Eric Clapton and his epic British-born blues power blast the doors off the mighty mitten’s Motor City, with another sold-out show.
It has been 12 very long years since Detroit has had a visit from the legendary British blues guitarist, Eric Clapton. September 10, 2022, and the Clapton drought has come to an end. This 18-time Grammy-winner and three-time Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee makes the second stop of his North American Tour (seven dates only), right here in a very appreciative and welcoming Motor City. Detroit’s monster venue, Little Caesar’s Arena (along with 313 Presents) will be the host for this spectacular evening of music. To no surprise, it is sold out… as evidenced by the lines upon lines of fans surrounding the arena. And to sweeten this already oh-so-sweet deal, Eric has brought along with him special guest, Texas blues guitarist, Jimmie Vaughan. Ready for a night of blues-gasmic proportions? Put your seatbelt on… Here we go!
Time is now 8:00 pm, and as promised a sharp-dressed Texas gentleman, a.k.a. Jimmie Lee Vaughan, accompanied by his seven-piece Tilt-A-Whirl Band are first to take the huge spotlight of the arena stage. Jimmie Vaughan… always smiling, has brought with him that good-time feel-good vibe that his music is known for. This hungry crowd roars with approval as he unleashes his patented Fat Strat tone on the first tune of the night, the Vaughan Brothers’ hit “DFW.” The pedal is down, right out of the gate, and JLV goes to work with that unique finger-thumb style that makes the sound that is undeniably Vaughan. Jimmie starts into a solo and graciously passes the spotlight over to his horn section who blows out some tasty windblown riffs.
The band then takes turns with a quick solo spot before returning to Vaughan to bring that song to a close. Next, they play the Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson cover “Roll Roll Roll” and our crowd is out of their seats, dancing to the song’s catchy jig. Vaughan proceeds to roll through a fantastic eight-song setlist that includes “Silly Dilly Woman,” and a smoldering JLV-style version of “Texas Flood” (written by Larry Davis). He closes out his set with a Fabulous Thunderbirds’ classic “The Crawl.” Vaughan has the crowd hyped and ready for more. They stand to applaud him as he smiles and waves while walking from center stage (not the last we see of JLV… Stay tuned!)
9:10 pm and the moment has arrived…Eric Clapton and his squad walk across the stage to a roaring arena, charged up with gleeful anticipation. Clapton reaches for his Fender Stratocaster while waving and saying “Hello…. How are you?” He proceeds into a pre-game moment of honor, and plays “God Save The Queen!” The crowd quiets in respect and roars to an ovation as the last note rings out. Things officially get underway when Eric gives a quick nod to drummer Sonny Emory who clicks out a four-count, launching the band into “Tearing Us Apart.” The song gets to the bridge and a smiling Clapton motions to guitarist Doyle Bramhall to take the first guitar solo of the night. Bramhall, a left-handed hollow body player, has great tone and gets nods of approval out of EC before passing the buck back to him. Slowhand steps center stage and melts out a Clapton-riffic solo that puts grins across faces arena-wide. (A little Clapton factoid: He was given the nickname Slowhand back in the early days in England. He would break a string on stage and would insist on fixing it on stage, during the song. The audience would do a slow-hand clap until he was ready to play… Thank you wiki!)The blues classic “Key to the Highway” (by Charles Segar) is up next and our crowd begins to clap to the beat as the tune plays through. Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” gets the goosebumps poppin when that snappy little intro lick burns the tweed off Clapton‘s vintage Fender amps. Next up is “River of Tears” which features Eric ripping a minute-long emotional solo that makes you reflect on the song’s deep lyrical content. He ends with a very humble “Thank you!” to his crowd before treating them to The Wailers classic, “I Shot the Sheriff.”
Eric breaks out the acoustic next with an ever-so stellar unplugged version of “After Midnight,” (by J.J. Cale). The foot-stomping Jimmy Cox cover “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” rolls out next, followed by a quick intermission of mysterious acoustic blues improv licks with bassist Nathan East bowing out some cello-like groans on his standup bass. Clapton breaks narrative, launching into the unmistakable intro to “Layla” (by Derek and the Dominos) and the crowd goes bonkers and joins in the sing-along. The tune brings on a blues jam, and we’re treated with a little bit of solo action from each one of Eric’s bandmates. EC takes the last shift, and blazes through an extended play solo that has every aspiring guitarist daydreaming. The song closes and a young man shouts loudly “We love you, Eric!” Clapton responds with a smile and a simple “Thank you very much!”
The powerful and moving “Tears in Heaven” is next and our crowd is captivated by the moment’s deep vibes. Returning to his iconic Stratocaster, Slowhand rolls out some Cream and treats everyone to “Badge,” followed by that legendary slow dance classic, “Wonderful Tonight” (if you’re born before 1990 chances are you probably played this at your wedding… IKR!). A more traditional and gritty version of Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues” is up next and sends out a flurry of flaming licks that was sure to have Mr. Johnson AND Willie Brown looking down with smiles. “The Sky is Crying” (by Elmore James) is next on our set and the jams just keep pouring out of EC’s Strat. The tune comes to an end with some improv bluesy outro that eventually grows into the classic tune “Cocaine” (by J.J. Cale). Our solo spotlight arrives and Clapton hits his wah-pedal hard, churning out all those psychedelic notes of yesteryear. A quick game of “pass the solo” ensues and Clapton brings it all home with the lines “She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie… Cocaine!”
The crew ruse an end to this epic evening but cut the attempt short by returning to the stage, and this time with Jimmie Vaughan. Eric and Jimmie treat the crowd to an encore jam session of a Joe Cocker hit “High Time We Went,” featuring keyboardist Paul Carrack on lead vocals. As the song reaches its summit, we see a fun exchange of licks between Bramhall, Clapton, and Vaughan. And together they take the song in the night to an amazing ending.
If you could only attend one concert this year I would suggest it be this one! In all of its epic stature and with the blues dripping soulful memories of a lifetime! This is… Pure Clapton!Don’t delay, get those tickets today with only five days remaining you don’t wanna miss. Check Eric Clapton‘s official website for dates, details and current news. And while you’re there, be sure to pre-order The Complete Reprise Studio Albums – Volume One limited edition available September 30th.
ERIC CLAPTON
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