Eric Clapton 2018 Cologne concert review
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:57 pm
Lanxess Arena, Cologne @ 31 degrees Celsius...
EC'S first concert in four years in Germany. Only four concerts this year. Last chance to see him live? I had to go.
Setlist:
1. Somebody's Knocking
2. Key to the Highway
3. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
4. I Shot the Sheriff
5. White Room
6. Driftin'
7. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
8. Layla (acoustic)
9. Tears in Heaven
10. Crossroads
11. Got to get Better in a Little While
12. Wonderful Tonight
13. Litte Queen of Spades
14. Cocaine
Encore:
15. High Time we went
Total playing time: approx. 1:45
Band:
Eric Clapton (g,v) - Fender strat and Martin
Sonny Emory (d) - fantastic job!
Paul Carrack (k,v) - a great singer, a great keyboard player, but to be honest - not needed. Lame solos.
Chris Stainton (k,v) - good as always.
Nathan East (b,v) - good as always, played the intro to Cocaine
Doyle Bramhell (g,v) - played an ES335 with a sometimes strange sound
Sharon White, Sharlotte Gibson - backing vocals, great classical voice, but not needed IMHO
Pics: https://www.regioactive.de/fotostrecke/ ... pwSzrz1K-1 (external link)
Supporting act: Floy (without "d") and the Messengers. Singer/songwriter style, desperately trying to warm-up the crowd with no success. Good voice, good band, but absolutely not my taste.
EC with short hair and casual wear looking healthy entered the stage with his band. "Good evening" and an occasional "thank you" was all he said - as always. EC hasn't played live for a while now.
The first three songs left no good hope for a nice evening. Same old licks, solo Chris, solo Paul, Solo Doyle, solo EC, no magic. The intro to Sheriff wasn't coordinated either. But during the song he found his way back and with every song his playing got better.
Sheriff turned directly into a great version of White Room - EC was back. He still can play.
The acoustic set was as usual, very good sound quality. Tears in Heaven played in Reggae style - well, not for me. I prefer the original. Crossroads was OK, GTGBIALW was fantastic, like in the Seventies. Wonderful Tonight - leave it out next time...
Little Queen again show his Blues soloing qualities and Cocaine ended in standing ovations when the musicians left the stage. The crowd was great and - as usual - the band came back for the encore. But it was disappointing and seems to be a concession for Paul Carrrack.
Personal conclusion:
This was together with the Hamburg concert supposed to be a warm up for London. I'm sure it's more polished there.
The good thing - he still can play fantastic and his singing is getting even better. The sound was perfect a some adjustments. His band is tight. His health seems to be much better, his fingers are still magic.
The bad thing - the setlist, as usual. So many great songs to play, but they play Wonderful Tonight.
EC'S first concert in four years in Germany. Only four concerts this year. Last chance to see him live? I had to go.
Setlist:
1. Somebody's Knocking
2. Key to the Highway
3. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
4. I Shot the Sheriff
5. White Room
6. Driftin'
7. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
8. Layla (acoustic)
9. Tears in Heaven
10. Crossroads
11. Got to get Better in a Little While
12. Wonderful Tonight
13. Litte Queen of Spades
14. Cocaine
Encore:
15. High Time we went
Total playing time: approx. 1:45
Band:
Eric Clapton (g,v) - Fender strat and Martin
Sonny Emory (d) - fantastic job!
Paul Carrack (k,v) - a great singer, a great keyboard player, but to be honest - not needed. Lame solos.
Chris Stainton (k,v) - good as always.
Nathan East (b,v) - good as always, played the intro to Cocaine
Doyle Bramhell (g,v) - played an ES335 with a sometimes strange sound
Sharon White, Sharlotte Gibson - backing vocals, great classical voice, but not needed IMHO
Pics: https://www.regioactive.de/fotostrecke/ ... pwSzrz1K-1 (external link)
Supporting act: Floy (without "d") and the Messengers. Singer/songwriter style, desperately trying to warm-up the crowd with no success. Good voice, good band, but absolutely not my taste.
EC with short hair and casual wear looking healthy entered the stage with his band. "Good evening" and an occasional "thank you" was all he said - as always. EC hasn't played live for a while now.
The first three songs left no good hope for a nice evening. Same old licks, solo Chris, solo Paul, Solo Doyle, solo EC, no magic. The intro to Sheriff wasn't coordinated either. But during the song he found his way back and with every song his playing got better.
Sheriff turned directly into a great version of White Room - EC was back. He still can play.
The acoustic set was as usual, very good sound quality. Tears in Heaven played in Reggae style - well, not for me. I prefer the original. Crossroads was OK, GTGBIALW was fantastic, like in the Seventies. Wonderful Tonight - leave it out next time...
Little Queen again show his Blues soloing qualities and Cocaine ended in standing ovations when the musicians left the stage. The crowd was great and - as usual - the band came back for the encore. But it was disappointing and seems to be a concession for Paul Carrrack.
Personal conclusion:
This was together with the Hamburg concert supposed to be a warm up for London. I'm sure it's more polished there.
The good thing - he still can play fantastic and his singing is getting even better. The sound was perfect a some adjustments. His band is tight. His health seems to be much better, his fingers are still magic.
The bad thing - the setlist, as usual. So many great songs to play, but they play Wonderful Tonight.