Backstage With Clapton

On Tuesday night I had the unbelievable honor of meeting the man who is in so many ways my guiding light. I'm speaking of course of the one and only Mr. Eric Clapton! It was easily the most surreal experience of my entire life and I still can't believe it happened! First though faithful readers, let me take you back to the very beginning of the story.

On Tuesday afternoon me and my mom left Chicago for Moline, Illinois to see Clapton in concert. We cruised down the highway to the strains of "Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs" and later the classic "Rainbow Concert" LP. Not long after leaving the city we encountered many barren fields and farms of the sort that make up the vast majority of central Illinois. Although a couple hours of the same scenery can get to be a bit monotonous some of it was actually quite picturesque. By the time we arrived in Moline a good three hours later we were basically in the middle of nowhere. I knew we'd be driving through farmland to get there but I thought Moline would be a bit more built up than it actually was. Located right on the border of Iowa they've got an airport nearby, a couple hotels and the concert venue. That's about it!

So we make it to the Holiday Inn around five and check in to our individual rooms which were actually quite nice. My buddy Tim Carmon (Clapton's keyboard player) told me our tix and backstage passes would be waiting at the box office around 6:30. We were told the concert venue was only about fifteen minutes away from our hotel so we decided to leave around 6. But then not long after leaving the hotel we got completely lost. Even ended up in Iowa for awhile! It was about 7 by the time we made it to the arena and once we did we got caught up in some really congested traffic. It was obvious it was going to take at least another half hour or so to find parking and make it in to the arena so my mom suggested that I go in ahead of her while she parked the car. So I go into the arena, gave the lady at the box office my name and I got my ticket and my backstage pass. That was all simple enough but then I had no idea where I was going so luckily I found a security guard who was nice enough to escort me backstage.

When we get back there there's a couple other security guys standing in the hallway and there's a modest little hospitality room that he leads me to. When I walked in there was a couple people sitting there but no sign of Tim or any other familiar face so at this point I wasn't even sure if I was in the right place. I walk back out in the hallway and I ask the security guard if there's somewhere else I should be as a guest of the band and he says no, this is it. Well folks, just then I look up and see a very familiar face indeed walking right towards me and my heart quite literally skipped a beat. It was Eric Clapton.

So I briefly introduce myself and shake his hand and then he goes into that room and starts greeting the people that were in there waiting. I grabbed a coke and sat down with the other people there and the whole time I'm sitting there thinking "my god, is this really happening?". He's in a very amiable mood, cracking jokes and more or less putting everyone at ease. I've often heard people say that he's so down to earth you almost forget that you're in the presence of such greatness and that's exactly what it was like for me. His manner was so warm, so downright casual that after awhile I almost had to like remind myself that was Eric Clapton standing there before me. I most definitely felt a bit self conscious since I hadn't encountered Tim yet and I didn't know anyone else there, but I really wasn't half as nervous as I thought I would be if I ever found myself in that situation and I think that's mainly due to the Zen like calmness he radiates. Although I must say, I never really thought I would be in that situation in the first place. I thought maybe, just maybe I might get lucky and bump into him for a split second or something but I never dreamed I would get to spend some time in his presence like that.

After awhile I told him I was a friend of Tim's and a little later I did tell him how taken by surprise I was when I first encountered him. He kinda laughed it off and he said the guy sitting next to him was an old friend of his. I think they said something at one point about knowing each other for thirty years. I said "well, I'm a huge fan and it's an honor to meet you, however briefly." After that I shook his hand again and didn't really say anything more. I really didn't want to make a nuisance of myself and I hope I didn't. For the most part I just sat there sipping my coke and soaking it all in as he visited with this old friend. There was only a handful of people there and it was obvious most of them were family members of his friend. He posed for a bunch of pics with them as well as the couple other people that were there. He was in really great spirits as he did so, lots of warmth and laughs all around, so I'm sure I would have probably been able to get a pic to, but unfortunately I had left the camera with my mom. A picture would have been awesome, but getting to meet the man was thrilling enough!

A few minutes after E.C. left my buddy Tim came in. When I told him I had just met E.C. he himself was pretty surprised 'cause of course he doesn't normally do much hanging out backstage like that. I was well aware of that which is why I was so shocked when I first came across him. So after awhile the other people back there left, to go see Robert Cray's set presumably, and me and Tim hung out for awhile. He is one of the coolest, most genuine cats I've ever had the pleasure to meet and I really enjoyed our time together. He also briefly introduced me to Chris Stainton (E.C's other longtime keyboard player) who seemed really sweet to. After awhile I started worrying about my mom, wondering if she ever made it into the arena, and plus it was about show-time by then anyway so we parted ways and I made my way back into the arena.

I guess it took my mom so long to park that she just went straight to our seats and that's where I found her. Not long after I sat down E.C., Tim, Chris and the rest of the band hit the stage to a rousing ovation and launched into the rockin' groove of "Tell The Truth", to be followed by four more Dominos era classics. Upon first listen I wasn't that crazy about the new "funky" arrangement of "Key To The Highway" , but it did feature some pretty tasty playing from E.C. "Got To Get Better In A Little While" rocked as always and then came "Little Wing" which was warmly greeted by the crowd. It was sublime but I must admit at this point of the show I was still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened backstage! After "Little Wing" came a pretty epic version of "Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad" featuring some divine interplay between E.C. and Doyle's guitars.

Then came time for the acoustic sit down portion of the set which starts off with E.C.'s solo acoustic version of the old delta blues standard "Driftin". It was pretty awe inspiring to witness how mesmerized the packed arena was by just his lone voice and finger-picked guitar. Many in the crowd hooted and hollered in appreciation as the sound of his ever so precise runs, pitch perfect bends and unmistakable vibrato filled the air. It was almost as if time stood still for a moment. Truly a sight to behold. From there the band rejoined him and they launched into the new acoustic arrangement of "Outside Woman Blues". "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" and "Running On Faith" followed and both songs got pretty big reactions from the crowd, due I'm sure to their inclusion on the hugely popular "Unplugged" album. Much of the arena clapped along during NKYWYDAO as they have throughout the tour, and it was a lovely, downright majestic version of "Running On Faith" that ended the acoustic set.

What followed was an earth shattering rendition of the "461 Ocean Boulevard" classic "Motherless Children", largely propelled by the powerhouse rhythm section of Willie Weeks and Steve Jordan. Watching E.C. and Doyle recreate the double tracked slide guitars from the record was one of the set's highlights for yours truly. An extended workout on the Robert Johnson penned "Little Queen Of Spades" followed with E.C., Doyle, Chris and Tim all taking turns soloing. Chris' piano solo was jaw dropping in it's virtuosity as was Tim's organ solo now complete with a little homage of sorts to the late, great Billy Preston in which Tim gets up from behind the keys and walks to the end of the stage. E.C. gets a real kick out of that and the crowd absolutely ate it up! Willie Weeks' bassline on the seventies concert favorite "Further On Up The Road" seemed to have evolved a bit since I last saw them back in September. It had a real Chicago style flavor to it which I dug. And then came time for the heavy hitters.

"Wonderful Tonight" was as gorgeous as ever. Much of the crowd sang along but it was done in an unobtrusive manner that suited the song. Then when E.C. launched into the opening riff of "Layla" the arena responded with the type of thunderous applause one of rock's all time classics surely demands. It was spot on, from the immortal opening riff on through the bittersweet coda. After that E.C. and the band left the stage as per usual and returned a short while later to do their now customary encore of "Cocaine" and "Crossroads" which brought the entire arena to it's feet. As I recall, "Cocaine" featured some of the most fiery E.C. soloing of the night and Robert Cray joined the band for "Crossroads" as he has throughout the tour.

Overall, E.C.'s playing wasn't as aggressive as the last couple shows I saw here in Chicago during which he was really wailing. I guess you could say he was kind of on "auto pilot" for much of the set but even still, E.C. on "auto pilot" is better than 99.9% of the players out there and there was some pretty special moments, most notably the interplay between E.C. and Doyle on WDLGTBSS, the solo acoustic version of "Driftin", the dueling slide guitars on "Motherless Children" and of course the masterpiece that is "Layla", always an absolute pleasure to see performed live. I also was really knocked out by Chris and Tim's keyboard solos throughout the show. Those guys are two of the best keyboard players in the world. Bar none.

Even sitting here almost three days later I still can't believe I got to meet Eric Clapton. I couldn't believe it as it was happening and I still can't believe it now as I type those words. When I first planned the trip I was of course hoping that I might get to meet him but I realized the chances of that happening were actually pretty slim. I thought maybe I might get lucky and catch a glimpse of him or bump into him for a split second or so but I never in a million years thought it would go down the way it did. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! It was incredible. Absolutely incredible.

A big, huge, huge, huge thanks to my buddy Tim for making all this possible and a big, huge, huge, huge thanks to my mom for driving me down to Moline. One of my biggest dreams has now been fulfilled and I will treasure my memories of that night for as long as I live. Dreams do come true!

The setlist.....

01. Tell The Truth
02. Key To The Highway
03. Got to Get Better in A Little While
04. Little Wing
05. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
06. Driftin' (EC Solo)
07. Outside Woman Blues
08. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
09. Running On Faith
10. Motherless Children
11. Little Queen of Spades
12. Further On Up The Road
13. Wonderful Tonight
14. Layla
encore
15. Cocaine
16. Crossroads (with Robert Cray)

And some snapshots me and my mom took....