Eric Clapton

Deplasterer

Sinfonia wrote: »

I also really disliked Crossroads, I thought it was too laid back, and lost all of the energy of the Cream version (not saying there's no room for reinterpretations, I just thought it was bland, by-the-numbers electric blues).

A better version of Crossroads?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgMoOAn9A8E

PWR

my 6th or 7th EC gig, first saw him in National Stadium in 1978 (I was 14), last night was superb. No rhythm guitar/sideman, so he had to be upfront for the whole set. His musicality (dynamics, knowing when NOT to play a note), understanding of pacing, as a pure creative talent is wonderful. When he hits the perfect emotional high in the solo's (like in Old Love and Queen of Spades), it can be sublime. I was blown away. Electric blues is not a complex form, but well played it can be absolutely the most wrenching musical experience (for me anyway ). Hard to know is he better acoustic or electric, just a total musician (when on form, which is a risk with him, Malahide 2 years ago was very poor).

I brought my 13 year old son, who is a big music fan, he has now already had one of the musical highlights of his life!

geetar

Sinfonia wrote: »

To be honest, I was pretty disappointed, it felt to me like Clapton and the band were going through the motions for the most part, and while his guitar playing (and singing) were good, I was more impressed the last time I saw him. I also really disliked Crossroads, I thought it was too laid back, and lost all of the energy of the Cream version (not saying there's no room for reinterpretations, I just thought it was bland, by-the-numbers electric blues). The acoustic set was probably the saving grace of the show imo.

Having said all that, does anybody know the names of the keyboard and organ players?

Yeah, felt a bit like "Done. Cash cheque, next gig."

thats the way clapton plays crossroads now. he doesnt play it the older way, because well...i guess he plsayed it that way a thousand times.

clapton is notoriously stage shy, doesnt really chat up the crowd, but i dont care about that at all. he was phenominal. i saw him in malahide 2 years ago. it left a bitter taste in my mouth because it was lashing rain, and tha PA system kept cutting out.

this was justice. best ive seen him perform, outstanding. he had a great setlist, gave a solid 2 hour performance with non-stop hits. great acoustic playing, fantastic solo's and a brilliant atomosphere. anyone who says otherwise wasnt at the same concert :pac:

Omega28

geetar wrote: »

thats the way clapton plays crossroads now. he doesnt play it the older way, because well...i guess he plsayed it that way a thousand times.

clapton is notoriously stage shy, doesnt really chat up the crowd, but i dont care about that at all. he was phenominal. i saw him in malahide 2 years ago. it left a bitter taste in my mouth because it was lashing rain, and tha PA system kept cutting out.

this was justice. best ive seen him perform, outstanding. he had a great setlist, gave a solid 2 hour performance with non-stop hits. great acoustic playing, fantastic solo's and a brilliant atomosphere. anyone who says otherwise wasnt at the same concert :pac:

I was at Malahide myself and I felt the bad weather was the contributing factor.

U obviously didn't seem him last yr in the O2 cause if u did u would see last nights performace wasn't half as good.

geetar

Dylanmc111 wrote: »

I was at Malahide myself and I felt the bad weather was the contributing factor.

U obviously didn't seem him last yr in the O2 cause if u did u would see last nights performace wasn't half as good.

yeah the weather was awful.

really, wow i would have loved to have been there then! i still really enjoyed last night, and if he can do better then that... then ill be going to his next one!

christeb

just didn't feel he was "there" at all. You could have been sat in any large American arena and been at the exact same gig. It doesn't take much to say "Hello Dublin" and give a couple of anecdotes. We just want to feel loved !

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was good, but not great. I loved Badge in particular. It was nothing like, say, an L. Cohen musical experience. Clapton is a different beast though, I get that.

Free VIP tickets helped a lot too

beglee

Dylanmc111 wrote: »

Next, the crowd, the most boring crowd I'v ever withnessed in my life

There was a guy sitting a few seats down from us, who was reprimanded by the O2 staff 3 times for being too loud and boisterous!

...his biggest crime was shouting "Eric" 4 or 5 times in between songs.

WTF like? He was enjoying the show, he wasn't standing up in anyones way, he wasnt being drunk and disorderly, he wasnt disrupting anybody's enjoyment of the show at all, and there were plenty of people around me shouting louder than him but just saying "WOOOO" not "ERIC", but the staff picked on this guy. Didnt make any sense to me at all

Enjoyed the gig, even though I'm not a big fan (as in i've never really listened to his music a lot. not that i dislike him), but you just have to appreciate the way he plays

PWR

whats with the free VIP tickets, how did that happen (so I know how to act the next time!)

Red Alert

I thought it was an excellent gig, brilliant set list. I really enjoyed Andy Fairweather Low as the support, though it would've been great if he was in Eric's lineup too. Having only one guitar did mean that the electric Layla was out of the question, but it was nice hearing the unplugged version live.

Omega28

so... Belfast tonight anyone?!:D

I thought the crowd were dead and yes I feel he should of made comment about something got to do with Ireland like Andy did.

I thought Andy would of been in Eric's line up as well, pity.

Good show but not great.

Looking at amount of ppl there last night do u reckon he'll be back or is that it for him? I'd say he might return in 2/3 yrs but for a smaller venue

Omega28

christeb wrote: »

just didn't feel he was "there" at all. You could have been sat in any large American arena and been at the exact same gig. It doesn't take much to say "Hello Dublin" and give a couple of anecdotes. We just want to feel loved !

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was good, but not great. I loved Badge in particular. It was nothing like, say, an L. Cohen musical experience. Clapton is a different beast though, I get that.

Free VIP tickets helped a lot too

Leonard is a 3 hr marathon, now that man knows how put on a show!

musicmania

Dylanmc111 wrote: »

Leonard is a 3 hr marathon, now that man knows how put on a show!

You speak my language Try 3 hour 50 minutes of a marathon at the tour finale in December, ah the memories........

Anyway as much as I'd like to and could talk about Leonard back to last night. Musically I thought he was absolutely amazing and I loved the acoustic version of Layla. I had known in advance there wouldn't be much crowd interaction so I didn't mind that and in fairness who wants to hear the boring "I love you Dublin" cliche crap anyway though I would have liked if he introduced the band. I thought the ending was somewhat of an anti-climax. One song of an encore and then run off the stage However i went to see him for his sublime guitar playing and that was top notch and exactly what I what I was hoping for in that accord!

Omega28

musicmania wrote: »

You speak my language Try 3 hour 50 minutes of a marathon at the tour finale in December, ah the memories........

Anyway as much as I'd like to and could talk about Leonard back to last night. Musically I thought he was absolutely amazing and I loved the acoustic version of Layla. I had known in advance there wouldn't be much crowd interaction so I didn't mind that and in fairness who wants to hear the boring "I love you Dublin" cliche crap anyway though I would have liked if he introduced the band. I thought the ending was somewhat of an anti-climax. One song of an encore and then run off the stage However i went to see him for his sublime guitar playing and that was top notch and exactly what I what I was hoping for in that accord!

Where u at Sligo too sir?:)

Yeah as I said last time he came back out, introduced the band, they all took a bow. Very rushed last night, a bit of a get in and out job, bit disappointing.

musicmania

Dylanmc111 wrote: »

Where u at Sligo too sir?:)

Yeah as I said last time he came back out, introduced the band, they all took a bow. Very rushed last night, a bit of a get in and out job, bit disappointing.

Of course!!! Leonard in Lissadell is my all time favourite concert!! BTW I'm not a "sir"

Yeah the ending was rushed. Maybe he was heading to Belfast last night as he is playing there tonight.

poundhound

I'd a passing interest in seeing Clapton, I'd never seen him before but wasn't willing to pay €80 for the privilege. However when a friend couldn't go and gave me 2 tickets free, I snapped them up.
Being totally open minded, I have to say I really enjoyed it. Sound quality and the musicianship was first class.
Some people on this site seem to be disappointed because he wasn't what they expected or hoped he'd be. I really enjoyed it as I had no pre notion of the show other than the desire to be entertained and I was.

On the issue of the lack of passion from the crowd, Andy fair-weather lows set was very very laid back and although enjoyable, was hardly going to get the crowd going before Claptons arrival.

TheoBoone

Saw Clapton at Malahide Castle. It was one of the worst gigs I've ever been to, BUT I'm not going to blame Clapton entirely for that. The weather was F**king terrible and the sound blew out in the middle of Layla. Also, I love blues and all, and I'm fully aware that Clapton is, at the back of it all, a blues guitarist, but he kinda took the p*ss with the amount of slow and dreary blues songs he played. He only played about five of his classic hits throughout the whole show.
Overall, it was a really depressing atmosphere to see him(or anyone) perform in, but he didn't even try to make it better for the crowd. He might as will have been standing out in the rain with us!

Randy Shafter

Was at the gig myself and I thought it was fantastic! I've never seen Clapton live before. Andy Fairweather and the low riders were just as good! In case you didn't see him, Seasick Steve was in the audience! He was 3 rows ahead of me. All in all, a great gig, laid back and very enjoyable IMO.

musicmania

My review of the concert

http://www.drop-d.ie/eric-clapton-the-o2/16213

The video of Layla at the bottom of the review I made with a recording of the song from the night and the photos I took on the night.

Omega28

musicmania wrote: »

My review of the concert

http://www.drop-d.ie/eric-clapton-the-o2/16213

The video of Layla at the bottom of the review I made with a recording of the song from the night and the photos I took on the night.

nice video:)