September 2021
Hard Rock Hollywood
We caught the last night of Clapton’s US Tour in Hollywood, Florida. The legendary guitarist has been creating iconic rock ‘n roll for six decades and has an immense and diverse catalog.
When Clapton hits the stage, it’s not a thoughtless greatest hits extravaganza. Instead, he puts together a creative setlist highlighting different phases of his career, with music that he enjoys and excels at playing. We saw quite the mix of songs featuring a significant number of cover tunes in a chill, relaxed setting. Clapton offered up only three of his original hits, two Derek & The Dominoes classics and nine covers – it worked well. You can see the full setlist below.
At 76, Clapton’s voice has aged gracefully. The tone and depth is a little different, but he still pours out the emotion and sounds wonderful. His greatest talent, though, is still his legendary guitar work which was the highlight of the show throughout. I was also impressed by the quality of musicians he surrounded himself with in the nine-piece band. More on that later.
Jimmy Vaughan opened the show with a muddling set. His band was tight, but his guitar work was unremarkable at best. One of the patrons sitting nearby mentioned to his friend “He sounds just like Stevie Ray.” His buddy retorted with a quick, “No, not at all.” His buddy was right.
At 8:00 sharp, the band took the stage and quickly slipped into “Pretending.” Surprisingly, the first guitar solo featured southpaw Doyle Bramhall as Clapton relinquished the early attention. It was a common theme throughout the show, as Clapton gave every band member their respective turns in the spotlight. For his part, Bramhall killed it and was strong the entire show.
The band then slipped into a bluesy groove for a few songs including a smoking version of Willie Dixon’s “I’m Not Your Hoochie Coochie Man.” They ended the segment by morphing into a sweet re-stylized version of “I Shot the Sheriff.” The song prominently featured bassist Nathan East and the two backup singers throughout. Not quite the I-Threes but they sounded great.
Clapton then grabbed a stool and his trusty Martin guitar for the acoustic portion of the set. Most of the band remained on stage during the five-song set and we again were treated to some re-imagined versions. The highlight was a more optimistic version of “Tears in Heaven.” The song had a different feel than the original, as though the artist had maybe changed his perspective a bit over the decades since the song was first written. Very cool…
My one disappointment from the show was the track he wrapped up the acoustic set with. Electric “Layla” is one of the greatest rock ‘n roll songs ever, and with the band assembled, it promised to be fantastic. Instead, we got the same exact version that he popularized on his Unplugged album 30 years ago. It was a sweet surprise then, but nothing special anymore.
The band grooved back into their electric mode with a raucous version of the Derek & the Dominoes tune “Got to Get Better in a Little While.” The song featured two classic Clapton solos and a nice spotlight on the dual drummers. “Little Queen of Spades” was the platform for the keyboard players to display their copious skills. Longtime Clapton foil Chris Stainton was a highlight on this track (and all night) and Paul Carrack shined on organ.
The main set ended with a rambling, bass-driven version of “Cocaine,” one of the few times in the night to feature any audience interaction. Clapton slid off his Fender, and ended the show with “Thank You” – the only words he uttered all night.
The band came back for the encore and offered up a bit of a surprise. Paul Carrack took over vocals for a cover of Joe Cocker’s “High Time We Went.” He killed it, as expected, as he showed off his marvelous voice (Carrack is an unsung rock legend in his own right). Each band member added a flourish or two, including solos from Bramhall, Jimmy Vaughan and Clapton himself. A great way to close a wonderful night.
Rock On!
BC
Setlist
Pretending
Key to the Highway
I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man
I Shot the Sheriff
Driftin’ Blues
Man of the World
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
Tears in Heaven
Layla
Got to Get Better in a Little While
Wonderful Tonight
Little Queen of Spades
Cocaine
Encore:
High Time We Went
