We kicked off "Clapton-mania" with a scrumptious dinner and a few delicious brews at the Church Brew Works. Then, once my dad fully absorbed that he was eating dinner & drinking beer in an old Catholic Church...we headed down to the show, where the extra perk of a super close parking pass allowed us to enter lickety-split into the Mellon Arena. After perusing the Clapton merchandise tables and purchasing a few Clapton items (a t-shirt for my dad and a mug for myself), we found our seats that were just right of the stage. I was definitely jazzed because we were close enough that I could see the entire show up close & personal with my one good eye.
I was pretty excited for the opening act, Roger Daltrey, because I've always been a big fan of "THE WHO." Sadly, Roger Daltrey's solo singing career is not that impressive. His voice was crap, his songs were weak, & he made me very anxious as he twirled his microphone at about 100 mph. I was sure he was going to either take-out one of his band mates, himself or an audience member....oy!!
After the madness of Roger Daltrey, the stage was re-set and out slowly walked Eric Clapton. My summary of the show....INCREDIBLE. Eric Clapton changed up the guitar parts and instrumentation for all of his songs & his voice still, as if time hadn't passed a day, morphed & meshed perfectly into each melody. Even better was watching Eric Clapton play...it's as if he truly becomes "one" with his guitar. His musical genius wheels can be felt with his every facial movement, foot rising, shoulder swaying & walkabouts...very rarely do you see a musician who still gets down and feels the music after a 45 years. He expresses very few words during his performances...he is old school in that way & I like it...he lets the music tell the story & be the entertainment....a nice change from most concerts today where musicians allow their self-indulgent & narcissistic antics to overshadow the music.
One of my favorite parts of the show was when Eric Clapton sat down with his acoustic guitar to play a tribute to his biggest musical influence Robert Johnson...oh...it was so aesthetically pleasing to the ear. But the most fabulous part of the show was the great time I had with my dad. He is such a great concert sidekick...who is not only a huge Clapton fan but also a huge Robert Johnson fan. He filled me with lots of Robert Johnson & Eric Clapton's musical history tid-bits, in fact, I now feel if I were ever on Jeopardy and a question popped up about either Johnson or Clapton...I could definitely answer with complete confidence.
I included the video of "I Shot the Sheriff" from the show here in Pittsburgh. This was one of my two favorite songs of the night (the other was "Old Love" my all time favorite Clapton song). The intro to "I Shot the Sheriff" is so tightly altered that you almost can't even tell what song he's going to lead into...I love his "Ohh...now...nowwws" throughout the song and especially his guitar solo at the 4 min. marker...brilliant....simply brilliant!!!
1 comment:
Hi Meg, its john (Bess is behind me showing me how to do this). That Clapton song is great! You are always doing the most interesting things and are one of a kind. That is great you and your dad went together. Take care and hope your ribs are healing!
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