We often find that older musicians tend to be more slow and dreary as opposed to the upbeat, youthful performers that are popular today. However, Eric Clapton at age 72 is still kicking it up on stage like it’s 1970.

Not everyone gets a chance to see a living virtuoso. However, at such an age, and after 50 years of being a rock star, many believe that this may truly be his final tour. Thus, as a musician, I found that it my duty to see a show of his last tour.

To start off, Clapton brought a few other guitar gods along for the ride; Gary Clark Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan, the latter being the brother of the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan. Both are highly respected blues men, and each of their opening acts was truly brilliant.

Vaughan’s opening set consisted mainly of blues standards, including songs by Webb Pierce and Larry Davis. While 12-bar blues can get old, what made Vaughan’s show interesting was his band. Instead of the tradition bass, drums, and two guitars, Vaughan’s band had the addition of a Trombone and Saxophone, making his blues covers pop
with a bit of a classical, jazzy twist.

Gary Clark Jr. came on next. He started off with a selection of his own songs with a couple of old blues ones thrown in. No matter what, Clark’s songs are always exceptional not just because of his unique songwriting, but his exquisite guitar style. Clark often combines roots like blues, licks, and riffs with effects and bends more reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix. He finished his set with an explosive cover of The Beatles’ song “Come Together,” which was drenched in psychedelic wah and fuzz.

After an extended period of time was dedicated to stage crew coming on and examining instruments, Clapton eventually stepped out wielding Blackie, his signature black whammy-less stratocaster. His set started off smooth, consisting of three blues covers with clapton-esque melodic soloing thrown in. The real groove started when he played “I Shot the Sheriff.” His backing band consisted bass, drums, organ, piano, rhythm guitar, and two soulful gospel singers, who really shone on “Sheriff.” Clapton then went acoustic for a few songs, including his hits “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven.”

Then, to my utmost surprise, the band busted into “White Room” by Clapton’s former band Cream. This was the first time Clapton had played the song since 2003. The hallucinatory images projected onto the screen behind him only made his concert more powerful. “Crossroads,” another Cream hit was also played. The set list was topped off with “Cocaine,” a song ironically about a woman rather than drugs. Clapton then thanked everyone and walked off stage.

After a solid thirty seconds of clapping and whistling, Clapton came back on stage for an encore performance. The other best Cream song, “Sunshine of Your Love” was played and for the real
finale, Clark and Vaughan came back on stage and all three played a cover of Bo Diddley’s “Before You Accuse Me.” All in all, there’s not much more I could’ve hoped to have seen that night. The surprise performance of “White Room” really caught me off guard and all of the hits were played. If you are a fan of Clapton, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and The Domino’s, or anything else the man has contributed to, I urge you to see the legend before his tour ends.