Hello,

First time seeing EC under his own name,as the other occasion was at the first of the Cream reunion shows-doesn't four years fly?

His opening act were Austin's finest,'Arc Angels' who boast Doyle Bramhall (The Second),Chris Layton,Charlie Sexton and a bassist whose identity eludes me.Point is,they were as good an opening act as you'll hear.



When the time came for the main event,the house lights dimmed and out strode...Peter Kay!I know he did this for EC's last Manchester visit,and his two minutes of nonsense went down a storm,and when EC and Co. joined him,it looked as though they had enjoyed his banter too:very jovial and relaxed.



I know that EC may be considered to be musical Mogadon by many here,and I can't say that to sit through a DVD of Eric grimacing his way through a solo would set your pulse racing,but to see the man play live is a different kettle.

What I admire about his playing is that he doesn't do overwrought,histrionic,800 mile-an-hour solos.Sure he throws in a load of widdly bits but it is almost always in keeping with the feeling of the particular song,and reassuringly he still gets a massive,crunching tone from his Strat on songs like 'Cocaine' or 'Badge'.

However,it's not all beer-and-skittles.EC does a mid-session sitting down,acoustic 'Unplugged'-style set which is a bit of a curate's egg,consisting of some beautiful picking on traditional blues numbers,but also regrettably,complete dross like 'Lay Down Sally'.
And for Goodness' sake,if there was ever a song that needs to be plugged-in and revved-up it's 'Layla',and I keep remembering Pete Townshend's comment on EC's 'Unplugged' version of 'Layla',after his mate won a load of Grammys for that album,
"Layla unplugged?Bossa Nova @#$%&' karaoke.I @#$%&' hated it!".
All delivered with a loving smile,but in essence he is right.

At different times solos get handed-out to EC'c bandmates-we're talking Chris 'Quadrophenia' Stainton,Willie Weeks,Steve Gadd and Andy Fairweather Low here.Thankfully EC must follow Keith Moon's adage on drum solos,because Steve Gadd didn't bore the hide off us with any unecessary tub-thumping.By the way,that's the last 'Who' reference that I'll shoehorn in.Mercy!

Unfortunately we were treated to 'Wonderful Tonight' but The Gods were smiling as it was an abridged version.Not abridged enough for me,like.
And there is my take on EC:similar in a way to Macca,in that he allowed himself to bland-out and release a load of old pony,when all the time underneath you've got someone who has forgotten more about rock'n'roll,or in Eric's case,blues than almost anyone else will ever learn.
He can still play,though.

















Cheers,

Si.

I like The Beano Album, I like Cream, Blind Faith and a few tracks from his debut and Derrick and the Dominos.

On the whole, however, Eric became about as MOR as is humanly possible post-1960's

thanks Si - pleased you had a good time.

I was there too - first time Ive seen EC live. Not a fan of Arena shows -but what's the alternative? I don't live near Surrey, and I suppose his charity gigs are a closed shop anyway.
I sat next to a real die hard Eric fan and he thought that his guitar playing and singing was as good as its ever been. I also thought he played with plenty of passion - ok not Derek and the Dominos stuff but what 64 + year old can?
He was a man of few words - "thank you" after each song was about your lot.
Definitely one for the 45-65 year olds though, looking round the Arena.
My daughter would have hated it- for goodness sake, "when is he going to finish that song". After 3 monutes she gets bored- she was born in the wrong time.
I didn't like Eric's take on "Somewhere over the Rainbow".
Also, strange - no new material to promote, unless you count his new DVD live with Steve Winwood.

if EC is MOR, then gimme mor of it....

Going to see EC at the AH on Tuesday. Really looking forward to it. About the 4th or 5th time at the Albert Hall. Looking forward to the Arc Angels which have Doyle Bramhall II on guitar. I have the Doyle Bramhall album with Smokestack which is just brilliant, one of my fave albums of all time.

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.thesonkings.com

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

bramhall's okay but he's the second-best guitarist in that band...

bramhall's okay but he's the second-best guitarist in that band...

I have not figured out why Charlie Sexton's guitar playing is so effective, but it works for me. Whatever he's doing seems to drive the song along with a very individual style. I'm going to keep my eyes/ears open for this show.

Eric did "Not Dark Yet" in Liverpool. TOOM made a big impact on him, according to his book

hadn't heard about the NDY cover, Erik. gotta track that one down....

Got the tip via expectingrain.com, Tod - aren't your computer able to watch that youtube-clip...? He keeps it pretty close to Dylans original version.

Thanks for the review and photos, glad you didn't post the whole setlist!!

I'm going to see him tomorrow night (saturday) at the RAH, should be a great night...

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

Quote
SimonN
His opening act were Austin's finest,'Arc Angels' who boast Doyle Bramhall (The Second),Chris Layton,Charlie Sexton and a bassist whose identity eludes me.

Tommy Shannon from SRV & Double Trouble?

Hi Erik,

Nah,I think Tommy Shannon split from the Angels a good few years previouslyn the band's Myspace only DB,CL and CS are now in the line-up.

They are terrific players all the same.

Cheers,

Si.

from whereseric.com:

Set List for 14 May 2009 / MEN Arena

01. Going Down Slow
02. Anything For Your Love
03. Key To The Highway
04. Old Love
05. I Shot The Sheriff
06. Layla - acoustic
07. Lay Down Sally
08. Not Dark Yet
09. Anytime For You
10. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
11. Badge
12. Little Queen of Spades
13. Before You Accuse Me
14. Wonderful Tonight
15. Cocaine
16. Crossroads (encore)

still waiitng for bootlegs to show up

I ain't never seen no whiskey, the blues made me sloppy drunk
VINTAGE BLUES BLOG

That looks like Tommy Shannon on bass.