Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by Tsuzuki Hiroyuki 
I have been feeling during this tour that the leader of the band was Steve Winwood, not Eric. Eric has only performed on the same part of the song that couldn’t develop into ad-libbed playing. I think the rule has been made between them : Seteve should play this and Eric should play that. The total time of the show was 2 hours and 5 or 10 minutes on every nights without exception. It proves that an extra playing was prohibited. The show itself was warm and friendly, but it lacked sharpness for me. I often heard people saying, “ Many songs are strange to me “ “ Eric hasn’t played Layla “. Not knowing Winwood’s songs,some audience could’t get satisfied with the show. Though it was Saturday and the last gig in Japan, Budokan wasn’t full of people. The upper sides were half empty. In conclusion, the guest musician has a bad influence on Eric. He gets too relaxed and loses an aggressive playing. I hope the next Japan tour will be his solo concert.

Review by Nadja Teichert
The last concert was again a marvelous gig, as good as the other 4 in Tokyo. The show was dedicated to Dickie Simms. EC thanked the crowd for coming and also for coming repeatedly to the shows. EC and SW make it almost impossibly difficult to chose any highlights as the whole concert was again an exceptional affair. Among the outstanding songs were: After Midnight; Presence of the Lord with a sensational wah-wah; Crossroads; Driftin’ with fantastic guitar work from Eric; Gimmie Some Lovin’; Voodoo Chile; Dear Mr Fantasy and Cocaine with an oustanding Chris solo! Voodoo Chile was THE song of the evening. When EC started the intro it was clear that it would be outstanding, full throttle and and explosion of guitar and hammond.

Review by Hiroshi M
So the final night arrived. Another farewell from Eric to his adoring Japanese fans who have supported him for more than four decades.

I attended five shows in all — both Osaka shows, Kanazawa, Nagoya and this last show in Japan. All were excellent, and there were no off-nights. The unevenness I would invariably recognize on EC’s solo performance was not there, most probably because this is a collaborative effort of the two artists who compliment each other.

The solo on Driftin’ delivered on the previous Wednesday 7th Budokan show was the talk of the town. Everyone who saw and heard it all talks about it in awe, in jaw-dropping expression. Sounds like it had an almost avant-garde feel to it, the ultimate Clapton. In many people’s opinion, tonight’s version wasn’t up to it, but close. A showcase piece of masterful dexterity that was.

The introduction of the guitar and vocal in unison to Voodoo Chile was aggressive to say the least, a sign of the things to come — tonight the guitar and Hammond crash was the most violent of the five times I witnessed, and probably so of all of the shows that happened here, EC & SW’s last stand in Japan.

Like most of the other shows in Japan after the fourth night, Dear Mr. Fantasy and another slower-paced Cocaine capped the show, EC’s 199th concert in Japan, of his nineteenth tour over here. Let’s not forget a due respect to Steve.