionably this was the single greatest moment of the three Osaka shows. Everybody talked what a shivers-down-the-spine performance it was afterwards.

From then on, Eric was on top form until the very end of the show. It finished as a two-hour set of nineteen songs, one of those miraculous nights. Hearing him playing a solo towards the end of "Sunshine", which seemed to last forever, I felt I was watching another of Eric’s Osakan legend created right in front of my eyes.