Eric Clapton

• Rating

Saw him perform in May 2011 in CIA. Unforgettable evening it was. He played and sang amazingly, the chap hasn't lost it at all. I wish he played more of his earlier hits but still enjoyed Layla, Old Love, Cocaine, etc. The sound and visual system at CIA were clear, however, the whole setting begged for more comfort.

• Rating

14 May 2011 Motorpoint – Cardiff It was good to see EC playing here outside his usual RAH residency. In contrast to the opening support of besuited Andy Fairweather Low who gave a warm and personable performance that had to overcome mistuning and song sequencing mishaps, Eric in his workaday casuals was understated, flawless and professional. There was no banter with the audience but we’ve learned to expect this. I’ve put some comments against individual songs in the set list but the arrangements of Crossroads, Layla and I Shot the Sheriff in particular showed how well he still adapts songs to keep them fresh and interesting. He gave good space to his keyboard soloists who took their opportunities fulsomely. Praise too for the big screen camera work on Eric's right hand picking. The 2 hour set was predominantly blues covers but having produced such a diversity of song styles over forty years, I wish the set could have extended by half an hour at least (Springsteen is not much younger but puts in 3 hours of high energy performance). There was no White Room or River of Tears for example and I suppose he was keeping his Blind Faith material back for RAH with Steve Winwood. Anyone going to this, please post a review. I’d love to be there. Set List 01. Key To The Highway 02. Going Down Slow 03. Hoochie Coochie Man 04. Old Love - EC hits his stride on the solo, excellent keyboard solos too 05. I Shot The Sheriff – lovely fluid feel to this and wonderful solo too 06. Driftin' (acoustic) 07. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (acoustic) 08. Still Got The Blues (acoustic)- pleasing the crowd as a worthy tribute to Gary Moore 09. Same Old Blues (acoustic) - vocal and solos just perfect 10. When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful 11. Layla 12. Badge 13. Wonderful Tonight 14. Before You Accuse Me 15. Little Queen Of Spades – Chris Stainton’s solo peak 16. Cocaine 17. Crossroads Pete Gaskell