The promoters did not make much effort to make this a special show. EC is worthy of more for a "special" birthday. Or maybe like EC says, the rigors of the road are getting to be too much.

There were lots of below face value tickets for both shows, so there was not much of a buzz in the fan community. It sounds like the performance mirrored that.

Even though I know Gadd & East are major, major talents, they don't do it for me with EC. Jordan & Weeks definitely push Eric more. Even better when they had a second drummer Ian Thomas with Jordan for Crossroads 2007. Clapton also benefits from being pushed by Derek or even Doyle as second foil on guitar.

I'm not sure I'll ever see a better Clapton shows again than 2007 (with Derek & Doyle) and 2009 (for hour with the Brothers at Beacon). Hard to watch him play it safe after those two times.

Even though I know Gadd & East are major, major talents, they don't do it for me with EC. Jordan & Weeks definitely push Eric more. Even better when they had a second drummer Ian Thomas with Jordan for Crossroads 2007. Clapton also benefits from being pushed by Derek or even Doyle as second foil on guitar.

I'm not sure I'll ever see a better Clapton shows again than 2007 (with Derek & Doyle) and 2009 (for hour with the Brothers at Beacon). Hard to watch him play it safe after those two times.

Agree 100%

Gadd is a very good drummer better suited for EC's "poppier" material.Gadd is not a blues player and certainly is not a good drummer for jamming(thus,last night cutting out major chunks of the jam in I Shot The Sheriff).Nathan East plods along...I never enjoyed his playing...his singing of Cant Find My Way Home was pedestrian particularly given how great Winwood sang it in the recent Winwood/EC collaboration.So,as my wife said the soul and feel were cut out without a top notch rhythm section,EC as mentioned by hotlantim wasn't inspired it seemed without a dynamic second guitarist,and EC seemed to want o just get the heck outta there.Show was under 2 hours,We did get the snoozefest opener...Andy Fairweather Low!

And sitting near us,when not playing,was John Mayer and the ever so creepy James Dolan....ugh!

The promoters did not make much effort to make this a special show. EC is worthy of more for a "special" birthday. Or maybe like EC says, the rigors of the road are getting to be too much.

There were lots of below face value tickets for both shows, so there was not much of a buzz in the fan community. It sounds like the performance mirrored that.

Agreed....Clapton only played 2 dates in all of the US, and there was no buzz at all in the fan community for these shows. I bought a ticket with a face value of $190 for $105 from StubHub at about 7pm on Sunday night.

Sh!t. Clapton is only 70? I thought he was way older than me. But he's not. In 1967 he was.

Even though I know Gadd & East are major, major talents, they don't do it for me with EC. Jordan & Weeks definitely push Eric more. Even better when they had a second drummer Ian Thomas with Jordan for Crossroads 2007. Clapton also benefits from being pushed by Derek or even Doyle as second foil on guitar.

I'm not sure I'll ever see a better Clapton shows again than 2007 (with Derek & Doyle) and 2009 (for hour with the Brothers at Beacon). Hard to watch him play it safe after those two times.

I always say EC is like a horse who needs to be pressed to play his best. More akin to Affirmed than to Secretariat.

Both shows up on Dime.

5/1:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=526716

5/3:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=526717

I've always found Clapton with that rhythm section to be a snoozefest. He needs someone on stage pushing him.