Eric Clapton Live at The United Center

E.C. pictured on opening night of his current tour.

Last night I went to see my main man, the one and only Mr. Eric Patrick Clapton at the United Center here in Chicago. It was only my second time seeing him so I was quite excited! And did he ever deliver, peeling off solo after solo of magnificent beauty! It was breathtaking! Prior to the concert I attended an exclusive fan club listening party for his forthcoming album "Road To Escondido", a collaboration with singer/songwriter J.J. Cale. What follows is my review of both the listening party and the concert itself, originally written for whereseric.com and the ecaccess message board. Enjoy!!

Last night I attended the fan club listening party for "Road To Escondido" (due out on November 7th) prior to the concert at the United Center and I'm pleased to report this is one helluva album folks! Unfortunately, they were having some trouble with the sound system which wasn't really fixed until at least midway through, but we were still able to get the basic feel of the songs themselves and I was particularly enamored with the first two, "Danger" and "Heads In Georgia". "Danger" reminds me an awful lot of the kind of Cale-influenced material E.C. did in the seventies and "Heads In Georgia" approaches near psychedelic territory with it's hypnotic groove. From that point on the album features many thoroughly enjoyable songs built on Cale's trademark laidback boogie, some very tasty guitar work by E.C. and Derek Trucks, and the gospel infused organ work of the late, great Billy Preston. Highlights include a great take on "Sporting Life Blues" (which features a superb E.C. vocal and solo), "Three Little Girls" (written by Clapton for his three young daughters), the seventies style twin guitars on "Don't Cry Sister", and of course the very last track and first single "Ride The River", which finds Clapton workin' his old "Journeyman"-era chorus pedal and wah-wah combination to great effect! All in all, I think "Road To Escondido" holds up alongside Clapton's greatest work and will do quite well. His vocals and guitar work are such a natural fit with the songs of J.J. Cale you just can't help but wonder why they haven't worked together before!

By the time the listening party was over it was almost 7:30- time for Robert Cray to hit the stage. Me and my friend wanted to step outside and have a smoke or two before settling down in our seats. Once we got back in we grabbed some beer, got ready to find out seats and before we knew it Cray's set was over! It must have been really short 'cause I thought for sure we were going to be able to catch the second half. Knowing that Clapton would be bringing him back out for "Old Love" and "Crossroads" I wasn't that worried about it. By the time we finally did find our seats located in row 21 of section 2 (mainfloor, centerstage) it was almost 8:30. The lights dimmed right at 8:30 or so and this seemed to catch A LOT of people off guard. E.C. hit the stage dressed in his usual concert attire (designer shirt, baggy jeans and sneakers) to thunderous applause. He launched into "Pretending" and my heart soared! Unfortunately, a lot of people around me we're still making their way to their seats during the first couple verses which somewhat dulled the experience. By the end of the song everybody was settled and we were off and running with "I Shot The Sheriff". As anybody who saw E.C. in '04 can tell you his magnificent, elongated solos on "Sheriff" were the highlight of that tour, and he delivered once again with an absolutely jaw dropping display of nimble fingered fret work and piercing bends! The old Dominos tune "Got To Get Better In A Little While" was such a crowd pleaser last go around that he's kept it in the set for this tour and they delivered a ferocious take on it last night! During the breakdown section I saw an absolutely shit eating grin on Mr. Clapton's face. It was a priceless moment. From there we were treated to a spectacular rendition of "Old Love" during which E.C. with head back, eyes closed, and fingers way up high on the fretboard, nailed some of his sweetest guitar playing of the night. Hell, some of the sweetest guitar playing I've ever heard! I couldn't help but think to myself during his extended solos on "Sheriff" and "Old Love" how crystal clear the tone of his guitar is even in the murky audio environment of the United Center. That stinging vibrato of his cuts through all the reverb like a knife! And for the record, I quite enjoyed Tim Carmon's synth solo. After "Old Love" came impassioned takes on "Everybody Oughta Make A Change" and "Motherless Children", a song I was very much looking forward to hearing in concert.

Then came time for the semi-acoustic sitdown set. The "Unplugged" style renditions of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" and "Running On Faith" seemed to really bring the house down, and Derek Trucks delivered on all the hype surrounding him with his ever so distinctive, soaring slide work. From there we were treated to a really hard charging take on "After Midnight" (another song I was really lookin' forward to hearing last night) during which the rhythm section of Willie Weeks and Steve Jordan surely earned their money, and the extended blues workout on "Little Queen Of Spades". E.C., Derek and Doyle Bramhall all took their turns soloing, with each solo seemingly better than the last! The 70's concert staple "Futher On Up The Road" was next and before we knew it, it was time for "Wonderful Tonight", one of the greatest love songs ever written in my humble opinion. The couples in the crowd pulled each other a little closer and I'm sure many tears were shed. Then came the moment surely everybody was waiting for- the immortal opening riff to "Layla". The crowd went beserk and with a three guitar, two keyboard line up, the band was able to do justice to the original multi-layered studio recording. Clapton and Trucks' guitar interplay during the piano-led coda was sublime! The "Layla" outro went straight into the opening chords of "Cocaine" and Clapton and company delivered a hard rockin' extended take on this classic that I much prefer to the original studio recording.

From there the band left the stage and the lights dimmed again. After a couple minutes of absolutely ecstatic applause they re-appeared with Robert Cray in tow and launched into "Crossroads". This was an absolute guitar orgy with Clapton, Cray, Bramhall and Trucks all delivering some top notch fretwork! A "guitar orgy" would be a fitting term to describe the entire concert with so many great extended solos from Clapton and company. It was surely some of the greatest guitar playing I've ever witnessed and surely one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Great band, great setlist.... What more could you possibly want? And yes, Clapton is STILL God! :)

Here's the complete set list....
Pretending
I Shot The Sheriff
Got To Get Better In A Little While
Old Love (with Robert Cray)
Everybody Oughta Make A Change
Motherless Children
Back Home
I Am Yours
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
Running On Faith
After Midnight
Little Queen Of Spades
Further On Down The Road
Wonderful Tonight
Layla
Cocaine
Crossroads (with Robert Cray)