Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

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Review by Ted Pewitt
This was the 16th time I’ve seen Eric Clapton. Tonight’s performance was superb. Eric is in absolute top form. At a stage of his career where he could easily just show up and go through the motions, he is showing a deep intensity and love for his craft. Throughout the show, he appeared to be so locked in and focused it was as if the crowd wasn’t even there. Clapton wasn’t the only legend on the stage….Willie Weeks, Steve Gadd, Chris Stainton, Walt Richmond….a perfect band. This was the best of the best. I could not have enjoyed this show more. The set list was exactly as the night before in Nashville.

Review by Bill Neighbours
My wife and I saw Eric at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama on February 28, 2010. I saw Eric in Cream, Blind Faith and several solo tours. The show at BJCC was the best I have ever seen him play! I saw Eric in Grand Rapids, MI several years ago with Trucks and Bramhall. It was a good show but Eric was sick. He postponed his show in Detroit the next night. Eric is most effective when he is the only guitar player. His tone was magnificent and I sat by the visual screen where I saw the best guitar lesson in my life. He never made any mistakes, his fingers did not slip and his voice was in top form. His song selection was perfect and I read above where someone’s wife walked out because of the accoustic Layla – give me a break! My wife had a panic attack because she thought that she had left the iron on and was afraid the house was going to burn down. What did we do? We stayed! We have insurance. Eric, if you are reading this it was the best that I have seen you perform – you are the Master! Please come back to Birmingham and don’t hire any other guitar players – you don’t need them.

Roger Daltrey was incredible-great band and a great performer. Please come back to Birmingham as well.

Review by David K.
This was the first time my wife and I went to a see Clapton in almost 10 years (having young kids will do that). We thoroughly enjoyed the performance. For me, EC was strongest on the blues, like Little Queen of Spades. She likes his hits better so Rock N Roll Heart, Badge and Wonderful Tonight were her favorites. We both thought the band were excellent. My wife was bummed that Eric did the unplugged Layla. I reminded her that in the early 2000s when we last saw Eric that one of his keyboard players picked up a guitar for it so it had its full intertwined guitar sound. All said, a great night with the master.

Review by Craig and Joanne Bowden
Thank you Eric. My wife and I brought our two sons with us (20 and 21) to see two legends, and we were so not disappointed. We live in Atlanta and drove over for the show and I’m so glad we did. I normally am not a fan of arenas but the BJCC arena has actually good acoustics and an incredibly hospitable staff. Kudos to them! Roger Daltrey opened and it was good to see him. The last time I saw The Who live, in person, was the farewell concert in 81. He’s grayer (aren’t we all) but he still has magic in his eyes… and a voice you love to hear belt out rock’s greatest anthems. His band was obviously filled with talent but they did not have that tight but loose groove of a group of mates who have owned the road together. Still they played the songs very well. The lead guitarist I think really studied the Woodstock recordings of Young Man Blues. Nicely done. Simon Townsend knows his brothers songs well and was the anchor for the rhythm section. Bass on The Real Me would make The Ox happy so well done guys.

Slowhand. Wow! He’s been playing guitar about as long as they’ve been plugged in and he makes it look and sound effortless. Where the band backing Roger was good but missing something, Eric’s band has been playing together a lonnngg time. They were a pleasure to listen to. Tight but my gosh what a groove. And Eric, well, he just seems to get better with time, if that’s possible. I think he has close to 400 songs he has played on that have been recorded. He picked about 15 that well represent his career at different times. And what we really enjoyed was he did something with each one of them. I don’t go to a concert to hear how a song was played on the album, I’ll throw the vinyl on the turntable for that. He gave each song life last night! Wonderful Tonight has been played by every cover band in the world!! Last night I felt like I heard it for the first time. He chose the acoustic version of Layla, and hey, you can’t go wrong with either of them. Thank you Mr Clapton and your band for giving my family an incredible memory together.

Review by Mary Singleton
Thank you Eric for coming back so soon. We surely appreciate your thinking of us. And while I’m at it, glad you have recovered so nicely from your surgery. If anyone loves Clapton, they know that the blues is his true calling. And if they don’t, they didn’t need to go. A great artist never lives in the past; they keep evolving as Clapton has shown with new mixes on old songs. I love the acoustic Layla just as much as the original, maybe more. Just to watch those beautiful hands was a treat.

Review by Gary Brown
With Eric, you never know what kind of concert you’re going to get until you see who’s in the band. His blues side isn’t my favorite so I was a bit disappointed when I heard I’d spent $100 per ticket for a blues tour. With this band made up of two keyboardists, a drummer, bass player and two back-up vocalists, you knew he’d be carrying the entire guitar load on his back. He hardly ever does this and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Frankly, his guitar play was technically outstanding as well as intense and emotional. I have to say, he was absolutely the master last night. BTW, Daltrey was a lot better than I was expecting as well. This might be better than seeing "The Who" as he promised last night will hit the road in about 10 months. The band which includes Pete Townsend’s son is outstanding.

Review by David Kornegay
This was my first time to ever see Clapton, being only nineteen, and he did not disappoint. The concert, as a whole, was incredible. Daltrey was amazing, his Johnny Cash covers were unusual and energetic. After Daltrey’s 45-55 minutes, on came the legend. Now, I’ve always admired EC as a guitarist and a songwriter, but now I know that his studio albums cannot do his abilities justice. Just to point out one part, the solo for "Old Love." Wow. He soloed for a solid three minutes, and I think I speak for everyone in that we all got shivers from that. When he swapped over to acoustic, I immediately assumed his playing was going to be much slower and bluesy. Well, I guess I was right about the bluesy part, but certainly not the slow part. With "Driftin’ Blues" I was stunned at his abilities on that acoustic. I never thought I would hear someone solo so gracefully on an acoustic. I’ve seen some people were disappointed with the acoustic "Layla." I, for one, thought it was amazing. I’d obviously prefer to hear it acoustically over not hearing it at all. To skip forward a bit, I recall him playing "Cocaine" with so much determination. I don’t think there was a single person not singing along. Of course, "Wonderful Tonight" was both played and sang beautifully. And after leaving us all wanting more, EC played "Crossroads," making me pray I won’t have to wait nineteen years to see him again. This was a perfect concert. I wouldn’t have minded hearing "Sunshine of Your Love," but I didn’t miss it. Rock on, Mr. Clapton.

Review by Paul Zutter / Madison AL
Last night I saw Eric in Birmingham, AL. This was my second time to see Eric, my first was three years ago when he toured with Bramhall and Trucks. The show was superb. I really wanted to see Eric play guitar, and that’s what did. He show us his craft. The set list was the same as the show in Nashville, minus Vince Gill. Eric lived up to his rock legend status providing a performance to remember. Ole Slow Hand kept us guessing with new and interesting intro’s to his classic hits while performing solo’s that left you in awe. We were amazed at the sounds he produced using one grey Fender Stratocaster and one acoustic guitar for the unplugged set. We were pleased Layla was in the unplugged set and left satisfied with an hour 3/4+ show. Looking forward to Eric’s next show in Alabama.

Review by Stacey Miller
This was my third Eric Clapton show and the absolute best of the three. Eric Clapton and his band were amazing. The sound was incredible, the set list was perfect. I was in awe watching him play both the acoustic and electric guitar. He has magnificent fingers and works his way up and down the neck of the guitar with such ease. I could not take my eyes off of his hands when he played the acoustic guitar. His voice was strong and clear. He was "on" and he knew it. I don’t think it made a difference that he was in front of a crowd. He was "tuned in" 100% to playing and he rocked! He played rythym and lead guitar on every song. I loved that he had no one else on stage playing rythym or lead. I was completely focused on him and amazed by his ability as a guitarist. Thank you Eric Clapton for such a fantastic performance!

Review by Mike L.
To preface, this is not my first Eric Clapton concert and I consider him to be the world’s best rock guitarist. That said, my wife and I stood and walked out during Layla. LAYLA! The reason is simple. This was not a rock concert. This was not Cream Eric, Blind Faith Eric, or Derek and the Dominos Eric. This was bluesy, slow jam Eric. The three songs prior to Layla he played sitting down with acoustic. As Layla is next on the set list, I was praying that he will get up and rock the BJCC. Nope. He just sat there on his acoustic and gave Prozac to one of the greatest rock love songs ever written. Quick survey. Who likes the slow version of Layla versus the original version?

His I Shot the Sheriff had promise until he decided to let his backup singers sing the chorus, "I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy." The pace and enunciation bordered on the comical. It lost all of it’s impact. The rest of the songs up to Layla were good but during the whole time, I really wished Roger Daltrey would come back on stage.

Daltrey destroyed that stage. Starting with I Can See for Miles and ended with a frenetic Baba O’Riley. He blew us away with some killer mic twirling moves, too.

Now it might have sounded that I don’t like Eric that much. I do. I really do. I consider Layla and Other Assorted Love songs one of the best albums of all time. It’s just that I thought I was going to get one thing and got another. I thought I might get rocking Layla but got slow jam Layla. It’s like when you expect your favorite ice cream with all the toppings and get vanilla instead. But, hey. Some people like vanilla.