Venue: Osaka-Jo Hall
City: Osaka
Country: Japan
Eric Clapton – guitar / vocals
Doyle Bramhall II – guitar / vocals
Derek Trucks – guitar
Chris Stainton – keyboards
Tim Carmon – keyboards
Willie Weeks – bass
Steve Jordan – drums
Michelle John – backing vocals
Sharon White – backing vocals
None
01. Pretending
02. Got To Get Better In A Little While
03. Old Love
04. Tell the Truth
05. Anyday
06. Motherless Children
07. Driftin’
08. Key to The Highway
09. Outside Woman Blues (with rhythm section today)
10. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
11. Running On Faith
12. After Midnight
13. Little Queen Of Spades
14. Further On Up The Road
15. Wonderful Tonight
16. Layla
17. Cocaine
18. Crossroads (encore)
Review by Jii Aoi
And…it happened eventually — Osaka third night saw Eric and the band in full flight.
I Shot The Sheriff was dropped, a sign of something to come. On previous nights, Tell The Truth was segued into Motherless Children. Tonight they finished the song as it was. With counts, Anyday exploded in full blast to the delight of those in the know among the audience. A fabulous moment!
The sit-down set started with Eric’s solo performance of Driftin’ Blues, reminiscent of Rambling On My Mind from the 1999 Pilgrim Japanese tour, which made for an intimate atmosphere about there. San Francisco Bay Blues was gone with the kazoo. Outside Woman Blues was now joined by Willie and Steve, supplying a skipping feel to the performance.
The guitarists were on top form, all three of them. What a feast of solo after solo! Every solo was inspired, and a highlight tonight.
Now I can observe with due confidence that, favorable as the shows were, the band was still in the embryonic stage at the RAH back in May. The emotion, the intensity, the inspiration, everything, just EVERYTHING was way above higher here in Osaka, and tonight had them all in full display.
The audience was great, too — there was a warm, cheerful vibe felt throughout the show. Before Wonderful Tonight, someone shouted, "Welcome back to Japan," to which Eric replied, "Thank you," startling the crowd buzzing with delight.
This will be remembered as not only one of the best shows of the tour but also one of the greatest concerts EC has ever played in Osaka — or in Japan for that matter.