The Eric Clapton show at the Forum in Los Angeles last night was absolutely epic!
The forum is a cool venue because they open up and let you come into the venue (not actually to your seats) and enjoy a few hours of food and drinks and first shot at merchandise shopping and not have to wait in any huge long line like at so many other shows/ venues. The door were scheduled to open at 6:30 and I was able to get in at 5:00, get all the Merch my wallet would bear and a couple humongous $13 beers before heading to my seat…also had a chance to meet and talk with other fans, telling stories and comparing concert memories…very nice arrangement.
The show opener was Jimmie Vaughan who was incredible and even did a rendition of his brothers hit Texas Flood. He and his band played for about 45 minutes before Gary Clarke Jr and his band came on and absolutely tore it up. I have never seen or heard of Gary Clark Jr before and wonder what rock I have been living under. Definitely one of the best Texas blues rock guitarists and performers I have seen or heard in a long time. He and his band played about an hour set ending just before 9:00pm.
Eric Clapton hit the stage a little after 9:00 and tore it up for a strong two hour set ending just before 11:00. His set covered the 50+ years of writing and performing from hits like White Room from the days of Cream to Layla from Derek and the Dominos to some classic blues songs like I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon), Cross Road Blues and Little Queen of Spades (Robert Johnson) and his opening song Somebody’s Knocking (J.J. Cale) and many more. A few of my favorites of the night were Tear in Heaven which has always been one of my favorites, but in the version he played last night, he gave it a little up-beat Jamaica sound making it unique without losing the feeling it has. I really enjoyed I Shot the Sherrif and Lay Down Sally and for some reason, the crowd just goes bonkers whenever he plays Cocaine. The show last night definitely had more electric and more vintage rock guitar and visuals to it than when I saw him a few years ago. This really came through with White Room and Cocaine which were just as much or maybe a little harder than the original versions heard so many years ago. The single encore was Before You Accuse Me with Jimmie Voughan and Gary Clark Jr. joining Eric and the band on stage for an incredible blues guitar extravaganza. A perfect song to end the night with.
I had about 3 hours of sleep after the show before I had to get up for a 6:00am flight back to Seattle, but the experience of seeing this legend again, for which many people are saying it might be his last tour, was very well worth the burn and drag I am feeling tonight.
Below is a little 5 minute compilation video I put together with segments of some of the songs from the show last night.
bryonsconcertblog 
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