Eric Clapton
Manchester Arena
Thursday 14th May 2009
The ME.N
Arena in Manchester is not the best venue I’ve ever been to but it was
the closest place to Scotland where I could go and see legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, and whilst never having seen him play live
before I felt that I was potentially about to witness a historic
performance by a much loved bluesman.
At 8.45
Peter Kay walked on stage to a rapturous applause, he was there to
introduce Eric Clapton but not before he warmed up the audience with a
quick few minutes of comedy, and even managed a quick jibe at Liam
Gallagher.
The
audience showed there appreciation of the rock god’s visit to
Manchester and right from the opening bars of Going
Down Slow he had the
16,000 happy punters eating from his hand.
Starting
off the set a little bit reserved, he moved quickly on to Anything
For Your Love and the bluesy Key
To The Highway which showed
that at 64, E.C. still has it, and in bucket loads. There was minimum
interaction with the audience, in fact the only thing he said throughout
the whole 2 hours was “Thank You” after each number.
The classic I Shot The Sheriff
followed but this time was eight minutes long and was fantastic.
The
acoustic version of Layla was
outstanding and was delivered just exactly as the audience wanted. This
was followed by an acoustic Lay
Down Sally and Not Dark, before
moving on to Anytime For You and
his very special version of Somewhere
Over The Rainbow which concluded the acoustic part of the set.
Strapping
on his electric guitar, Clapton moved towards his pedals, struck the
pose and hit us with the opening chords of the Cream classic Badge. Almost as one, the audience were in a rapturous delirium of
appreciation, even the prolonged break to the first riff of the famous
guitar solo was eagerly anticipated and it was then that I truly
realised that I was indeed witnessing a legend.
The
remainder of the set was delivered fast and furious only slowing down to
play the entrancing Wonderful
Tonight which was truly wonderful to witness. The final number of
the set was Cocaine which again left the audience spellbound at the blistering
guitar solo’s by Clapton.
After
leaving the stage for what seemed like a very long time, the band
confidently strode back on and gave us the classic Crossroads.
After two hours, Slowhand, had put down his guitar for the last time
in Manchester and with a final thank you and a bow by the band, E.C. was
gone. The capacity audience filed out happy and satisfied that they had
witnessed an historic concert by a true rock legend.
The band
were tremendously tight and comprised of Andy Fairweather Low –
guitar, Chris Stanton – Keyboards, Tim Carmon – Keyboards, Willie
Weeks – Bass, Steve Gadd – Drums Michelle John and Sharon White on
backing vocals.
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