I have no idea if guitar legend Eric Clapton reads C-Notes, but I was definitely surprised to hear Clapton deliver a version of “Layla” that was appropriately plugged in at his first Blossom Music Center appearance in 18 years. Clapton rolled out a set last night that was short on conversation, peppered with the occasional crowd-pleasing hit, and heavy on the blues. And for nearly two hours, the packed Blossom audience ate up every lick of it on a night that weather-wise, was uncharacteristically perfect. Clapton strolled out wearing jeans and a white shirt, and wasted no time getting to the blues, opening with the first of many standards: a rollicking rendition of the Blind Willie Johnson (and longtime Clapton staple) number “Motherless Children.” Sideman Doyle Bramhall II and Clapton traded lead vocals and lots of slide guitar. “Key to the Highway” and “Hoochie Coochie Man” followed, before the set list took a welcome left turn with the Hendrix classic “Little Wing.” Aside from Bramhall, Clapton’s band has undergone a bit of an overhaul since I saw him last summer in Chicago at the Crossroads Guitar Festival. New faces include Pino Palladino (who’s played with Jeff Beck, the Who, and Simon and Garfunkel), keyboardist Chris Stainton (another longtime Clapton collaborator), and drummer Ian Thomas, who backed Clapton at his recent Madison Square Garden shows with Steve Winwood. Unfortunately, guitarist Derek Trucks, who’s given much energy and 1970s-style rock power back to Clapton’s live show, is not on the current tour …
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2008.
Was Clapton good? I think so, but I couldn’t tell you really, because I spent the whole time thinking about how horrible the traffic was going to be on the way out. Yes, I’m basically 74 years old. But still: After however many years Blossom’s been around, they can’t figure out a way to get people in and out? We left Cleveland at 6 and still hit monster traffic, barely getting inside for the 7:30 opener. Another friend left Cleveland at 7 and missed more than half of Clapton’s set. It’s so bad that our parking pass instructed us to get there at 5 p.m. — a full FOUR HOURS before the headliner was to take the stage. And that’s with people getting there at different times. On the way out, everyone’s going at the same time, which is why it takes at least an hour to get to the freeway — and why I bailed before he even got to Layla.
Actually, Clapton got the nickname “Slowhand” not because of his fingering but because he used to replace broken strings on stage and could do it with uncanny ease.
Clapton was fine. Yes, fine. I could not agree more that Blossom needs to jump into 2008. After schleping out to sit in traffic is absurd and costly at $4 a gallon. $8 beers and lack of credit card machines is just bad business.
Seems this writer didn’t do any homework before attending the concert. Things like the setlist, no Derek Trucks, etc are old news to most Clapton fans (you don’t usually pay out over $120 for a seat and have no idea what you’re about to see). check any blog, any review, or Derek Trucks schedule before writing! The venue, while a nice building, really needs to get their act together. We arrived at the park at about 4:45 only to have a girl that was running around like a chicken with her head cut off and ALONE tell us that we had to turn around and get in the right lane for park pass holders even though we asked about the general parking (which the other 2 lanes are marked for). She seemed unsure in her instructions and of course, we drove back around, got in the single file line that was now stretching almost to the park entry, and saw about 500 cars wiz by in the other 2 lanes….so we again tried those lanes and finally got to park….is this the first time Blossom staff has had a crowd bigger than 1000 people??? We heard the nightmares from locals about after-show traffic while waiting at the gate, so we left as the encore was being played and jumped in the car and got out just in time to not wait for hours in traffic.